Clinical Director

Job description

Job title                   Clinical Director

Hours of Work      Full time (35hrs)

Working Days      Monday to Friday (to include some evenings and Weekends)

Employer                Listening Ear

Base                          Hybrid, office-based, with optional working from home (2 or 3 days a week)

Reporting to        Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Salary                       £50,733 – £52,867

Deadline                 27^th May 2025 at 5pm.

 

Please download the full job description and personal specification here.

 

Summary

Listening Ear is a registered charity and growing social enterprise with its headquarters in Knowsley, Merseyside. Our organisation specialises in delivering therapy and support services to children, young people, and adults presenting with bereavement and traumatic loss, occupational health counselling, and suicide Postvention support services (please see our website for more details)

You’ll be joining Listening Ear at an exciting time of growth and development, with the support needed to succeed alongside the autonomy to shape our marketing function within the organisation.

 

Role Overview

We are looking for someone with a positive attitude to supporting others to achieving team goals. The Clinical Director will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for Listening Ear’s counselling and AMPARO services, ensuring the effective, safe, and high quality delivery of therapeutic counselling and Postvention support. We are seeking someone who will drive service excellence through continuous evaluation, innovation, and alignment with organisational priorities.

You will be leading and managing full clinical and administrative teams, ensuring excellent care is delivered and maintained, and ensuring quality and financial targets are met.

This is a rewarding opportunity within a nationwide service, working alongside a dedicated and empathetic team. If you are looking for a role where you can truly make an impact, we invite you to apply before date at time.

Join us and be part of an organisation that promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion while offering ongoing training, flexible home-working options, and a supportive work environment.

 

Core Duties

• Will hold strategic accountability for performance management and annual appraisals of the heads of counselling and AMPARO services, ensuring leadership effectiveness, alignment with service objectives, and continuous professional development.
• Will champion and embed an inclusive, values driven, and high-performance culture across Listening Ear, fostering psychological safety, staff wellbeing, and a shared commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
• Provide strategic oversight and facilitation of regular team meetings to ensure alignment with organisational priorities, foster cross-team collaboration, and drive continuous service improvement.
• Provide strategic clinical leadership and expert consultation to ensure the delivery of a high-quality, evidence-informed mental health care for adults, children, young people, and families, addressing a broad spectrum of complex needs and presenting issues.
• Drive the development and continuous improvement of therapeutic services and client pathways by providing expert clinical insight, ensuring services are responsive, outcomes-focused, and aligned with best practice and organisational strategy.
• Provide proactive leadership in the management of HR matters within the Clinical Director’s team, working collaboratively with the HR manager to ensure timely, fair, and effective resolution aligned with organisational policies and a culture of accountability and support.
• Provide proactive leadership in driving service development and innovation across Counselling and AMPARO services, leading effective change management, and ensuring clear communication and successful implementation of new projects, procedures, and processes aligned with organisational policies.
• Provide senior oversight and decision making on safeguarding and complex clinical issues, ensuring timely and appropriate responses. Hold strategic responsibility for risk management within Listening Ear’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Team, ensuring robust governance, compliance, and safe outcomes for clients.
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in providing leadership presence across remote, office-based, and outreach locations, ensuring consistent support, visibility, and continuity of service delivery in line with organisational needs.
• Lead the recruitment, selection and induction of external supervisors onto Listening Ear’s authorised supervisor list, ensuring high standards of clinical governance. Oversee compliance with monthly external supervision requirements for all clinical staff to maintain safe, ethical, and reflective practice.
• Demonstrate creativity and strategic foresight in shaping and delivering innovative approaches that advance Listening Ear’s vision and mission, ensuring services remain impactful, responsive, and aligned with evolving community needs.
• Lead strategic planning and policy development to support the ongoing growth and governance of Listening Ear, actively contributing as a key member of the Senior Management Team. Maintain oversight of changes to BACP standards and relevant legal frameworks, ensuring timely updates and alignment across clinical practice.
• Provide informed contributions to Board meetings when requested, offering strategic insight and clinical expertise to support governance, decision making, and the achievement of organisational objectives.
• Provide high quality written reports and data analysis to evidence service impact, identifying emerging issues, and inform decision-making. Develop and implement strategic action plans to address challenges and enhance service outcomes. Ensure all records are managed and stored in compliance with Listening Ear’s GDPR policy and data protection standards.

