← All Positions
Posted Apr 2, 2026

Mental Health Inspector - South East

Apply Now

Grade B - £42,044 (National) or £47,900 (London - for London office based or home-based workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home. Please note for part time roles – this will be pro rata.
Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week. Please talk to us about flexible or compressed hours.
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing date: Wednesday 15 April 2026 at 11.59pm

We are currently accepting applications from candidates based in the following areas:

- South East

If you live outside of this area, we're unable to progress your application on this occasion. 

Make a difference
Every role at CQC helps us make sure health and care services are safe, kind and high quality. If you’re looking for a new role in the Operations Directorate that gives a true sense of purpose, then you’ve found it. As a Mental Health Inspector – South Network, you’ll help us understand the quality and safety of mental health services so people get the care they deserve.

Picture this

You’re visiting a mental health service, listening to people’s experiences and checking how well the service supports them. You use what you learn to help providers improve and to keep people safe.

As a Mental Health Inspector in the Operations Directorate, you might get the chance to work on:

The role

You’ll work closely with others to deliver shared outcomes. In this role, you’ll:

Show us
We will be looking for these skills, knowledge and experience in your application:

Join us and help CQC shape the future of health and care.

Compliance
To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without valid right to work you won’t be eligible for the role. We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. Some roles may also be subject to a satisfactory DBS check.

Next steps
If you apply, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Your application will be completely anonymous.  Please see our information for applicants for more details on the process. We contact every applicant to let them know the outcome of their application, so you will hear from us whether or not you are shortlisted.
You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description
If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Serena Coleman, Interim Deputy Director of Mental Health; [email protected]. For general enquiries, please email [email protected].

The Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including:

Please see our benefits page for the full list.

Equity for all
We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re a good fit. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic minority backgrounds). If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply. Your unique perspective, skills, and experience could be exactly what we need.
We want every candidate to feel supported and able to do their best. If you need adjustments to our process, we’ll work with you to remove any barriers. Visit our accessibility page for more on this. If you’d like to chat, please contact [email protected]. Please note, if you have previously informed us of adjustments you need for interview or within your role these are not carried over and must be discussed for each individual application you make.
We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission and make our culture stronger. See our ED&I page for more about this.
We welcome applications from everyone, and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks. This includes people of any:

Values and vision
We are guided by our core values, which shape our work and our culture.
Excellence – being a high-performing organisation.
Caring – treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Integrity – doing the right thing.
Teamwork – learning from each other to be the best we can.
We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.

A Note on AI
AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind: