Chief Inspector (Adult Services)
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £82,920 – 40 hours per week
Location: Flexible – Any Care Inspectorate office across Scotland
About us
As a national regulator and scrutiny body, we inspect care across communities, report on the quality of care people experience, and ensure it is as good as it can be. We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement.
We inspect care services individually. We also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in local areas.
We champion high-quality care whenever we encounter it across the thousands of inspections, we carry out each year, and we work closely with all care providers to support them to improve all the time. We collaborate with other organisations too, supporting improvement across public services. Our work plays a big role in reducing health and social inequalities between people and communities.
About the role
We are currently looking to recruit a Chief Inspector to lead on the planning, development, and delivery of strategic inspection activity in respect of adult services including joint inspections of health and social care integration, adult support and protection and justice services.
The successful candidate will ensure excellence in scrutiny, assurance and improvement work in collaboration with scrutiny partners, providers, Community planning partners and integrated joint boards.
You will support the Executive Director of Scrutiny and Assurance to ensure that the Care Inspectorate meets its responsibilities as defined by the Public Services Reform Act 2010 and other relevant legislation, and where appropriate provide strategic contribution and leadership to inform national policy and strategy.
You will work with senior managers and colleagues to support significant cultural change, consolidate excellence in the Care Inspectorate’s activities and continue to invest in our competent, confident workforce in a way that puts collaboration at the core of our work.
Adept at challenging traditional thinking in a positive and constructive way, you will be an articulate and positive communicator, both verbally and in written form, with the ability to engage, influence and lead the development of a wide range of key stakeholder relationships, both internally and externally.
You will also be politically astute and demonstrate a broad knowledge of trends and relevant issues within social work and social care services.
The Care Inspectorate has its headquarters in Dundee, but with offices throughout Scotland, your work base is negotiable.
The Application process
To apply you must be:
- Educated to degree level or equivalent.
- Hold an appropriate post-graduate professional qualification in social work or other relevant professional qualification
We are looking for someone who has:
- Extensive experience of leading and managing staff in the area of adults, justice and/or protection services.
- Extensive experience of developing and/or applying quality assurance/improvement frameworks to support self-evaluation and continuous improvement.
- Demonstrable experience of strategic planning and delivery of services and supporting and embedding sustainable business and transformational change.
- Extensive experience of collaborative and values-based leadership including working with partners at both a strategic and operational level.
You’ll find more information in the job description and person specification
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the:
For an informal chat about the role please contact the HR team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will arrange a suitably convenient time for you to discuss any questions you may have with the Executive Director of Scrutiny and Assurance.
If you believe that your expertise, skills and motivation make you suitable for this post, please complete an application form (and an Equalities Monitoring Form where you are an external applicant) and return by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Monday, 14 February 2022 at 8.00am.
It is anticipated that the selection and interview date for this post will be held on Tuesday, 8 March 2022.
Chief Inspector Support Assistant
Role: Chief Inspector Support Assistant
Location: Any Care Inspectorate office
Salary: £22,425 - £23,964
Contract: Maternity Cover – until 29 April 2022
Previous applicants do not need to re-apply for this role
About the role
The successful applicants will provide an efficient and effective business support service to the Chief Inspector and their Service Managers Reporting to the Executive Support Officer, you will be part of the Executive and Committee Support team.
You will be required to provide a confidential PA and administrative support service to the Chief Inspector. Duties will be varied and include prioritising correspondence, dealing with enquiries, composing responses to routine correspondence, managing diaries, making appointments, and arranging travel, accommodation, meetings, conference rooms, refreshments, and hospitality for visitors as necessary.
Having good planning and organising skills, you will be expected to co-ordinate the administrative process for Scottish Government briefings and parliamentary reports, adhering to strict deadline requirements.
The role will also include the preparation and circulation of agendas and paperwork for meetings, attendance at meetings as required and taking notes, preparing, and distributing minutes and in addition, assisting in the design and preparation of PowerPoint presentations as required.
