Head of Therapeutic Services and Advice

THE ROLE: Full-time (37 hours per week) / Permanent / Job description and application pack are available to download from our website.

Are you looking for a new opportunity to develop established specialist children and young people’s wellbeing and support services across Sussex and Surrey?

Our mission is to help children and young people have a fair chance to be who they want to be.We do this by providing a safe home, increasing life skills and self-confidence, and improving emotional wellbeing and mental health.

YMCA DownsLink Group are seeking an experienced Head of Therapeutic Services and Advice to lead our community-based counselling and targeted advice provision. The successful applicant will be skilled at safeguarding and have in depth knowledge of the issues facing children and young people specifically with regards to mental health, advice work and sexual exploitation.

You will already have proven experience of income generation through trusts, grants and tendering and have a strong track record managing NHS contracts, commissioner relationships, partnership and systems leadership. You will be committed to service user participation and have a good understanding of the application of psychologically informed practice through trauma informed and psychologically informed environments.

This role is part of the Extended Leadership Team and will be responsible for driving forwards our strategy and delivering quality provision within your business plan.

This is a hybrid role with an expectation of three days on site and two days from home - working Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm and Friday, 9am to 4.30pm.

ABOUT YOU: We know there are great candidates who may not fit everything described, or who have important skills we have not mentioned. If that is you, please do not hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself and why perhaps you are looking to take the next step. 

We are looking for somebody experienced in Children and Young People (CYP) with a qualification in youth work, mental health or a social work setting. You will have strong contract negotiation skills and partnership management with the ability to identify opportunities. You will need a good eye for detail and an understanding of what is expected when delivering NHS contracts.

You will be credible in representing Services and confident in providing information that may provide a contrary view or different lens. In addition, you must be resilient and able to operate in uncertain funding environments with strong people management skills.

If you would like any further information or an informal discussion about this post, please contact Rachel.Brett@ymcadlg.org. Should you require any assistance with our application process, please email us at Recruitment@ymcadlg.org.

CLOSING DATE: 4 February 2024 at midnight, with interviews to be held on 12 February 2024. Successful candidates will already have the right to live and work in the UK.

An inclusive workplace - We are committed to policies and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion and to supporting our people to make sure our culture is consistent with this commitment. We encourage applications from people from all sections of the communities that we serve. We particularly welcome applications from People of Colour and minoritised white communities, people who are LGBTQU+, and people with disabilities and neurodiversities because these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. 

Accessibility - If you require assistance or have questions regarding the application process, please contact us. If you are local to our Head Office in Hove, we can provide you with a paper copy of the job advert and application form. If you are not local, we can post these to your preferred address. If you require these documents in another format, please let us know.

YMCA DLG requires all staff and volunteers to be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and to respond proactively to safeguarding concerns. Successful applicants are required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure (including the Children’s barred list and the Adults’ barred list) via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).