Business Planning Officer

Grade C - £34,890 (National) or £40,746 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home. For part time roles – please note this will be pro rata

Contracted Hours: : Full-time 37 hours per week. Talk to us about compressed hours

Contract Type: : Secondment opportunity for up to 12 months to cover maternity leave

Applicants must obtain written confirmation from their line manager, granting permission to be released from their current role, before applying for this opportunity

Location: Home-based OR office-based opportunity, flexible location. You can also opt for hybr . id working (3 office days and 2 days a week from home). CQC’s offices are in London, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham and Bristol

Closing date: Wednesday 1 July 2026 at 11.59pm

Make a difference Every role at CQC helps us improve the quality of health and social care. If you want a role in Business Planning with real purpose, you’ve found it. You’ll support how we plan and deliver our work, helping turn our strategy into clear, joined-up plans across the organisation.

Picture this In the last 12 months, as a Business Planning Officer , you could have:

• Helped introduce a new planning approach using OKRs, making it easier for teams to track progress and see how their work connects to CQC’s goals.
• Worked with colleagues across different teams to bring together plans, spotting links and reducing overlap on shared projects.
• Supported a new system to track key measures, helping leaders see what is working and where improvements are needed.

The role You’ll play a key role in the organisation by

• Supporting the planning cycle, helping teams stay on track with clear timelines and guidance.
• Maintaining performance measures and making sure they are used effectively across the organisation.
• Working with teams to link their plans to CQC’s strategy and priorities.
• Tracking progress on projects and initiatives, ensuring outcomes are clear and measurable.
• Preparing clear reports, briefings and presentations to support decision-making.

Show us Please show how you meet these requirements

• Experience supporting business planning or performance reporting processes (for example, creating plans, tracking measures, or using frameworks such as scorecards).
• Experience working with data or information to produce clear reports or insights for others.
• Experience working with teams across an organisation to support planning, projects or shared goals.

Compliance

This is a secondment opportunity. Please read the recruitment and selection policy section on secondments. You must discuss your application with your line manager before applying.

Next steps If you apply, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Your application will be completely anonymous. Please see our information for applicants for more details on the process. We contact every applicant to let them know the outcome of their application, so you will hear from us whether or not you are shortlisted.

You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description

If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Dean Austyn, Business Planning Manager; dean.austyn@cqc.org.uk. For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk .

The Benefits We offer a wide range of benefits , including

• Annual leave starting at 27 days per year, rising to 32.5 days with service, plus bank holidays (usually 8 days per year).
• Training and development opportunities.
• Wellbeing initiatives, such as gym discounts and meditation.
• NHS pension scheme, with around 14% employer contribution.
• Discount schemes (including eligibility for a Blue Light card, at a cost of £4.99 and valid for 2 years), reward vouchers, car leasing and more!

Please see our benefits page for the full list.

Equity for all We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re a good fit. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic minority backgrounds). If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply. Your unique perspective, skills, and experience could be exactly what we need.

We want every candidate to feel supported and able to do their best. If you need adjustments to our process, we’ll work with you to remove any barriers . Visit our accessibility page for more on this. If you’d like to chat, please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk . Please note, if you have previously informed us of adjustments you need for interview or within your role these are not carried over and must be discussed for each individual application you make.

We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority . Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission and make our culture stronger. See our ED&I page for more about this.

We welcome applications from everyone, and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks. This includes people of any:

• Age
• Sex
• Gender identity or expression
• Sexual orientation
• Religion or belief
• Ethnicity
• Disability

Values and vision We are guided by our core values, which shape our work and our culture. Excellence – being a high-performing organisation. Caring – treating everyone with dignity and respect. Integrity – doing the right thing. Teamwork – learning from each other to be the best we can. We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.

A Note on AI AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind:

• AI can support research, structuring and refining your writing, but your application must reflect your real skills and experience .
• Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
• Do not copy and paste AI generated answers. These will not help you stand out; remember we want to hear about your skills and experience.
• Providing false and insincere examples goes against our core values of honesty and integrity and may lead to your application being withdrawn or termination of your employment.