This role can be performed at any of our office locations. However, there will be an expectation to travel to Compass House (Dundee) for team working requirements.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile, person specification and job advert.
For an informal discussion prior to applying, please contact Claire Corbett by Teams, or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you believe that your expertise and motivation make you suitable for this post, please complete an application form (and equal opportunities form where you are an external applicant) and return by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8am on Tuesday 11 May 2021.
There will be a quick turnaround for this role with interviews scheduled to take place on Friday 21 May 2021.
Communications Co-ordinator (Safe staffing programme)
Job title: Communications Co-ordinator (Safe staffing programme)
Salary: £38,553 to £42,597
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible - Any Care Inspectorate office
Contract: Temporary until 31 March 2025
About us
We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experiences high-quality care, support and learning, tailored to their rights, needs and wishes.
We inspect individual care services, and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
We are offering an excellent temporary opportunity for an energetic and creative communications coordinator to join our communications team at the Care Inspectorate. You will be a key member of our team, providing a wide range of skills, experience, knowledge, and advice to support communications activity around the safe staffing programme, and for other projects as required.
In April 2024 the new Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 came into force. The Safe Staffing Programme team are working in collaboration with stakeholders to support care services in Scotland to have the right people, in the right place, with the right skills at the right time working to ensure people experience the best health and care outcomes. The Communications Coordinator will work with the team to promote its work and engage with the sector on this important area of legislation.
About you
You will be educated to degree level or equivalent, you will have a successful record of accomplishment in communications with extensive experience of delivering a wide range of creative solutions across the broad spectrum of communication channels.
You will be highly motivated and enthusiastic with excellent interpersonal skills along with the ability to react to changing priorities and conflicting demands while building effective working relationships.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Vanessa O'Loughlin (Communications Manager) at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and an equal opportunities form and submit by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08:00 on Monday 17 June 2024
*Please note that if we receive a sufficient number of applications, the advert may close earlier on Monday 10 June 2024.
Assessment and Interviews are expected to be in person at our Dundee Headquarters office, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, date to be confirmed.
Communications Coordinator
Job title: Communications Coordinator
Salary: £38,553 to £42,597 (Pro Rata)
Hours: 28 hours per week (Flexible, pattern of work can be discussed)
Location: Flexible - Any Care Inspectorate office
Contract: Temporary for 6mths (possible further 6mth extension)
About us
We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experiences high-quality care, support and learning, tailored to their rights, needs and wishes.
We inspect individual care services, and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
We are offering an excellent temporary opportunity for an energetic and creative communications coordinator to join our communications team at the Care Inspectorate. You will be a key member of our team, providing a wide range of skills, experience, knowledge, and advice to support the communications activity for a diverse range of projects.
About you
You will be Educated to degree level or equivalent, you will have a successful record of accomplishment in communications with extensive experience of delivering a wide range of creative solutions across the broad spectrum of communication channels.
You will be highly motivated and enthusiastic with excellent interpersonal skills along with the ability to react to changing priorities and conflicting demands while building effective working relationships.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Lisa Rooke (Head of Corporate Policy & Communication) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and equal opportunities form and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08:00 on Monday 29 April 2024.
Assessment and interviews are expected to be in person at our Dundee ofice after 8 May 2024.
Communications Manager
Job title: Communications Manager
Salary: £49,227 to £54,441
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Permanent
About us
We are the independent scrutiny and improvement support body for social care and social work services in Scotland. We provide assurance for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is for world-class social care and social work in Scotland, where everyone in every community experiences high-quality care, support and learning, tailored to their rights, needs and wishes.
We inspect individual care services, and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
This exciting opportunity has become available due to the retirement of the existing post holder. Your role will be to support the Care Inspectorate on the direction, delivery and implementation of the communications strategy of the Care Inspectorate - alongside the Media Manager, Strategic Communications Adviser and other members of the communications and policy team - and to implement innovative communication methods which ensure all stakeholders are kept well informed and support new media development.
