Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
NELFT is the largest provider of MHST’s in England. Our North East, Southend, Essex and Thurrock services cover 144 schools currently. The service is developing and expanding with an aim to cover all secondary schools in Mid and South Essex by September 2025.
The Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) deliver evidence-based individual interventions and group interventions in educational settings for children experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties aged 5 to 18 years old. The teams also have a strong focus on whole school approaches to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people.
Please note that this role is offered as a job share and relates to two separate contracts. There are two individual posts, each at WTE (15 hours per week), worked over two days. If you are successful, you will be required to work two days per week, and the specific days can be agreed during the interview. A job share is an arrangement where two people share the responsibilities of one full-time role, each working part-time hours. Together, they cover the duties of the position as if they were one full-time employee. If successful you will be joining another Locality Clinical Lead already employed within the service to undertake this one role.
This role is based in South West Essex, covering a large geographical area incorporating the districts of Thurrock, Basildon and Brentwood and Billericay.
Main duties of the job
The Locality Clinical Lead should:
1. Have a current and in date professional registration with a regulatory body ( ACP, UKCP, HCPC, BABCP)
2. Have substantial experience ( more than 2 years, post qualification) working therapeutically with children and families with mental health needs.
3. In depth knowledge and experience of evidence-based practice with children and families (including CBT).
4. Experience of providing and receiving supervision (including CBT-informed practice).
5. Clinical experience and in-depth understanding of effective use of routine outcome measures.
6. Enthusiasm for and knowledge of early intervention and prevention including low intensity support for emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties in an education context.
7. Knowledge of evidence-based interventions for low mood, self‐harm, anxiety and common behaviour difficulties in young children in education settings.
8. Knowledge and understanding of whole school approaches to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
9. Experience of providing consultation in education settings.
10. Experience of service development and multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working.
11. Hold evidence of ongoing continuing professional development in a relevant subject.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind. We are respectful. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We are looking for an experienced Mental Health Practitioner with a UK Professional Registration to join our Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). MHST's are a new service designed to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties within education settings; ensuring children and young people receive faster access to early intervention mental health support. In this post, you will be a senior clinical team member, holding a clinical caseload and supervising junior staff and trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners. You will work alongside partner agencies to develop and co-produce training materials and support the delivery of whole school approach models for mental health.
The successful applicant would have completed the Supervisors Course a fundamental requirement for the post.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
12. Qualified & Registered Mental Health Practitioner (Counselling/Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, Drama Therapist, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist, CBT Therapist, Art Psychotherapist, Advanced Clinical Practitioner)
13. Masters level qualification or equivalent
14. Professional registration with a regulatory body ( ACP, UKCP, HCPC, BABCP)
Desirable criteria
15. CBT training at Pg level if not a CB therapist by background
Experience
Essential criteria
16. At least 2 years’ experience of providing supervision (including CBT-informed practice).
17. Have substantial experience (more than 2 years, post qualification) working therapeutically with children and families with mental health needs
18. Experience in clinical leadership
19. Experience of providing consultation to partner agencies.
20. Experience of working with moderate presentations and neurodivergence
Desirable criteria
21. Experience working with or in educational settings
Knowledge
Essential criteria
22. Knowledge of auditing and service evaluation.
23. Knowledge and understanding of whole school approaches to emotional wellbeing and mental health
Other
Essential criteria
24. To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
25. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
26. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
27. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
28. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.