The Scottish Government
Appointment of Members to the Board of the Care Inspectorate
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About The Care Inspectorate
The Care Inspectorate is the independent assurance and improvement body for social care services and social work in Scotland. It plays a central role in providing public confidence that people experience safe, high-quality care that meets their needs, respects their rights and supports positive outcomes.
The organisation is responsible for registering, inspecting and regulating a wide range of care services for children, young people, adults and older people. It also receives and resolves complaints and, where necessary, takes action to ensure services improve when standards are not met. Alongside its regulatory role, the Care Inspectorate supports ongoing improvement across the sector by promoting effective self‑evaluation, sharing good practice and working collaboratively with services and partners.
Its work extends beyond individual services to include strategic and joint inspections with partner bodies, examining how well local systems support people across areas such as children’s services, adult care, justice and community-based provision. All activity is risk-based, proportionate and evidence-led, ensuring resources are targeted where they are needed most.
The Care Inspectorate was established under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 as Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS), with a statutory regulatory role under this Act and the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 to provide scrutiny, assurance and support improvement in care.
The Care Inspectorate’s vision is that everyone in Scotland experiences high-quality, compassionate care, support and learning that upholds their rights and choices. Its mission is to deliver public assurance and drive improvement by placing people at the centre of its work, supporting services to improve, acting where outcomes fall short, and keeping the public informed about the quality of care across Scotland.
The organisation is guided by a strong set of values: person-centred, impact, respect, equity and integrity, which underpin its approach to regulation, improvement and engagement. Its strategic focus is on assuring and improving services, involving and informing the public, and upholding and championing people’s rights.
The Board Of The Care Inspectorate
The members of the Board play a vital role in the governance of the Care Inspectorate, setting its strategic direction and considering legislation and policy guidance set by the Scottish Government.
It is important that the Care Inspectorate Board has members with a variety of different skills and experience that enable the Board to work effectively. It is unlikely that anyone joining the Board will have all the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to fully carry out the role from the start of their appointment. What we are looking for is someone who can put their skills, knowledge and experience to use for the benefit of the Board, and who has the capacity and commitment to grow and develop into the role.
As a Board member, you will be expected to uphold the principles of the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice, a framework that guides how regulators in Scotland exercise their functions. The Code promotes regulation that is proportionate, transparent, consistent and accountable, while supporting public confidence and effective collaboration.
You will work with the Chair and other members of the Care Inspectorate Board to:
- ensure the Board acts in the best interests of the person receiving care and support, and maintain public confidence in the organisation as a public body;
- ensure the Board develops vision, strategies and clear objectives to deliver organisational purpose in the context of Scottish Government policies and priorities;
- account individually and collectively for the effectiveness of the Board as it governs the organisation;
- provide purposeful scrutiny and assurance on the decisions the Board makes, ensuring the appropriate systems are in place to monitor organisation performance and impact, and effectively hold the executives to account;
- chair or participate as a member of sub-committees and working groups as part of deeper oversight, scrutiny and accountability process within the Board, ensuring all organisational functions are aligned with strategy and purpose;
- foster and champion a healthy organisational culture, modelling expected behaviours and values, and contribute to effective governance through the provision of support, scrutiny, and constructive challenge; and
- uphold the highest ethical standards of integrity and probity, being honest and trustworthy, and comply with the Board’s Code of Conduct and the nine principles of public life in Scotland, derived from those set out by the Committee of Standards in Public Life.
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Further Information
If you would like a chat about the role, please contact Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive, by email at jackie.irvine@careinspectorate.gov.scot. Further information about the Care Inspectorate, including its Corporate Plan, can be found at www.careinspectorate.com.
Remuneration And Time Commitment
Remuneration is £214.00 per day, for a time commitment of on average up to two days per month. You would also receive allowances at rates set by Scottish Government for relevant travel and subsistence costs. All reasonable expenses, for example childcare, will be paid to help you focus on your work with the Board.
The time commitment is a mix of daytime Board meetings (which Board members are required to attend), committee meetings, working groups, some stakeholder engagement, development and strategy days, and reading documents. There are four formal Board meetings per year, usually in person, in public and held at the organisation’s headquarters in Dundee. However, it may be possible to plan to attend virtually if required.
Skills And Experience
We are seeking to strengthen skills and experience on the Board in relation to Financial Leadership and Governance as well as essential board skills. All successful candidates will meet all of the essential criteria. Following appointment, the successful candidates will be considered and, in due course, one will be nominated to the role of Chair of the Care Inspectorate’s Audit and Risk Committee.
You may have gained your experience through work, by being active in your community, in a voluntary capacity or through your lived experience.
Essential Criteria
Candidates must be able to demonstrate that they meet all of the essential criteria. All four essential criteria are assessed at application and at interview:
- Financial Leadership and Governance: demonstrates significant experience and sound judgement in financial management, control, risk and governance, with the ability to provide strategic oversight, constructive challenge and leadership to support robust decision-making and effective stewardship of public resources.
- Motivation and demonstrates the Care Inspectorate Values: person-centred, impact, respect, equity and integrity.
- Decision making and governance.
- Communication, influencing and challenge.
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As part of the interview, candidates will also complete a Board Paper Exercise:
The Board Paper Exercise will assess one (or more) of the essential criteria, which you will be told when the board paper is sent out in advance of the interview.
You will also be expected to show, in the evidence you give at application and at interview, how your behaviours and approach have been guided by the Care Inspectorate values. This will be assessed throughout the process.
Full details, including example indicators for each criterion, are set out in the Person Specification in the Applicant Information Pack.
Application Information
You will be asked to provide evidence in the online application against each of the four essential criteria (Criteria 1 to 4). Each response must not exceed 400 words. You will also be asked to provide a tailored CV/career history of no more than one A4 page.
To Apply For This Role, Follow These Instructions
- Download and save the Applicant Information Pack.
- Read the ‘person specification’ and ‘how to apply’ sections in the pack, and prepare your evidence against Criteria 1 to 4, noting the 400 word limit for each response and the one page limit for your tailored career history.
- Save a copy of your tailored career history to your device as one PDF.
- Navigate back to this job advert and click ‘apply’.
- Complete the personal information and conflict of interest questions.
- Attach your PDF (the system may ask for a “Resume” but this is where to upload it).
- When prompted, provide your evidence for each essential criterion in the relevant box, stating at the start of each response which criterion it addresses: Criterion 1 (financial leadership and governance), Criterion 2 (motivation and the Care Inspectorate values), Criterion 3 (decision making and governance) and Criterion 4 (communication, influencing and challenge). Each response must not exceed 400 words.
- Submit your application by 17:00 on Tuesday 20 October 2026.
- PLEASE NOTE you do not have the option to edit your application once you click ‘submit’. You must have all your information and attachments to hand before submitting your application.
Late applications will not be accepted. Where responses exceed the word or page limit, the panel may limit their consideration to the required limit.
Shortlisting will take place on 2 November 2026 and applicants will hear about the outcome of their application by 4 November 2026. Interviews will take place on 3 and 4 December 2026 at the Care Inspectorate, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee DD1 4NY. It is unlikely that we will be able to offer an alternative interview date.
Equality Statement
Scottish Ministers value highly the benefits of diverse Public Body Boards. People from all walks of life are encouraged to apply for public appointments.
Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.
This appointment round will provide guaranteed interviews for disabled people who meet the essential criteria being tested at the application stage.
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks: Identity, Right to work, Employment
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