Community Mental Health Team Leader

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Lee; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in London seeks a Community Mental Health Team Leader to oversee Lewisham Community Services. You will lead a multidisciplinary team to deliver safe, evidence-based care and drive improvements across pathways, supervision, and professional development.

The role requires clinical credibility, operational confidence, and a collaborative approach to maintain high standards of governance and safeguarding while supporting staff wellbeing and service

Qualifications

• Hold a professional qualification.
• Membership of a Professional Body.
• Evidence of recent continued professional development.
• Mentorship or equivalent.
• A commitment to completing quality improvement training.

Responsibilities

• Clinical Leadership: Ensure evidence-based, person-centred care across the team. Oversee care pathways, promote service user and carer involvement, and support therapeutic interventions.
• Team Management: Supervise and support staff across disciplines. Promote professional development, reflective practice, and staff wellbeing. Implement HR policies and delegate responsibilities appropriately.
• Quality & Governance: Set and monitor clinical standards. Promote safe, inclusive practice and ensure continuity of care. Respond to incidents and complaints, embedding learning and driving improvement.
• Operational Oversight: Manage staffing, budgets, and safe working environments. Support agile working and address cost pressures. Ensure compliance with Health & Safety legislation.
• Collaboration & Communication: Maintain strong links with partner organisations. Lead meetings and represent the team across services. Ensure high standards in documentation and data protection.
• Additional Duties: Deputise for senior leaders, lead on complaints resolution, support student placements, and contribute to service-wide projects and initiatives.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Clinical governance

Organisational skills

Emotional resilience

Self-motivation

Accredited therapy skills

Education

Professional qualification

Membership of Professional Body

Continued professional development (CPD)

Mentorship or equivalent

Quality improvement training

Job description

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Community Mental Health Team Leader

The closing date is 20 November 2026

We are seeking a highly skilled Mental Health Practitioner to take on the role of Team Leader within Lewisham Community Services. This is an exciting opportunity to step into a leadership role at the centre of our Community Redesign Programme, helping shape how mental health care is delivered across the borough.

As Team Leader, you will lead a multidisciplinary team to deliver safe, effective, and compassionate care to adults with complex mental health needs. You will play a key role in improving care pathways, supporting staff development, and ensuring high standards of clinical practice. Your leadership will ensure that service users and carers receive timely, person-centred support that promotes recovery and inclusion.

We welcome applications from qualified Community Psychiatric Nurses, or Allied Mental Health Professionals with substantial experience in community mental health. You will bring clinical credibility, operational confidence, and a collaborative mindset

Your responsibilities will include day-to-day team management, supervision, caseload oversight, and contributing to service improvement. You will ensure while promoting a culture of safety, accountability, and integrated working.

You will be supported by the Service Manager and work closely with other senior clinicians.

If you're ready to lead with purpose and make a lasting impact in community mental health, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

As Team Leader, you will hold overall responsibility for the effective delivery of care within Lewisham Community Mental Health Services, ensuring alignment with Trust policies, procedures, and values. You will lead a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and support staff, fostering a culture of high-quality, evidence-based practice and professional accountability.

You will ensure that regular supervision, appraisal, and reflective practice are embedded across the team, supporting staff development and wellbeing. Through strong operational oversight, you will manage resources efficiently, monitor service standards, and drive continuous improvement in care delivery.

A key aspect of the role is coordinating multidisciplinary working and maintaining robust communication across internal teams and external partners. You will ensure seamless interface and continuity of care across services, promoting collaborative working and integrated support for service users.

You will carry out both clinical and managerial duties to a standard that ensures safe, effective, and person-centred care. Your practice will reflect the highest professional standards and comply with the relevant Code of Conduct, safeguarding legislation, and governance frameworks.

Previous applicants need not apply

About us

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) is one of the UK's leading providers of mental health services, with a rich history, strong community links, and an international reputation for excellence. We deliver specialist care across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, and Croydon, supporting over 45,000 people in the community each year.As part of Lewisham Community Services, you'll be working in a diverse, forward-thinking team committed to recovery-focused, person-centred care. We value compassion, inclusion, and innovation, and offer extensive opportunities for professional development, reflective practice, and career progression.SLaM is proud to be part of King's Health Partners, giving staff access to cutting-edge research, academic collaboration, and world-class training. By joining us, you'll be part of an organisation that combines clinical care, science, and education to improve mental health locally, nationally, and globally.

Job responsibilities

Clinical Leadership:Ensure evidence-based, person-centred care across the team. Oversee care pathways, promote service user and carer involvement, and support therapeutic interventions. Maintain compliance with mental health legislation and safeguarding protocols.

Team Management:Supervise and support staff across disciplines. Promote professional development, reflective practice, and staff wellbeing. Implement HR policies and delegate responsibilities appropriately.

Quality & Governance:Set and monitor clinical standards. Promote safe, inclusive practice and ensure continuity of care. Respond to incidents and complaints, embedding learning and driving improvement.

Operational Oversight:Manage staffing, budgets, and safe working environments. Support agile working and address cost pressures. Ensure compliance with Health & Safety legislation.

Collaboration & Communication:Maintain strong links with partner organisations. Lead meetings and represent the team across services. Ensure high standards in documentation and data protection.

Additional Duties:Deputise for senior leaders, lead on complaints resolution, support student placements, and contribute to service-wide projects and initiatives.

Education and Qualification

• Hold a professional qualification
• Membership of a Professional Body
• Evidence of recent continued professional development.
• Mentorship or equivalent.
• A commitment to completing quality improvement training.

Experience

• oSignificant experience of managing clinical practice in a mental health service (A)
• oExperience of implementing and monitoring standards of care. (A) Mentorship Course (or other relevant teaching/assessment course) (A)
• oEvidence of continuing professional development. (A)
• oExperience of providing clinical and managerial supervision (A)
• oExperience of working in a multicultural environment and knowledge of methods to develop culturally sensitive practice (A)
• Experience of risk management and safeguarding
• oExperience of managing non-clinical staff and other professionals (A)
• oExperience of staff performance management (A)

Knowledge

• oSpecialist clinical knowledge relevant to the service, including evidence based practice. (A/I)
• oWorking knowledge of all relevant legislation associated with acute mental health care, including MHA, CPA procedures, Human Rights Act, NSF, Child Protection and NHS Plan. (A/I)
• Knowledge of key legislation and guidelines in relation to statutory mental health responsibilities, including Safeguarding Adults, Young people and children.
• Ability to provide quality care that is responsive to service user needs, without close supervision.
• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.
• Knowledge of the theory of psychological models, such as CBT, DBT, or MBT.

Skills and Abilities

• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, highly technical and sensitive information to clients, their families and colleagues.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate and to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive and/or challenging behaviour.
• Good organisational skills.
• Skills in emotional resilience: able to cope in difficult interpersonal situations.
• Self-aware, self-confident and intrinsically motivated to do a good job and to motivate others.
• Accredited practitioner skills in at least one model of psychological therapy.
• Ability to contribute to, monitor and implement changes and improvements to services.
• Specialised clinical skills, e.g. group work, anxiety/anger management, family work skills

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.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

£58,133 to £65,261 a yearper annum inclusive of HCAS