Head of Safeguarding and Compliance

We are looking for an experienced and credible Head of Safeguarding and Compliance to lead on safeguarding, regulatory compliance and complaints across Mencap's services.
This is a pivotal leadership role with organisation-wide responsibility for ensuring our services operate in line with regulatory requirements, safeguarding standards and best practice. As Mencap's Designated Safeguarding Lead, you will provide expert guidance, strengthen systems and processes, and help ensure the people we support and their families receive high-quality, safe and responsive services.
You will also oversee the complaints function, using insight and learning to drive service improvement, and will deputise for the Executive Director of Quality where required.
This role is a full-time, fixed term role for 9 months. We are flexible with regards to your location, but you may need to travel to various locations across England, Wales, and NI as and when needed.
What you'll do
Safeguarding and regulatory compliance

- Lead Mencap's approach to safeguarding and regulatory compliance across services
- Identify, escalate and address areas of potential non-compliance, recommending actions to reduce risk and prevent recurrence
- Act as the organisation's Designated Safeguarding Lead and provide expert advice on safeguarding matters
- Ensure incidents are reported accurately and on time to relevant regulatory bodies
- Oversee the collection, analysis and use of safeguarding and regulatory performance data to support decision-making and risk management
- Contribute to organisational leadership by advising on safeguarding, quality and compliance matters

Complaints and service improvement

- Oversee Mencap's complaints and feedback processes to ensure a high-quality experience for people we support and their families
- Act as the organisation's external contact for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
- Promote compassionate, timely and effective handling of complaints
- Use feedback, complaints and insight to support learning, continuous improvement and better outcomes

Risk and assurance

- Lead risk management activity within the Quality Directorate, working in partnership with the Director of Quality.
- Assess risks relating to non-compliance and work with colleagues to develop and implement improvement plans
- Ensure high-quality reporting and management information is available to provide assurance to senior leaders and the Board

You will be a strong and values-led leader with significant experience in safeguarding, compliance and quality within regulated services. You will bring sound judgement, strong analytical skills and the ability to influence at all levels of the organisation.
You will also have:

- Extensive knowledge of social care legislation and regulatory frameworks
- Expert knowledge of safeguarding practice and experience acting as a subject matter expert
- Knowledge of legislation and regulatory frameworks relevant to further education
- Strong understanding of regulatory and contractual requirements for services supporting people with a learning disability
- Experience of leading and developing teams
- Experience of developing policies and procedures that support best practice
- Strong experience of working with people with a learning disability
- The ability to interpret complex data and use it to inform risk management and decision-making
- Excellent communication, planning and organisational skills
- Experience of driving continuous improvement and implementing change

Leadership and values
At Mencap, our leaders champion Our Leadership Way and role model our values in everything they do. In this role, you will be expected to lead with professionalism, positivity and purpose, supporting your team to perform at their best and engage fully in development opportunities, including appraisal and talent programmes.
We are looking for someone who is passionate about improving the lives of people with a learning disability, who understands the wider context in which we work, and who can build strong collaboration across teams and functions to deliver joined-up, high-quality support.
Additional requirements

- Flexibility to meet the needs of the role, including evening work and regular overnight stays away from home
- Ability to travel across the UK as required, Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .

For more details on what we have to offer, please see the attached document outlining all the fantastic benefits available to you as a member of our team!

About Mencap
Our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives.
We're here to support people with a learning disability, their families and their carers. We fight for a kinder, fairer and more inclusive society for people with a learning disability to live in.
At Mencap, everyone works with people with a learning disability either providing support or advice, or alongside one another as colleagues.
Belonging at Mencap is for everyone, every day, everywhere.
Everyone is expected to treat people well and make Mencap an inclusive organisation.
Every day we grow and learn. It's okay to make mistakes but we learn from them and make changes
Everywhere people will feel respected, valued, and safe to be themselves.
We have Belonging network groups that meet online and are open to all colleagues. The groups include people who identify as Black and Asian, LGBTQIA+, disabled or with a long- term health condition, women, parents and carers, and their allies.

Here at Mencap, we offer an impressive range of benefits designed to support and reward our employees to ensure that our teams feel valued and appreciated.
Our benefits package offers 32 days of paid holiday (including bank holidays, pro rata), along with a range of perks such as discounts at leading high-street retailers, access to health cash plans, interest-free loans, and many more exciting offerings.