Head of Counselling and Mental Health Service

FTE: 1FTE (working 37 hours per week)

Duration of Contract: Permanent

Salary: UH9: £58,225 to £69,488 per annum by annual increments on achieving designated skills and experience

Annual Leave: 30 days, plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year

Location: College Lane Campus, Hatfield

Main duties and responsibilities

You will Provide operational leadership for the Counselling and Mental Health Service, ensuring services are delivered in line with University priorities and professional standards. You will Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, creating a positive, reflective and high-performing service culture.

You will maintain oversight of clinical governance arrangements, risk management processes and safeguarding responsibilities across the service. You will provide professional consultation and guidance on complex mental health and counselling cases, including students presenting with significant levels of risk or distress.

Skills and experience required

You will be an experienced practitioner with considerable post qualification experience of working therapeutically with clients including the management of complex cases and the management of clinical risk. You will have proven experience of  managing mental health and counselling services, supporting service improvement within a safe & inclusive learning environment.

You will have the ability to adapt management style and communication approaches to support effective team and service performance. You will have excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across a wide range of stakeholders. You will have experience of service evaluation, performance monitoring and leading service improvement initiatives.

A sound understanding of the legal and regulatory aspects of the role and thorough working knowledge of relevant codes of practice and ability to apply these effectively when supporting students and staff. You will have a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to delivering accessible and student-focused services

Experience of working with students in a Further or higher education or a comparable student support environment would be advantageous.

Qualifications required

You will be educated with an undergraduate degree level or equivalent qualification or proven experience. You will hold a recognised professional qualification and current accreditation or registration with an appropriate professional body, such as BACP, UKCP or BPS. You will have a recognised professional qualification in Clinical Supervision.

DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE

The University requires that the successful applicant who is offered employment may require a DBS at a later date due to the nature of the work involved.

Overseas applicants and UK applicants who have lived abroad

Successful applicants from overseas will be required to produce a criminal records check, or 'Certificate of Good Character', from any country in which they have been resident, consecutively or cumulatively, in the previous 10 years.

Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria, click the 'Apply' button above. Please attach a personal statement showing clearly how your skills and experience match the Person Specification.

Contact Details/Informal Enquiries: For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Viju Patel, Deputy Director of Student Wellbeing Services, at v.patel38@herts.ac.uk, or Geraldine Ward, Dean of Students, at g.1.ward@herts.ac.uk.

Closing Date: 11 October 2026

Interview Date: W/c 26 October 2026

Advert information