Senior Cognitive Behaviour Therapist

The closing date is 11 August 2026

Job summary
We are seeking experienced, motivated, and forward-thinking leaders to join our team in three exciting Band 8a opportunities. These roles offer the chance to make a significant impact across service delivery, performance improvement, and long-term condition management within a dynamic and fast-paced healthcare environment.

Long-Term Conditions (LTC) Lead - Permanent

This permanent leadership role will provide strategic and operational leadership for the Long-Term Conditions portfolio, driving service improvement, transformation, and delivery of high-quality patient care. This role is currently Band 8a and is anticipated to develop into a full-time position.

Performance Support Lead - Step 2/3 (9-Month Maternity Cover)

This fixed-term opportunity offers the chance to lead and support key performance improvement initiatives across a range of services. The successful candidate will analyse performance data, identify opportunities for improvement, and work closely with operational teams to deliver sustainable change.

The postholder will be based at our team bases in Central Croydon and/or at the Bethlem Hospital site and some working from home and is required to work at least one late shift from 11:30 to 19:30.

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date due to an exceptional response. Therefore, we recommend that you apply for this vacancy as soon as possible.

Main duties of the job

• To deliver NICE recommended, formulation driven psychological interventions for depression and anxiety disorders, adapting interventions for the specific needs and clinical setting. Assess and integrate issues surrounding social support, voluntary work and employment into therapy.
• To select and deliver highly specialist evidence based psychological treatments, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions, drawing on a range of theoretical models. To collect and enter clinical outcome data on a sessional basis; select and interpret outcome measures to inform treatment planning.
• To provide professional managerial, and clinical supervision to HI CBT therapists, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, trainees, assistant psychologist and other junior staff members for all aspects of their work. This must include live supervision of therapist's work.
• To manage/ oversee the wellbeing and management of a team of staff
• To provide service level risk management, developing and recording risk management plans
• To identify aspects of the service, which could be improved and initiate and implement service development projects.
• To improve existing systems and procedures to help contribute to an effectively and efficiently run service.
• to lead on recruitment (only step 2 and 3 lead)

About us
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Benefits
Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
• Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
• Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Wellbeing events
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Childcare vouchers
• Staff restaurants

We look forward to receiving your application.

Job responsibilities
Job Purpose:
The primary purpose of these roles is to contribute to the continued development and provision of a very high quality therapy service to meet the needs of the Croydon Service User, in line with the service specifications determined by the commissioners. Senior therapists are experienced psychological therapists with extensive experience working within an IAPT service, who make up the management team and work closely with the service lead, playing a key role in supporting, inspiring and guiding the clinical work of their teams, with a focus on continuing service improvement. They will lead a team and usually also take a lead role within the service holding responsibility for aspects.

• To support the service leads by sharing responsibility of the day to day running of the service
• To work collaboratively with the service leads to implement service developments / new initiatives
• To support the clinical lead in maintaining a strong, committed and motivated team
• To work autonomously as a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.
• To develop and model IAPT protocols and ways of working
• To provide high quality specialist CBT supervision
• To support supervisees in meeting performance targets as defined by the service, and to meet personal performance targets set in agreement with service lead
• To ensure high quality training placements for IAPT trainees (HI, PWP or Assistant Psychologist)

In addition:

• To deliver highly specialist medium-term cognitive behavioural psychotherapy service to patients referred to the service
• To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development
• To continue to undertake advanced and highly specialist continuing professional development in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy.

Please see job description for the specifics of each role.

Person Specification
Education And Qualifications
Essential

• Doctoral level qualification in clinical or counselling psychology (and eligibility for HCPC registration) and having completed an IAPT HI CBT course, OR, High intensity (HI) therapist, having completed an IAPT CBT course
• BABCP practitioner full accreditation or provisional accreditation

Desirable

• Training in a different therapy modality offered in IAPT (e.g. IPT, DIT, Couples, EMDR Groups)
• LTC training

Experience
Essential

• Specialist experience of using CBT to treat depression and a range of anxiety disorders in adults in a brief time limited format, and of using structured assessment protocols
• Experience of using data to manage performance
• Experience of collecting and recording generic and disorder specific outcome measures to monitor patient progress
• Recent experience of working at least for two years within an IAPT service
• Significant experience of contributing to service development and improvements

Desirable

• Supervision Training attended
• Experience of working across cultures and with diverse communities and 'hard to reach' groups
• Experience of co-working and training other staff
• Experience of service development

Knowledge
Essential

• Specialist knowledge of depression and specific anxiety disorders and CBT as applied to depression and specific anxiety disorders
• Awareness of diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care
• Familiarity with IAPTUS

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Ability to meet agreed service targets
• Ability to think creatively and constructively about service improvement
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning
• Skills and ability to act as an advocate for the service, to engage and foster good professional relationships
• Well developed IT skills including word processing, excel

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).