Job summary
We are looking for a creative, forward thinking and motivated Operational Lead to co- lead our friendly and professional multi-disciplinary Community Access Service (CAS). The service is part of the exciting development of the stepped model of care across Central Bedfordshire where the CAS team provide early intervention and community support for Young People with mild to moderate mental health concerns who would not meet the criteria of a clinic based CAMHS.

The post holder will work with our community partners and be fully integrated in educational settings, GP practices and our Family partners in Central Bedfordshire Social Services. We also enjoy working with our excellent service user participation team and are committed to involving service users in all service development.

The post holder will be part of a comprehensive stepped care approach to mental health support for children, young people and their families, and will be part of the broad-based first-step Community Access Services (CAMH CAS), who offer support through schools, GP practices, Early Help Services and other partners, implementing a resilience and community focused approach to supporting families.

Main duties of the job
The wider CAS team comprises of 5 MHST (Mental Health Support Teams) but the post holder would be jointly overseeing the work of the expanding multi-disciplinary CAS Team to develop new services to enhance sustainable better emotional Health and Wellbeing and community resilience. In addition to supervision, management and service development (shared with another experienced clinician) the post holder will also provide comprehensive assessment, risk management and interventions for children and young people experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties, and their families. Our team is inclusive and we consciously think about the varying contexts we work within (i.e. racial, cultural and socio-economic factors). Our work is underpinned by strong values to treat each other, service users and agency partners with respect and care. We would be happy to consider requests for flexible working.

About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

This post will be based in Leighton Buzzard and Flitwick, with close links to the M1 and easily reached by car from London, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire to the South and Northamptonshire to the North.

Details
Date posted: 03 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year, pro rata
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 363-SSLB8088752
Job locations: Central Beds CAMHS, 67 High Street North, Dunstable, LU6 1JF, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
For further information regarding this post, please contact:
Laura Gill, Systemic Family Psychotherapist/Integrated Schools Lead for Central Bedfordshire CAMHS Community Access Services; laura.gill14@nhs.net; 01582 707635

Person Specification
Qualifications

• Essential
  • Qualification in appropriate mental health profession such as Clinical or Family of Psychology, Systemic Family Therapy, Child Psychotherapy, Nursing, Social Work, Occupational therapist, Arts Therapist and registration with relevant UK governing body.
• Desirable
  • Parenting qualification and parenting supervision qualification.
  • Low Intensity CBT supervisor qualification.
  • Specific therapeutic modality training and qualification e.g. CBT, DBT, IPT etc.

Experience

• Essential
  • Previous experience of working in a senior post in CAMHS
  • Previous experience of supervising clinicians and operational leadership functions
  • Previous experience working with schools in mental health capacity.
  • Experience of working with a wide range of mental health problems commonly seen in CAMHS
• Desirable
  • Delivery of parenting programmes - Webster-Stratton, Triple P, NVR etc.
  • Supervision of clinicians delivering parenting and manualised CBT interventions
  • Supervising Children's Wellbeing Practitioners as part of IAPT programme

Skills

• Essential
  • Evidence of well-developed clinical skills and knowledge in CAMHS
  • Highly specialist skills in assessing for complex aetiology of mental health, neuro-developmental, learning and social factors impacting on the well-being of children and young people
  • Skilled in emergency and crisis assessments

Knowledge

• Essential
  • A high degree of self-awareness and an ability to reflect on personal and professional attitudes and accept feedback
  • Awareness of current national guidelines and policies in the field of CAMHS
  • Specific knowledge of pertinent issues for CAMHS/MHST.
  • In depth knowledge of CAMHS issues including complex and highly specialist mental health assessment and interventions
• Desirable
  • Knowledge of development in inter agency partnership
  • Knowledge of Educational Leglisltion

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).