Salary: £49,710 – £54,975

Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)

Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract: Temporary Maternity Cover to 6 January 2026

About us

We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection 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 that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.

We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. 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.

Starting Salary

Please bear in mind that new entrants start on the grade minimum for the role. However, we have a generous benefits package which you will find on our website.

About the role

Due to a period of maternity leave, reporting to the Head of Legal Services, you will have the opportunity to play an influential role in the regulation and improvement of care services. You will provide legal advice to operational staff within the Care Inspectorate. You will provide legal support for a wide range of team based corporate projects and contribute to the development of policy and guidance. You will also undertake some appearance work, representing the Care Inspectorate at court hearings and inquiries.

About you

The ideal candidate will be confident, articulate and have excellent communication skills. You will have at least 2 years’ post qualifying experience but could be an experienced solicitor interested in a challenging and varied post. You should have Sheriff Court experience, preferably in relation to statutory licensing or regulatory matters and you will hold, or be entitled to hold, a full Practising Certificate issued by the Law Society of Scotland.

Please note, if you don’t meet the full two years essential experience listed in the person specification of ‘relevant post qualifying experience, including recent Sheriff Court experience’ but still feel you meet the remaining essential criteria, then we would still consider an application from you.

To apply

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 Kenneth McClure, Head of Legal Services, at kenneth.mcclure @careinspectorate.gov.scot – please note our offices are closed during the Christmas holidays.

If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please complete our online application form by 08:00 on Monday 6 January 2025.

We expect interviews to take place no sooner than 23 January 2025.