About you
You will be educated to degree level or equivalent and have proven communications experience at all levels across an organisation and experience of line management of staff. You should possess a comprehensive understanding of various communication strategies and techniques. For success in this role, you should possess exceptional interpersonal skills and have the ability to collaborate effectively with internal teams and external partners.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Lisa Rooke (Head of Corporate Policy & Communication) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and equal opportunities form and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8:00 on Monday 29 April 2024. Assessment and interviews are expected to be after 8 May 2024.
Consultations
We are committed to consulting with all our stakeholders about our work. We value your thoughts and welcome any comments that you have.
Sign up to our consultation platform to stay up to date with all our open consultations.
Open consultations
Shared inspection framework for ELC services including childminding and school-aged childcare
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland are working together to progress the development of a shared inspection framework. We would very much welcome your insights and contributions and invite you to answer four short questions to let us know what is most important to you when considering the development of a shared inspection framework. You can take part in this consultation here.
Closed consultations
Depriving and restricting liberty for children and young people in care home, school care and secure accommodation services
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.
Staffing method framework
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.
Mainstream Boarding Schools and School Hostels Design Guide
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.
Review of our Technology and Digital Opportunities Guide
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between March 21 and April 11 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation here.
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between October 26 and November 28 2021. We will review this feedback and issue a repsonse shortly.
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between November 8 and December 5 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation here.
Care Homes for Adults – The Design Guide and Care Homes for Children and Young People – The Design Guide
We would like to thank everyone who responded to the above consultation between 21 June and 19 July 2021. You can review the feedback from this consultation, and our response to the feedback below:
Corporate parenting
Corporate Parents are public bodies with legal duties and responsibilities towards care experienced children and young people. Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, 2014 relates to Corporate Parenting. This applies to every child who is looked after by a local authority, and every young person under the age of 26, who was looked after on their 16th birthday.
Our organisation is one of a list of 24 corporate parents mentioned in the Act.
A person is care experienced if they have ever been looked after by a local authority; whether that be in foster care, kinship care, residential care, secure care, or if they have been subject to compulsory measures of supervision at home. Children and young people who are care experienced have among the poorest outcomes of all children and young people in Scotland. It is our job as corporate parents to try and improve this.
In 2020, we took the decision to refer to care experienced young people as “our children and young people”. This reflects our values, responsibilities and commitments as corporate parents.
As a corporate parent, we expect to carry out many of the roles any parent should. We have a duty to work with other corporate parents, to best meet our shared responsibilities, promote the wellbeing of our children and young people and keep them safe from harm.
Our Corporate Parenting Report (2017-2020)
Our corporate parenting group has made some significant achievements during the three-year cycle of our plan, which are discussed in our corporate parenting report (2017-2020). We also have a version of our corporate parenting report for children and young people.
Some of our key achievements and improvement include:
- The development of a complaints text service for children and young people and improved materials to inform children and young people on how they can make a complaint.
- Personal care planning guidance: our children and young people have personal plans. These give guidance to care services on how to meet their needs, wishes and choices. We met 120 of our children and young people to help them develop these to a high standard.
- Our young inspection volunteers support a range of our inspection activities. This short video provides a little insight into how they help us engage with children and young people meaningfully.
- We have worked with Who Cares? Scotland and our young inspection volunteers to develop and deliver training for all board members, executive group members and senior managers.
Our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023)
Our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023) has six high level commitments with four areas of focus and a set of detailed actions. We have also developed a version of our Corporate Parenting Plan for Children and Young People.
We pledge to listen to our children and young people, take action and do our best to improve their life chances. These are our six commitments. The action plan in our Corporate Parenting Plan (2021-2023) shows in detail how we will meet them:
- We will strive to meet the needs of our young people and promote their rights.
