Inspector (children and young people services)
Salary: £46,569 - £54,975 plus excellent benefits
Location: mainland Scotland, with a focus on the central belt
Closing date: 08:00 on Monday 27 October 2025
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Help shape the future for children and young people in Scotland
At the Care Inspectorate, we believe that everyone has the right to high-quality care that supports their choices, respects their rights, and meets their needs. That’s why our inspectors play such an essential role: working directly with care providers, people experiencing care, and partner organisations to drive up standards, support improvement, and ensure that care is consistently safe, effective, compassionate, and person-centred.
We are currently recruiting for experienced professionals to join our children and young people team as inspectors, to fill vacancies in line with our future inspection plans. In addition, we are looking to build our talent pool so we can respond more flexibly to future workforce needs and continue to deliver high-quality scrutiny and improvement support across Scotland.
Join us in shaping a more inclusive and equitable care system. If you’re driven to make a difference, we want to hear from you.
What the role involves
As an inspector in our children and young people team, you’ll play a vital role in supporting better experiences and outcomes for children and young people across Scotland. You’ll plan and carry out scrutiny and assurance activities in registered care services, working closely with providers, managers, staff, and, most importantly, children and young people who experience care.
Your work will involve inspecting services, evaluating quality, providing feedback, and supporting improvement. You’ll assess services against the Health and Social Care Standards, highlight good practice, and, where necessary, take regulatory action.
You’ll also contribute to internal learning, support national projects, and collaborate with other scrutiny bodies and the Scottish Government to help deliver the best possible impact for children and young people.
We are proud to be a Corporate Parent and are committed to delivering on Scotland’s Promise to care-experienced children and young people. You’ll play a key role in helping ensure services create the conditions where children feel loved, safe, and respected, and are supported to thrive. Listening to children and young people is central to how we work, their voices shape what we focus on and how we support improvement.
Lauren, inspector, said: “If you’re passionate about the care young people receive and enjoy working alongside professionals to help improvement, then this is the job for you”.
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What you’ll bring
You’ll have recent experience of supporting the delivery of high-quality care for children and young people, along with a strong understanding of current developments and the challenges facing the sector. You will bring insight, compassion, and a deep commitment to making a difference in the lives of looked-after children and young people.
You will have leadership experience from roles such as registered care service manager, deputy manager, social worker, senior social worker, or social work manager. This could be through formal management, senior practitioner experience or leading key projects or strategic developments. We are particularly interested in those with backgrounds in residential care, housing support, throughcare or aftercare services.
You’ll be confident in assessment, critical analysis, and evidence-based decision-making, with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally, both in writing and in conversation. You’ll also bring a strong value base rooted in listening to children and young people and acting on what matters to them.
Please note, these posts are not aimed at applicants with an early learning and childcare only background. If your experience is primarily in early learning and childcare, we encourage you to apply for future vacancies aligned with that specialism.
Qualifications and registration