Job Purpose

• The Clinical Director will hold strategic accountability for performance management and annual appraisals of the heads of counselling and AMPARO services, ensuring leadership effectiveness, alignment with service objectives, and continuous professional development.
• The clinical Director will champion and embed an inclusive, values driven, and high-performance culture across Listening Ear, fostering psychological safety, staff wellbeing, and a shared commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
• Provide strategic oversight and facilitation of regular tam meetings to ensure alignment with organisational priorities, foster cross-team collaboration, and drive continuous service improvement.
• Provide strategic clinical leadership and expert consultation to ensure the delivery of a high-quality, evidence-informed mental health care for adults, children, young people, and families, addressing a broad spectrum of complex needs and presenting issues.
• Drive the development and continuous improvement of therapeutic services and client pathways by providing expert clinical insight, ensuring services are responsive, outcomes-focused, and aligned with best practice and organisational strategy.
• Provide proactive leadership in the management of HR matters within the Clinical Director’s team, working collaboratively with the HR manager to ensure timely, fair, and effective resolution aligned with organisational policies and a culture of accountability and support.
• Provide proactive leadership in driving service development and innovation across Counselling and AMPARO services, leading effective change management, and ensuring clear communication and successful implementation of new projects, procedures, and processes aligned with organisational policies.
• Provide senior oversight and decision making on safeguarding and complex clinical issues, ensuring timely and appropriate responses. Hold strategic responsibility for risk management within Listening Ear’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Team, ensuring robust governance, compliance, and safe outcomes for clients.
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in providing leadership presence across remote, office-based, and outreach locations, ensuring consistent support, visibility, and continuity of service delivery in line with organisational needs.
• Lead the recruitment, selection and induction of external supervisors onto Listening Ear’s authorised supervisor list, ensuring high standards of clinical governance. Oversee compliance with monthly external supervision requirements for all clinical staff to maintain safe, ethical, and reflective practice.
• Demonstrate creativity and strategic foresight in shaping and delivering innovative approaches that advance Listening Ear’s vision and mission, ensuring services remain impactful, responsive, and aligned with evolving community needs.
• Lead strategic planning and policy development to support the ongoing growth and governance of Listening Ear, actively contributing as a key member of the Senior Management Team. Maintain oversight of changes to BACP standards and relevant legal frameworks, ensuring timely updates and alignment across clinical practice.
• Provide informed contributions to Board meetings when requested, offering strategic insight and clinical expertise to support governance, decision making, and the achievement of organisational objectives.
• Provide high quality written reports and data analysis to evidence service impact, identifying emerging issues, and inform decision-making. Develop and implement strategic action plans to address challenges and enhance service outcomes. Ensure all records are managed and stored in compliance with Listening Ear’s GDPR policy and data protection standards.

 

Why Listening Ear?

• Full induction and a warm welcome provided at our headquarters in the Northwest to meet colleagues and welcome you to Listening Ear
• Values-driven organisation supporting vulnerable people across England.
• Work within a BACP-Accredited Organisation that delivers support recognized by the Support After Suicide Partnership and Public Health England as best practice.
• We support flexible home working practices, and you will be supplied with a work phone and laptop, plus a DSE Assessment during induction to support safe and comfortable home working.
• Access to free and confidential counselling provided through LE’s Insurance Provider, to support staff welfare.
• Pension contribution at 3%
• Daily informal communications with colleagues via remote platforms

 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Listening Ear

Through effective governance and management, we are committed to:

• promoting equality, diversity and social inclusion amongst our clients, staff, and partners and all those we work with;
• challenging and eradicating discrimination wherever we encounter it on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation;
• treating everyone with dignity and respect at all times;
• providing responsive and accessible services that meet individual needs;
• reviewing and auditing our equality, diversity and inclusion activities;
• ensuring we keep our approach up to date with changes in society, legislation and regulation.

 

We take seriously our legal duty to provide all our services and employment opportunities fairly and without discrimination, and we keep to all relevant codes of practice.

 

To Apply

Please complete the covering document (found here) and return it along with an up-to-date CV by 27^th May 2025 at 5pm. Submit your application: Please send your application to HR@listening-ear.co.uk.

 

Hiring Process

At Listening Ear, we are committed to providing a smooth and transparent hiring experience for all candidates. Our streamlined process ensures clarity and effective communication every step of the way:

1. Submit your application: Please send your application to HR@listening-ear.co.uk.
2. Confirmation of receipt: You will receive an automatic email confirming that we’ve received your application.
3. Initial notification: Within 5 days after the closing date, our internal team will notify you whether you’ve been successful in moving forward.
4. Screening interview: A screening interview will be conducted via Microsoft Teams with our internal recruiter.
5. Second interview: If shortlisted, you’ll have an interview with the hiring manager and relevant team members, conducted via Teams or in person, depending on your location.
6. Offer: Successful candidates will receive a formal offer following the interview.

We look forward to reviewing your application and potentially welcoming you to our team!

Ex-Offender Mission Statement

Recruitment Privacy Notice