Job summary
Lead the Front Door to Mental Health Care. Shape the Future. Every call matters. Every decision matters. Every person matters. Lead the team that makes the difference.

Are you an experienced mental health professional ready to lead an innovative service that will transform how people access mental health support across Norfolk and Suffolk?

The Initial Response Service (IRS) is at the heart of NSFT's vision to create a single, responsive point of access for mental health referrals, crisis presentations, and urgent support.

We are looking for inspirational Clinical Team Leaders to help build and lead this pioneering service, ensuring people receive safe, compassionate, and timely care when they need it most.

The Initial Response Service [IRS] represents one of the most significant developments in mental health access within NSFT. By bringing together call handling, clinical triage and referral management into a single service, IRS will simplify access, improve consistency, reduce delays and deliver a better experience for patients, carers and professionals.

Main duties of the job
This is much more than a traditional team leader role.

You will be leading a diverse multidisciplinary team of clinicians, senior call handlers and call handlers within a fast-paced environment where every decision has the potential to positively change someone's life.

You will combine clinical expertise, operational leadership and service development to help create a service that becomes the recognised front door to mental health care throughout Norfolk and Suffolk.

As a Clinical Team Leader, you will have the unique opportunity to:

• Lead and develop a brand-new service at a pivotal point in its journey.
• Influence how mental health triage and access services are delivered in the future.
• Support staff to thrive through coaching, supervision and compassionate leadership.
• Drive quality improvement and innovation.
• Work alongside senior leaders to develop a service that delivers excellent patient outcomes and experiences.
• Be part of a supportive leadership team committed to learning, collaboration and continuous improvement.

About us
At Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, inclusion is at the heart of how we work. We are committed to creating a fair, transparent and accessible recruitment process where every candidate has the opportunity to succeed.

We actively encourage applications from people from all backgrounds, particularly those currently underrepresented in our workforce. We recognise that not everyone has equal access to opportunities and are working to address this.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and ensuring all candidates receive a positive and equitable experience.

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Details
Date posted: 25 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year gross per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 246-CEN8224473
Job locations: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!

Some of the benefits you can expect:

• NHS pension
• a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
• career progression
• starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
• staff physio service
• NHS discounts and many more.

Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs

Interviews are yet to be confirmed, and candidates may only be given a minimum of 3 days notice. You will be contacted via email and invited to book a time. These emails may go to your SPAM, so please keep checking all your emails if applying.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• RMN, Dip SW, Dip OT or equivalent

Experience
Essential

• Service issues for adults of working age and older people
• Management or leadership of a multi-professional service
• Budget and resource management

Desirable

• Providing leadership in a mental health care environment

Skills
Essential

• Establish performance management team structures and systems.
• Develop recovery-focused practice

Knowledge
Essential

• Clinical and national policies and guidelines eg NICE
• Build on / develop further knowledge of psychosocial interventions

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).

Employer details
Employer name: Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust
Address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DH, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Associate Director of Operations, Shona Little, Shona.Little@nsft.nhs.uk