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
This is an exciting new role within the NHS that offers an opportunity to progress within an operational capacity. We are seeking enthusiastic registered professionals who can undertake the role of Team Lead within the Mental Health Support Teams (MHST). This particular role is based within South East Essex.
The MHST’s work in partnership with schools and colleges to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people. We achieve this through offering 1:1 CBT interventions and whole school approaches (WSA).
As a Team Lead you will work closely with the Operational Manager and Clinical Lead. The Team Lead’s role will be separated into two, with 50% of your time being focused on clinical interventions and oversight and 50% of your time spent with operational responsibilities. A key part of this role be ensuring that we are meeting both operational and clinical targets. You will be responsible for line managing clinical staff whilst also holding a small caseload and having oversight of the delivery of service with in your area.
Main duties of the job
Operational
1) Support with recruitment; including review of job application, interviewing, planning induction package.
2) Sickness and absence management; including return to work meetings, staff wellbeing meetings and referrals to occupational health.
3) Roster management, support with annual leave requests; flexible working requests and study leave.
4) Organising and chairing meetings.
5) Undertaking audits as required by the service.
Clinical
1) To provide an efficient, effective, comprehensive and specialist MHST service for children and adolescents.
2) To complete assessments and treatment of children and adolescents with emotional and mental health problems, their carers/parents and families.
3) To undertake a range of generic clinical work, guided self help, targeted group work and workshops under Whole School Approach (WSA).
4) Ensure delivery of interventions are carried out in line with NICE guidance within the team. Ensure the appropriate use of Routine Outcome Measures (ROMs) to monitor efficacy of intervention.
5) To monitor and guide the team in ensuring we meet safety benchmarks set by NELFT and the CQC.
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
Job responsibilities
1) The Team Lead will provide operational and clinical leadership within the MHST. They will be responsible for ensuring their locality team is meeting operational and clinical targets; and following escalation processes as required.
2) The Team Lead will line manage clinical staff within the MHST.
3) The Team Lead will actively promote the three core functions of MHST alongside the eight principles of the whole school approach.
4) The Team Lead will facilitate the development of a positive and supportive team culture
5) The Team Lead will take an active interest in working parties and groups within the Trust to develop and improve on service delivery, protocols and guidelines.
6) The Team Lead will participate in the audit process, linking in with the clinical governance agenda.
7) The Team Lead will advise and share knowledge utilising the latest research and practice development, through literature and peer reviews in line with their registered governing body.
8) The Team Lead will ensure that a high quality, timely, accessible and evidence-based service is provided equitably across all school who work in partnership with the MHST programme.
For a full description please see the attached job description and person specification.
The North East Essex Mental Health Support Team (MHST) covers a large geographical area incorporating Southend, Canvey, Rayleigh, Benfleet, Castlepoint and Rochford. We are an early intervention and prevention evidence-based service and as a team we are supportive and passionate in what we deliver. We are a friendly team of professionals who come from multidisciplinary backgrounds. We recognise the needs for a healthy work life balance, and we will consider flexible working applications in line with the trust policies and process. We encourage Continual Professional Development (CPD) and are keen to support our staff to grow and progress.
Finally, we are a welcoming, compassionate and considerate team, that work incredibly hard to support one another to improve the mental health of our community.
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
1. Registered/Accredited, Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, Family Therapist, Drama Therapist, Art Psychotherapist, CBT Therapist, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist, IPT-a therapist.
Desirable criteria
2. Further professional qualifications will have been gained through accredited courses workshops, study and in house training programmes ( leadership/project management)
Experience
Essential criteria
3. At least 2 years' experience of delivering evidence-based psychological interventions in mental health with children and young people.
4. Experience of working with more complex presentations and neurodivergence
5. Experience in supervision of and/or line managing clinical staff.
Desirable criteria
6. Experience working with and in educational settings
7. Experience of providing clinical interventions in different cultural contexts.
Other
Essential criteria
8. 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:
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.