- We will listen to our young people and we will learn how their experiences of the ‘care system’ can best shape our approach to scrutiny, engagement and improvement to help improve the lives of others.
- We will continue to inspect different services and partnerships and report on how well they work together. We will help services share what works well and learn from what needs to improve, to help make sure that our young people get the right support at the right time.
- When one of our young people makes a complaint about the care they receive, we will take that complaint seriously and we will respond in a timely, thorough and proportionate way. We will always provide feedback to the person who made the complaint in a way that they will understand.
- We will improve opportunities for our young people to develop skills, experience, and confidence to achieve their personal, employment and career ambitions.
- We will work with other corporate parents to make sure that together we can do our best for our young people.
Covid-19 FAQs
As information, guidance and practice about Covid-19 is becoming established and less subject to rapid change, we are no longer maintaining the Covid-19 FAQs or the Covid-19 compendium. For key information, visit our Covid-19 information pages and the following links.
Guidance for Adult social care
- SG Adult Social Care Covid-19 guidance: This page holds for example guidance for adult care homes, visiting in care homes, care at home/sheltered housing, day care for adults, testing and vaccine.
- NHS Education Scotland: National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM)
- Care Home IPC Manual (CHIPCM)
- CH Cleaning Specification guide
- NHS Inform, Coronavirus (Covid-19): Guidance for visiting loved ones in an adult care homeCoronavirus (Covid-19): Guidance for visiting loved ones in an adult care home
Guidance for early learning, school aged childcare and childminder settings
- SG Early learning, school aged childcare and childminder settings on reducing the risks of Covid-19
- SG Routine Covid Precautions in Schools: guidance on reducing the risks in schools.
- ELC IPC elearning module
Guidance for Children and Young People (CYP)
Other useful links for all social care settings
- Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life
- All social care staff can register for an account with TURAS using this link. Once registered you will have access to a range of online education and training including, IPC modules relevant to social care or equivalent. IPC Foundations module can be found on learn zone.
- SSSC Infection Prevention and Control modules
- PHS Social Care Guidance
- National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM): This is deemed good practice in all other social care settings that are not adult care homes.
- SG Test and protect: Information and support for people who are asked to self-isolate because of Covid-19.
- NHS Inform: Covid-19 guidance for general information about Covid-19 and associated Covid-19 outbreak protective measures.
- Winter (21/22) Respiratory Infections in Health and Care Settings Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Addendum
- Disposal of LFD tests: SEPA position statement.
- HSE Disinfecting Premises
- National Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland Compendium
- SG Coronavirus (Covid-19): advice for people on the Highest Risk List
Subcategories
Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
The early learning and childcare expansion…
Role: Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Location: Forth Valley, Borders, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Salary: £31,083 - £39,069 plus excellent benefits
Hours: 140 hours to be worked over a 4-week period
Contract: Permanent or 2-year secondment (would be considered)
Join us and make a difference – for you, for everyone
It’s our job to ensure care for everyone, everywhere in Scotland is as good as it can be. If you are as passionate about high-quality care as we are, and you’re experienced in your field, we’d love to hear from you.
About us
As a national scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect care services and partnerships across Scotland, report on the quality of care people experience, and support improvements in services to facilitate improvements in outcomes for people.
We inspect care services individually. We also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in local areas.
We champion high-quality care whenever we encounter it across the thousands of inspections, we carry out each year, and we work closely with all care providers to support them to improve all the time. We collaborate with other organisations too, supporting improvement across public services. Our work plays a big role in reducing health and social inequalities between people and communities.
We are looking for talented people to join us in making a difference - specialists who understand how to put people’s needs, rights and choices at the heart of delivering social services – and how to lead improvement too. Our 600 staff work with services across the public, voluntary and private sectors. We have offices across Scotland and many of our staff work from home.
