Clinical Lead

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Kettering; Hybrid; GBP 43,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is looking for an experienced Clinical Lead in Kettering to drive leadership and high-quality, recovery-focused care within the community mental health team.

You will oversee clinical quality, safety and continuous service improvement while supporting staff development and collaborative working with partners across the Trust and local services.

Qualifications

• Band 7 leadership and management experience in community mental health.
• Experience in quality assurance within mental health services.
• Registered Mental Health Professional with current registration.

Responsibilities

• Provide visible clinical leadership to a multidisciplinary team delivering recovery-focused care.
• Offer expert clinical advice and support, managing risk and complex cases.
• Lead on clinical quality, governance and patient safety across the team.

Skills

Band 7 Leadership & Management

Community Mental Health Experience

Quality Assurance

Education

Leadership and Management Qualification

Registered Mental Health Professional

Job description

Main area Adult Mental Health Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent: No Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday (09.00 - 17.00)) Job ref 270-TH377-MH

Site St Marys Hospital Town Kettering Salary pa pro rata Closing 15/10/2026 08:00

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced and motivated professional to join our Kettering and Corby Community Mental Health Team as a Clinical Lead.

This is a key leadership role within a supportive multidisciplinary team, offering the opportunity to influence the future of community mental health services while making a real difference to the lives of service users and carers. As Clinical Lead, you will provide visible clinical leadership, promoting high quality, person centred and recovery focused care for people with complex mental health needs. You will support colleagues through expert guidance, clinical supervision and professional development, helping to create a culture of excellence, learning and continuous improvement.

Working closely with the Band 7 Operational Manager and reporting to the Band 8a Service Manager, you will help shape service delivery, oversee clinical quality and patient safety, and support the ongoing transformation of community mental health services.

We are looking for a confident and experienced mental health professional with strong clinical expertise, excellent leadership skills and a passion for developing others. With a desire to influence positive change and work collaboratively to improve outcomes and experiences for those accessing our services.

If you are ready to take the next step in your leadership career and help shape the future of mental health care across Kettering and Corby, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting opportunity to take on a key leadership role within a progressive Community Mental Health Team and help shape the future of local mental health services.

• As Clinical Lead, you will provide professional and clinical leadership to a multidisciplinary team, ensuring the delivery of high quality, recovery focused care for people with complex mental health needs. Working alongside the Operational Manager and Specialist Nurse, you will play a central role in service development, quality improvement and the ongoing transformation of community mental health services.
• You will lead on clinical quality, patient safety and governance, providing expert advice and support to colleagues while overseeing the day to day clinical operation of the team. The role includes managing complex clinical situations, chairing multidisciplinary meetings and promoting best practice across the service.
• As a visible and supportive leader, you will champion staff development through supervision, mentoring and coaching, creating a culture of learning, innovation and excellence. You will also support research and evidence based practice, helping to improve outcomes and experiences for service users and carers.
• This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced clinician who is passionate about leadership, collaboration and making a meaningful difference within community mental health services.

Working for our organisation

At NHFT, we're proud to be an outstanding NHS Trust providing community, mental health, learning disability and specialist services across Northamptonshire and beyond. Delivering over 200 services in hospitals, communities, homes, schools and secure environments, we're committed to making high quality care accessible to everyone who needs it.

People are at the heart of everything we do. We work closely with our partners to deliver compassionate, person centred care that supports individuals, families and communities to live healthier lives.

Our outstanding rating reflects our commitment to innovation, learning and continuous improvement. We are passionate about creating an environment where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to develop their careers and reach their full potential.

As an accredited Living Wage employer, we recognise the importance of supporting the wellbeing of our workforce. Whether you are looking to grow as a leader, develop your expertise or help shape the future of healthcare, NHFT offers a rewarding place to build your career and make a difference every day.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide visible clinical leadership, promoting safe, effective and recovery focused care for people with complex mental health needs.
• Act as a source of expert clinical advice and support, helping staff confidently manage risk, complexity and challenging clinical situations.
• Lead on clinical quality, governance and patient safety, ensuring high standards of practice, care planning, record keeping and safeguarding.
• Oversee the day to day flow of clinical work, including allocation, prioritisation and management of team workload to support timely access to services.
• Work collaboratively with the Operational Manager and Specialist Nurse to deliver service objectives, improve performance and drive positive change.
• Monitor and support key quality and performance indicators, using systems such as SystmOne, SMART, MaST and Datix to inform service improvement.
• Chair multidisciplinary meetings and provide clinical oversight for complex cases, ensuring decisions are person centred, evidence based and outcome focused.
• Lead learning from incidents, complaints and patient safety reviews, embedding improvements that enhance care quality and service user experience.
• Provide supervision, coaching and mentorship to clinicians, support workers and newly qualified staff, fostering professional growth and clinical excellence.
• Champion a culture of continuous learning, reflection and innovation, supporting education, research and evidence based practice across the team.
• Support students and learners, helping to create a high quality placement and learning environment.
• Build strong partnerships with colleagues, partner organisations and wider stakeholders to deliver integrated and coordinated care.
• Contribute to service transformation and the development of new ways of working, helping shape the future of community mental health services.
• Support workforce planning, recruitment and resource management, ensuring the team is equipped to deliver safe, effective and compassionate care.
• Be a key member of the leadership team, inspiring colleagues and creating an environment where staff feel valued, supported and empowered to thrive.

Person specification

Experience

• Band 7 experience in Leadership and Management
• Community Mental Health Experience
• Quality Assurance experience

Qualifications

• Leadership and Management Qualification
• Registered Mental Health Professional

Skills

• Professional qualification holder with 3 years of experience.

All roles are subject to the home office immigration rules and therefore eligibility must meet certain requirements for any sponsorship to be considered. Please visit the government website for more information regarding eligibility,

At NHFT we support many of our colleagues to work flexibly and we will consider requests for flexible working from day one. For this role, we are open to discussing a range of options including flexible hours, agile/home working, compressed hours and part time hours. Please have a conversation with the recruiting manager about the flexibility you need and we will promise to explore what is possible with you.

Applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria for the job will be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process please make the recruitment services team aware as soon as possible.

All posts that are engaged in a regulated activity will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a DBS re-check on a three yearly basis whilst employed in such a role. Staff employed in these posts will therefore be asked to register with the DBS Automatic Update Service upon receipt of their DBS certificate and must update yearly , the annual fee will be reimbursed subject to Trust policy. For further information please visit: DBS Update Service: applicant guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note if a DBS is applicable for the position then a charge will be deducted from your first salary.

Please note that all new starters to the trustare subject to a probationary period.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.