Group Quality & Compliance Manager
Location: Head Office, Uxbridge, with regular travel to care homes across the Group
Coverage: Homes currently located across the South and South West of England and Bedfordshire, with further acquisitions in progress
Hours: Full-time
Reports to: Directors
Role: Group Quality & Compliance Manager
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Group Quality & Compliance Manager to join our growing care home group.
This is a newly created position and will be the first dedicated operational support role within our Head Office in Uxbridge. The successful candidate will work closely with the Directors, Registered Managers and senior teams across our nursing and residential care homes to ensure consistently high standards of care, compliance and governance.
Our existing homes are located across Plymouth, Portsmouth, Folkestone and Bedford, and the Group is currently in the process of acquiring further care homes as part of its continued expansion. Regular travel and presence within the homes will therefore be an essential part of the role.
This is not intended to be a desk-based compliance position. We are looking for someone who will actively support our Registered Managers, spend time within the services, identify areas requiring improvement and help implement practical solutions.
The Group Quality & Compliance Manager will be expected to balance support with constructive challenge, helping managers achieve and maintain high standards while providing the Directors with clear assurance regarding the quality and compliance of each service.
Key ResponsibilitiesQuality Assurance and Governance
- Develop, implement and maintain a consistent Group-wide quality assurance and governance framework.
- Undertake regular scheduled and unannounced quality and compliance visits across all homes.
- Complete comprehensive audits of each service and produce clear, prioritised action plans.
- Monitor agreed actions through to completion and verify that improvements have become embedded in practice.
- Identify trends, recurring concerns and areas of risk across individual homes and the wider Group.
- Produce regular quality and compliance reports for the Directors.
- Develop Group-level dashboards and key performance indicators to enable effective oversight of each home.
- Support the development of a strong culture of continuous improvement rather than compliance being treated simply as an auditing exercise.
CQC Compliance
- Support Registered Managers in maintaining compliance with the Health and Social Care Act, CQC Fundamental Standards and other applicable regulatory requirements.
- Support homes in maintaining ongoing CQC readiness rather than preparing only when an inspection is anticipated.
- Carry out mock CQC inspections and service reviews.
- Review evidence against the CQC assessment framework and identify potential gaps.
- Assist managers in preparing for inspections and responding appropriately to CQC enquiries.
- Support the preparation and monitoring of action plans arising from CQC inspections or other regulatory activity.
- Review CQC notifications and advise managers where necessary.
- Support the Group in achieving and maintaining strong CQC ratings.
Supporting Registered Managers
- Develop effective and professional working relationships with each Registered Manager.
- Act as a central point of support for managers on quality, governance and compliance matters.
- Provide practical assistance where a service requires improvement rather than simply identifying deficiencies.
- Coach and support managers to develop stronger governance and quality management systems.
- Help managers prioritise competing compliance and operational requirements.
- Challenge managers appropriately where required while maintaining a supportive and solutions-focused approach.
- Escalate significant concerns, repeated non-compliance or lack of progress to the Directors.
- Support newly appointed managers and managers taking responsibility for newly acquired homes.
The role does not replace the accountability of the Registered Manager for their individual service. Its purpose is to provide additional Group-level oversight, expertise, support and challenge.
Care Quality and Clinical Governance
Working alongside Registered Managers and clinical leads where applicable:
- Review the quality of care planning, risk assessments and documentation.
- Audit medication management and medication governance.
- Review infection prevention and control arrangements.
- Monitor falls, pressure damage, weight loss, accidents, incidents and other clinical quality indicators.
- Review safeguarding activity and ensure concerns are appropriately managed and escalated.
- Review hospital admissions and other significant clinical events where appropriate.
- Monitor dependency, staffing levels and whether staffing arrangements reflect residents' needs.
- Review management of deteriorating residents and escalation of clinical concerns.
- Identify patterns or emerging risks across services.
- Share learning and good practice between homes.
The post holder will not be expected to replace the clinical responsibilities of nurses, Clinical Leads or Registered Managers but will provide Group-level oversight and assurance.
Audits and Compliance Monitoring
Develop, coordinate and where appropriate undertake audits covering areas including:
- Care plans and risk assessments
- Medication
- Infection prevention and control
- Safeguarding
- Falls
- Pressure care
- Nutrition and hydration
- Weight monitoring
- Accidents and incidents
- Complaints
- Staffing
- Staff files
- Recruitment compliance
- DBS and right-to-work documentation
- Training and competency
- Supervisions and appraisals
- Mental Capacity Act and DoLS
- Health and safety
- Fire safety
- Environmental standards
- Equipment and maintenance
- Resident records
- Governance documentation
Audit systems should focus not only on identifying non-compliance but also on demonstrating that corrective actions have been completed and sustained.
Incidents, Safeguarding and Complaints
- Provide oversight of significant incidents across the Group.
- Support managers in investigating serious or complex incidents.
- Review safeguarding concerns and ensure appropriate referrals and notifications have been made.
- Support managers with serious or complex complaints.
- Ensure learning from incidents, safeguarding concerns and complaints is shared across the Group where appropriate.
- Identify trends indicating systemic or recurring concerns.
- Escalate serious risks promptly to the Directors.
Policies, Procedures and Best Practice
- Support the Directors in reviewing and implementing Group policies and procedures.
- Ensure policies are effectively translated into practice within each home.
- Monitor changes in regulation and sector guidance and assist the Group in responding appropriately.
- Work with external policy and compliance providers where applicable.
- Help ensure managers and staff understand new policies rather than relying solely on policy distribution.
- Standardise appropriate systems and processes across the Group while recognising the operational needs of individual homes.
