Job Description
Job summary Main area Highly Specialist Therapist Contract Permanent Hours Full time Employer London Borough of Hackney Council Employer type Public (Non NHS) Town Hackney Salary £66,084 - £67,260 Closing Today at 17:00 Employer heading Highly Specialist Therapist - Children and Families Service LB OF HACKNEY Highly Specialist Therapist - Children and Families Service Job Number: HCAA03100 Agreement Type: Permanent Work Pattern: Full Time Contracted Hours: 36 SCP Range: £66,084 - £67,260 Hackney is seeking an expert practitioner and dynamic leader to step into the role of Highly Specialist Therapist within our newly redesigned in-house Mental Health Service. Holding a pivotal clinical leadership post, you will navigate the complex intersection of Children’s Social Care and Mental Health services to ensure Hackney’s most vulnerable children receive timely, trauma-informed, and evidence-based psychological support. In this role, you will provide high-level clinical support, formulation, governance, and supervision to a dedicated team of clinicians (including Specialist Therapists, YJS practitioners, and trainees). Beyond direct clinical delivery, you will act as a strategic bridge—delivering "expert-to-expert" consultation to Social Work Managers, navigating complex CAMHS and AMHS pathways, and designing workforce wellbeing frameworks to support staff resilience. Our Practice Framework: The STAR Model Hackney is on an ambitious journey to embed a Systemic, Trauma-informed, and Anti-Racist (STAR) practice model. We are deeply committed to anti-oppressive practice, actively centering the lived experiences of families and clinicians with marginalised identities. Our STAR framework ensures a sharp focus on ethnicity and race, while deeply attending to the intersections of sexuality, faith, neurodiversity, and other protected characteristics. As a Highly Specialist Therapist, you will act as a key champion in driving this cultural change and clinical excellence across the Directorate. Key Responsibilities - Clinical Leadership: Hold a clinical caseload of children presenting with highly complex needs including looked after children, care leavers and young people within the youth justice system. Oversee service referral pathways, clinical flow, and deliver advanced formulations that directly support social work decision-making. - Specialist Supervision & Governance: Provide formal clinical supervision and professional governance to Specialist Therapists and clinicians across Youth Justice, Edge of Care, and Children’s Homes teams. - Strategic Liaison & CAMHS Interface: Lead the CAMHS Liaison function, acting as the primary clinical interface with NHS statutory health providers to manage complex care pathways and ensure no child falls between the gaps. - Systemic Consultation & Reflective Spaces: Deliver specialist consultation to social work managers to help stabilise high-risk placements. Design and facilitate reflective practice groups using a vicariou