MHST Senior Supervisor

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization is seeking a Senior Clinical Supervisor to lead the Mental Health Support Team in Havering, starting January 2026. The role involves building relationships with schools, supervising Mental Health Practitioners, and ensuring high-quality care for children and young people. Candidates should have professional registration and at least two years of experience. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the emotional wellbeing of the community and make a real impact in child mental health support.

Benefits

Employee wellness programs

Flexible working arrangements

Support networks for minority staff

Qualifications

• Professional registration is essential.
• Must have at least 2 years of post-qualification experience.
• Experience working closely with education settings is required.

Responsibilities

• Supervise Education Mental Health Practitioners.
• Build relationships with schools and multi-agency partners.
• Provide leadership in mental health initiatives.

Skills

Professional registration

Experience with children and young people

Relationship building

Education

2 years post qualification experience

Postgraduate CYP-IAPT supervisors course

Job description

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

We are recruiting a Band 7 Senior Clinical Supervisor to lead our newest Mental Health Support Team (MHST) in Havering, launching in January 2026. Locally known as the Havering Emotional Support Team (HEST), our service began in 2022 with two teams, expanded to a third in 2023, and is now growing again. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and develop a new team, working at the forefront of children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Our MHSTs work in partnership with schools, colleges, and community services to provide early access to evidence-based support. We are a motivated, multicultural team passionate about innovation, quality improvement, and research, with recent collaborations including projects with Edge Hill University.

As Senior Clinical Supervisor, you will provide leadership, supervision, and clinical expertise to ensure high-quality care for children, young people, and their families. You will also build strong relationships with schools and local partners to embed a whole-school approach to emotional wellbeing across Havering and Waltham Forest.

The MHST Senior Supervisor/ Senior Therapist will be responsible for the caseload management & supervision of the Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs). The post holder will also work with other senior colleagues in developing MHSTs and facilitate wider service transformation.

Main duties of the job

Responsibilities include:

• Building strong working relationships with schools, families, and multi-agency partners.
• Supervising CBT-informed interventions delivered in group and individual formats.
• Delivering and supervising whole-school mental health initiatives.
• Providing education staff with consultation and training to build capacity in supporting children and young people.
• Using outcome measures to inform supervision and evidence impact.
• Supporting service development through quality improvement and innovation.
• Collaborating with senior colleagues to shape the growth of MHSTs in Havering and Waltham Forest.

The Postholder will supervise EMHPs, providing brief, outcome focused evidence-based interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties in schools. The supervision from the post-holder will equip the EMHPs with the necessary knowledge, attitude and capabilities to operate effectively in an inclusive, value driven service.

Working under the direction of the Clinical Lead, the postholder will also be responsible for liaising directly with schools, developing and co-producing materials for delivery/presentation in schools, and supporting the development and embedding of the MHSTs in schools. In addition to this, the post-holder will have a small caseload and be actively involved in delivering universal and targeted group interventions in schools.

Working for our organisation

Our Values 2025 - 2030

Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co‑produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.

They are:

We are kind.

We are respectful.

We work together with our communities.

These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop‑in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period.

High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time)

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Teaching, Training and Supervision

The successful candidate will be expected to attend relevant courses (CYP‑MH Supervision) to fulfil the requirements of the training element of the post, if this training has not already been completed.

Supervision: Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Services PG Cert | Prospective Students Graduate - UCL – University College London

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points‑based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High‑Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.

Use of AI

Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Essential

Essential criteria

• professional registration
• 2 years post qualification experience

Desirable criteria

• post graduate CYP‑IAPT supervisors course

essential

Essential criteria

• experience of working with Children and Young people

Essential

Essential criteria

• Experience of working closely with education settings.

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long‑standing and award‑winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long‑term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible工作 opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.