Workforce Compliance
Working alongside Registered Managers and Head Office:
- Monitor mandatory training compliance.
- Review staff competency arrangements.
- Audit recruitment files and safer recruitment compliance.
- Review DBS, right-to-work and employment documentation.
- Monitor supervision and appraisal compliance.
- Identify common training or development needs across the Group.
- Assist in developing Group-wide training priorities.
- Support managers where concerns regarding staff competency or practice have been identified.
New Home Integration and Group Development
As the Group expands, the post holder will play an important role in integrating newly acquired services.
Responsibilities may include:
- Completing initial quality and compliance reviews of newly acquired homes.
- Identifying immediate, medium and longer-term priorities.
- Developing improvement plans with the Registered Manager and Directors.
- Introducing Group governance and reporting systems.
- Supporting managers and staff during periods of transition.
- Helping standardise policies, systems and expected standards across the Group.
- Monitoring progress following acquisition or management changes.
- Supporting due diligence and post-acquisition quality reviews where required.
Management Information and Director Reporting
Provide the Directors with clear visibility of quality across the organisation, including:
- CQC readiness
- Significant incidents
- Safeguarding
- Complaints
- Medication incidents
- Falls
- Pressure damage
- Infection control
- Staffing and dependency concerns
- Training compliance
- Recruitment compliance
- Audit performance
- Outstanding actions
- Regulatory concerns
- Emerging risks
Reports should clearly distinguish between:
Green: satisfactory/compliant
Amber: requires improvement or monitoring
Red: significant concern requiring immediate management attention
The post holder will be expected to raise significant concerns directly with the Directors rather than waiting for routine reporting meetings.
Working Arrangements and Travel
The role will be based from the Group's Head Office in Uxbridge, combined with regular travel to the Group's care homes. Travel costs to the Homes will be covered by the company.
The current portfolio includes homes in:
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth
- Folkestone
- Bedford
The Group is currently in the process of acquiring further care homes and expects its portfolio to continue expanding.
The successful candidate must therefore be comfortable with frequent travel and occasional overnight stays where appropriate.
The balance between Head Office and mobile working will vary according to the needs of the services.
The role requires a strong physical presence within the homes and should not be viewed as primarily a remote-working position.
A full UK driving licence and willingness to travel extensively are essential.
Person Specification Essential Experience
The successful candidate should have:
- Significant experience within the UK adult social care sector.
- Strong knowledge of CQC regulations and regulatory expectations.
- Experience of quality assurance, compliance, governance or operational management within care homes.
- Experience conducting audits and developing effective improvement plans.
- Experience supporting services through CQC inspections.
- Experience working with Registered Managers and senior care teams.
- A good understanding of safeguarding, medication management, infection control, care planning, risk management and clinical governance.
- Experience analysing incidents, complaints and quality data.
- Evidence of successfully implementing improvements within care services.
Desirable Experience
It would be advantageous for the successful candidate to have:
- Previous experience as a Registered Manager, Regional Manager, Quality Manager or Compliance Manager.
- Experience working across multiple care homes.
- Experience within both nursing and residential care.
- Experience supporting homes requiring improvement.
- Experience with acquisitions, turnaround situations or integrating new homes into a wider group.
- Nursing or other relevant clinical experience.
- Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification or equivalent.
- Experience dealing directly with CQC, local authorities and safeguarding teams.
Skills and Personal Attributes
We are looking for someone who is:
- Highly organised and able to work independently.
- Confident challenging poor practice when necessary.
- Supportive and approachable when working with managers and staff.
- Practical and solutions-focused.
- Comfortable working directly with company Directors.
- Able to distinguish between minor administrative issues and genuine risks to residents or the organisation.
- Strong at following actions through to completion.
- Able to analyse information and identify trends.
- An effective communicator with strong written skills.
- Able to produce concise and meaningful reports.
- Comfortable moving between strategic Group-level work and detailed operational issues within individual homes.
- Resilient and able to manage difficult conversations professionally.
- Able to build credibility with experienced Registered Managers.
- Passionate about improving standards of care.
What Success in the Role Will Look Like
The successful candidate will help create a Group where:
- Every home is continuously CQC-ready.
- Directors have clear oversight of quality and risk.
- Registered Managers receive meaningful support rather than simply additional audits.
- Problems are identified early.
- Action plans are completed rather than remaining outstanding.
- Good practice is shared between homes.
- Systems and standards become increasingly consistent across the Group.
- Managers are held appropriately accountable while being supported to succeed.
- Newly acquired homes can be integrated into the Group effectively.
- Residents receive safe, effective and consistently high-quality care.
Authority and Accountability
The Group Quality & Compliance Manager will have authority, on behalf of the Directors, to review all areas relevant to quality, safety and regulatory compliance across the Group.
Where significant risks to residents, staff, regulatory compliance or the organisation are identified, the post holder will be expected to escalate these directly to the Directors.
The Registered Manager remains responsible and accountable for the day-to-day operation and regulatory compliance of their individual service.
The Group Quality & Compliance Manager provides an additional layer of Group-level assurance, support, scrutiny and improvement.
Overall Purpose
This is a key appointment within the continued development of the Group's Head Office function.
The role is intended for someone who wants to have a visible and practical impact across a growing care organisation — working alongside managers, improving systems, raising standards and helping ensure that growth does not come at the expense of quality.
With further care home acquisitions currently progressing through the legal process, the successful candidate will have considerable opportunity to help shape the Group's quality and compliance systems as the organisation continues to expand.
Pay: £50,000.00-£60,000.00 per year
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Uxbridge
