Hearings Committee Secretary

Location: London - HybridSalary: £45,537 - £53,572 paContract: 12-month fixed term contractHours: Full time

Do you have significant experience in committee work and/or drafting, especially in a regulatory body or similar field? Are you seeking a chance to enhance your skills and knowledge within an organisation that offers diverse, engaging, and challenging work? If so, join us and make a meaningful contribution - supporting the Hearings Service in this high profile and public forum.

As part of our commitment to safeguarding patient safety and upholding public trust in dental services, we conduct formal public hearings to address cases involving dental professionals. In the role of Committee Secretary/Senior Hearings Officer, you will play a crucial role in both drafting decisions and providing support for the coordination and management of hearings, related to fitness to practice allegations against dentists and dental care professionals.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Sitting as Committee Secretary in hearings, providing support, procedural advice and guidance to the Chair, Committee Members, Legal Adviser, parties and witnesses.
• Summarising cases and preparing draft determinations, reflecting the Committee's decisions and it's reasons.
• Resolving problems that may arise during a hearing and keeping cases on track.
• Ensuring administrative procedures are carried out in accordance with GDC rules and regulations.
• Deciding on and arranging for payment of all fees due to the Chair and Committee Members for hearings.
• Examining legal information and evaluating case bundles prior to commencement of cases.
• Responding to enquiries and making decisions on behalf of the Head of Hearings or his deputy in their absence.

Most hearings are conducted virtually, although sometimes hearings are listed in-person at the GDC's Central London office. The successful postholder will be expected to be available in either setting.

About you:

• You will require in-depth knowledge and understanding of professional regulation, hearings and/or legal or adjudicatory processes.
• Experience of working as a Committee/Panel Secretary who drafts decisions, not simply minutes of meetings.
• Work well in a highly pressured environment of a public hearing.
• Proficient in determination writing, and the recording of decisions based on the Committee's reasons, within tight time constraints.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, and the ability to provide a professional presence in a formal and public tribunal setting, are equally important.

About us:

Our primary purpose is to protect patient safety and maintain public confidence in dental services. To achieve this, we register qualified dental professionals, set standards for the dental team, investigate complaints about dental professionals' fitness to practise, and work to ensure the quality of dental education.

Our work matters and so do our people. We are committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion by recruiting and strengthening our teams with team members from different backgrounds, life experiences and viewpoints. Equality and diversity are not just words, they are what makes our teams strong and able to deliver. We want to be champions of diversity and to have a sense of belonging in the workplace, where everybody has the chance to contribute and to share what is important to them.

Benefits:

The GDC is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, that provides an environment that reflects our values and culture and allows employees to flourish.

To support this, we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, including flexible working arrangements from day one and employee networks that aid growth and development.

Some of our benefits include:

• 27 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays) - rising to 30 days (plus 8 bank holidays) after 2 years' service
• Flexi-time scheme
• Employer pension contributions up to 10%
• Buy/Sell annual leave
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave from 1 years' service.
• Life assurance, income protection plan and enhanced sick leave policy
• Staff discounts including eye care contributions and discounted gym membership

We encourage and support the recruitment, retention, and career development of people from as wide a range as possible of ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds.

How to apply:

Please click the apply button.

Closing date: 23:59 on 24 October 2025.

As part of your application, you will be required to provide a supporting statement/cover letter. As part of your supporting statement, please expand on your experience of the person specification in the 'About you' section above, using the S.T.A.R method.

Please no agencies unless instructed otherwise.