About you
Whether early or established in your career, you will share our determination that care, social work and justice services should work well for people – every time. You’ll be confident about what good-quality care looks like and how to deliver it. You’ll be good at analysing information and evidence. You will have excellent writing skills for narrative inspection reports that are clear, concise and focused on outcomes. You will be confident in working with a wide range of people and at supporting and advising on improvement.
You’ll currently be working, or have significant experience in, social care, social work, health, children’s services, early learning, child protection, or community learning and development. You will be registered or eligible to register with a professional body like the SSSC, NMC or GTC.
About the role
Our care inspectors work with care services: childminders, nurseries, care homes, care at home, housing support and a host of other specialist services. A specialist in your field, you may have helped lead a service and have a strong track record in delivering quality. You’ll be adept at leading improvement and influencing others. You will work with people experiencing care, and care service providers, managers and staff.
Why join us?
We strive to be a great employer, knowing that competitive salary, leave and pension schemes are only part of that. We pride ourselves on the values we hold, person-centred; fairness; respect; efficiency and integrity - all supported with a culture of care and kindness.
We believe in collective leadership and innovation. You’ll have a lot of autonomy to manage your own work and use the professional skills you’ve honed during your career – but in new ways. Starting on day one, our learning and development support will help you become confident in the craft of scrutiny and in supporting improvement. Because a lot of your role is about sharing effective practice across Scotland, the impact you can have on experiences and outcomes for people is significant. You will draw on management and leadership skills you’ve developed in the past.
We’re proud to be a progressive, supportive employer – we’re happy to talk about flexible working with you and we’re members of the Disability Confident Scheme, aiming to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to the workplace.
New appointments will normally be placed on the minimum grade for the role; a higher starting salary may be offered in exceptional circumstances only.
ELC expansion
The Scottish Government is committed to expanding the provision of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 hours to 1140 hours per year by 2020. The expansion of ELC is aimed to support the reduction in the poverty-related attainment gap and improve long term outcomes for children and families.
Due to the ELC expansion programme we are looking for 7 further ELC Inspectors in addition to the “business as usual” Inspector campaign launched recently.
Principles and aims
The priority for the expansion to 1140 hours is to improve children's outcomes and close the poverty-related attainment gap. In addition, the expansion aims to support parents into work, study or training. The Scottish Government's four principles of the ELC expansion are: quality, flexibility, affordability, and accessibility.
The Scottish Government has stated that quality is 'at the heart' of the expansion and that achieving a high-quality ELC experience for children is a key objective.
Use and provision
A 2018 survey found that the main reason why parents use funded ELC is that they consider it beneficial for their child's learning and development. In addition, parents reported using the funded hours to either work, increase the number of hours they work, or look for work.
Funded ELC in Scotland is delivered by a wide range of providers including nurseries, crèches and playgroups, from across the public, private and third sectors. A small number of childminders also deliver funded ELC, but the Scottish Government hopes this number will increase under the expansion to 1140 hours.
Criteria to apply
- We require you to hold a relevant qualification (minimum SCQF Level 9), register with either the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) or any other relevant professional body and undertake PVG checks.
- You must also be prepared to do a Professional Development Award in Scrutiny and Improvement (Social Services) at SCQF level 10 with appropriate support from the organisation.
- You will have a minimum of three years recent and demonstrable management experience in a relevant field. You must also be willing to travel with overnight stays as required.
Before you apply
- Please contact the relevant body directly to resolve any queries you have regarding registration or eligible qualifications for registration (SSSC, NMC and so on) before submitting your application.
- For an informal chat about the job role, please contact (Who?) You or Kim Connolly, Team Manager on 07766133161
- For all other queries, please contact Human Resources at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To apply
- If you are interested, please see the minimum criteria to apply as an Inspector and the specific guidance and directions to apply. Thereafter, click on the gateway questions link to apply.
- Your completed application form (campaign number C39 only forms) and equal opportunities form should be returned to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.no later than Monday, 14 October 2019 at 8.00am.
- We anticipate that selection days will take place in the week commencing Monday, 18 November 2019.