Clinical Team Leader

Job summary

Are you looking for a career in one of the UKs most respected mental health and learning disability Trusts, with commitment to local services in Devon?

Would you like to do a job that makes a difference every day?

TALKWORKS, Devons NHS Talking Therapies Service has a great opportunity for you! TALKWORKS, is a large, high performing service, with strong fidelity to the treatment service and model.

The opportunity has arisen for a 6 month secondment Clinical Team Lead post in the Paignton and Brixham TALKWORKS team, as part of a job share. The role will be for 12.5 hours, covering Mondays with the additional hours worked across Tuesdays and/or Thursdays depending on the needs of the service/team. We welcome applications from motivated and dynamic individuals who are able to use their therapeutic knowledge, supervisory and leadership skills to guide and empower clinicians within the team.

Main duties of the job

To work in partnership with the job-share Clinical Team Lead in the Paignton and Brixham team, to provide effective leadership and management to the locality. This will encompass overseeing the continuous professional development, supervision structure and wellbeing of the team, supporting a culture of ongoing clinical growth and excellence.

- To work as part of the wider leadership team for TALKWORKS which will include developing and implementing operational policies and procedures to ensure the development and delivery of a safe, high-quality service in line with national guidelines.

- To establish and maintain excellent working relationships internally within TALKWORKS as well as within the wider NHS Trust and partner agencies external to the service.

- To maintain a small clinical caseload to support and develop your clinical skills in line with accreditation requirements.

About us

About Devon Partnership Trust

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Details

• Date posted: 01 June 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 8a
• Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year pro rata (12.5 hours per week)
• Contract: Secondment
• Duration: 6 months
• Working pattern: Job share, Flexible working
• Reference number: C9369-26-0385
• Job locations: TALKWORKS, Pembroke House, 266-268 Torquay Road, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 2EZ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people within an identified Devon locality.

The post holder will be responsible for leading and managing a multi-agency TALKWORKS team, as part of the NHS-Talking Therapies programme, in a designated area in Devon Partnership Trust (DPT).

The post holder will work as a member of the Trust-wide leadership and management team for TALKWORKS to develop and implement operational policies and procedures and ensure the development and delivery of a safe, high-quality service to meet national guidelines, regional targets and local commissioning requirements.

In leading and managing the team, the post holder will work with the Local Professional Manager, Network staff, GPs and primary care staff, commissioners, business support staff and partner agencies such as employment services, under the coordination of the Trust-wide multi-agency NHS-Talking Therapies partnership group.

The post holder will also provide CBT, and other therapies as approved in NICE guidelines as required, within the High Intensity component of the service.

This will be achieved in this post by:

1. Leading and managing the local implementation of the TALKWORKS team in line with the national guidance and local requirements.

2. Performing an ambassadorial function for the TALKWORKS among DPT, primary care, partner agencies and others to support the implementation of the programme.

3. Establishing, developing and maintaining excellent working relationships with local NHS-Talking Therapies training providers, local commissioners and partner agencies (e.g. PCT, employment services)

4. Ensuring that recruitment; top up training and supervision training for qualified staff; and the service component of training for trainee staff follows national guidelines

5. Ensuring that clinical governance arrangements are in place to cover all of the clinical activity, procedures are in place for operation of the service, and protocols and arrangements are in place so that people can be stepped up and down to and from the service as required.

6. Ensuring that the service meets all local, Regional and national targets, and ensuring the proper use by the team of the patient record and data management system (IAPTus) to support this.

7. Providing CBT and other NICE-compliant therapies as a key component of the service

8. Ensuring the maintenance of standards of practice according DPT and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (eg HPC, BPS, UKCP, BABCP)

9. Ensure that client confidentiality is protected at all times.

10. Be aware of, and keep up to date with advances in the sphere of CBT

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationships

Clients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may have specific difficulties in understand and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic or emotionally distressed. Educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying CBT formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language.

Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with, and provide clinical leadership to colleagues in the NHS-Talking Therapies service

Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range of health & social care staff in hospital and in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under the services care. To provide support & guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice.

Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers and to foster a positive approach to NHS-Talking Therapies to enable effective negotiation.

Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis

Responsible for the clinical delivery and leadership of the TALKWORKS in a local area of DPT

Formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients.

To participate in, and support Trust-wide TALKWORKS policy and service developments, and responsible for clinical policy development and implementation within a local area, having an impact within DPT, primary care and partner agencies.

To ensure all clinical care and treatment is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.

Planning and Organisation

The TALKWORKS: To plan and coordinate the clinical development of the TALKWORKS in a local area of DPT, within overall service plans, working with network leaders, primary care and partner agencies. To prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals, and service research and development activities.

The multidisciplinary service: Provide an advisory service on planning matters related to the practice and delivery of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to individuals/groups/committees across the Mental Health Trust, Primary Care Trust and other voluntary agencies, as required.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

1. Responsible for the clinical delivery and leadership of the TALKWORKS in a local area of DPT

2. Accept referrals via agreed protocols within the service

3. Assess clients for suitability for CBT.

4. Make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the departments referral protocols, and refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary.

5. Formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients.

6. Adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.

7. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.

8. Work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to maintain a stepped care approach.

9. Assess and integrate issues surrounding work and employment into the overall therapy process

Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and Improvement

The post holder is responsible for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines, working within clearly defined occupational procedures.

Policy & service: To participate in, and support Trust-wide TALKWORKS policy and service developments, and responsible for clinical policy development and implementation within a local area, having an impact within DPT, primary care and partner agencies.

R & D: Establish and maintain a local internal clinical audit programme, develop a research element for the service and organise personal or service-led R & D activities as required.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

Responsible for the budget and resources for the TALKWORKS under the direction of the Professional Manager.

Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership and Management

Management: Responsible for leading and managing the TALKWORKS as a key component of integrated mental health and wellbeing services.

Leadership & supervision: To lead and ensure the supervision of all TALKWORKS staff in the team.

Information Resources and Administrative Duties

To lead the local implementation of the commissioned NHS-Talking Therapies information system (IAPTus), and to coordinate the training in its use for all TALKWORKS staff. To lead staff in integrating the use of the information system into their therapy practice and so complete all the information requirements as agreed by local protocols.

To maintain accurate records and complete all requirements relating to data collection and reporting within the service.

To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication.

Responsibility for Research and Development

R & D: To undertake service-relevant research and development activity agreed within the service, and to organise personal or service led R & D activities as required.

To implement NICE approved therapy provision within teams as required

Freedom to Act

Ability to work independently within defined occupational procedures and use initiative within a service

To participate in, and support Trust-wide TALKWORKS policy and service developments, and responsible for clinical policy development and implementation within a local area, having an impact within DPT, primary care and partner agencies.

To ensure all clinical care and treatment is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.

To plan and coordinate the clinical development of the TALKWORKS in a local area of DPT, within overall service plans, working with network leaders, primary care and partner agencies. To prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals, and service research and development activities.