Lead Quality. Drive Improvement. Shape the Future.

Lancashire is one of the largest and most complex Adult Social Care systems in the country. We are looking for an experienced and credible senior leader who can provide strategic leadership across quality assurance, safeguarding assurance, professional practice, market quality and continuous improvement helping ensure that services are safe, person-centred, strengths-based and focused on delivering better outcomes for people.

This is a broad, influential and high-profile role, working across Adult Social Care, commissioning, operational services and the wider care market. You will lead the development and embedding of quality, safeguarding and professional assurance frameworks, ensuring clear standards, effective governance, robust risk management and a strong culture of continuous improvement.

As Head of Service – Quality Assurance and Improvement, you will play a central role in Lancashire’s preparation for, and response to, Care Quality Commission assessment and assurance activity. You will ensure evidence, self-assessment, improvement plans and governance arrangements are current, robust and clearly owned across the directorate. Working closely with senior leaders, elected members, operational colleagues, commissioning teams and partners, you will bring together performance intelligence, audit, feedback, lived experience and learning to strengthen practice, evidence impact and drive measurable improvement.

You will also provide strategic oversight of the Principal Social Worker and Principal Occupational Therapist functions, ensuring professional standards, practice development, statutory responsibilities and workforce learning are aligned to Lancashire’s priorities and national requirements. Alongside this, you will work with commissioning colleagues and providers to support quality assurance and improvement across the care market, helping to manage risk, strengthen sustainability and improve outcomes for people who draw on care and support.

We’re looking for an accomplished Adult Social Care leader with significant experience operating at scale in a statutory and regulated environment. You will bring strong professional credibility, sound judgement, political awareness and the ability to influence senior stakeholders across complex systems. Whether your background is in social work, commissioning, occupational therapy, nursing or another relevant health and social care discipline, you will be someone who can build confidence, lead through complexity and translate evidence, insight and assurance into meaningful service improvement.

Why Lancashire?

This is a rare opportunity to shape quality, assurance and improvement across a major county-wide Adult Social Care system. You will join an ambitious and collaborative leadership team committed to Lancashire’s vision for Living Better Lives, with a strong focus on strengths-based practice, safe and effective services, professional leadership, partnership working and continuous improvement.

If you’re a values-led Adult Social Care leader with a strong track record in quality, assurance, safeguarding, professional practice and improvement and you want to help shape the future of services across Lancashire we’d love to hear from you.

Closing Date for Applications: Midnight Sunday 23rd August