Job Description and Person Specification

Head of Therapy

Reporting to	Clinical Director
Direct reports	Gambling Therapists and other clinical staff as allocated
Hours	35 hours per week
Location	Redditch, with organisation-wide responsibility and travel to services as required
Leadership scope	Senior Leadership Team member with accountability for therapeutic practice across residential and remote services

Role purpose

The Head of Therapy provides organisation-wide clinical and professional leadership for Gordon Moody’s therapeutic services. The postholder is accountable for the safe, effective and evidence-based delivery of structured treatment for people experiencing gambling-related harms and associated mental health difficulties across residential and remote pathways.

As Gordon Moody’s senior therapy subject matter expert, the postholder leads clinical practice, governance, safeguarding and risk oversight, workforce capability, programme development and evaluation. They work closely with the Clinical Director and operational leaders to translate strategy into consistent, high-quality care, strengthen referral and partnership pathways, and support the continued development and diversification of services.

The postholder maintains a limited clinical caseload, including complex cases where appropriate, and combines direct clinical credibility with strategic leadership, line management, expert supervision, quality improvement and external representation.

Key accountabilities

Clinical leadership and practice

• Provide specialist clinical expertise in the assessment, formulation and treatment of gambling-related harms, behavioural addictions and co-occurring mental health difficulties.
• Lead or advise on complex, high-risk and multi-factorial cases, ensuring clear formulation, treatment planning, review and escalation.
• Deliver and oversee evidence-based individual and group interventions, including CBT, motivational approaches and appropriate integrative therapies.
• Maintain a limited caseload and model excellent clinical practice, professional curiosity, trauma-informed care and recovery-focused working.
• Provide consultation on therapeutic care to clinical and non-clinical colleagues and support coherent decision-making across multidisciplinary teams.
• Ensure continuity of care across residential, remote and external pathways, including effective referral, transfer, discharge and aftercare arrangements.

Service delivery and operational management

• Direct, lead and manage the provision of therapeutic services so that access, assessment and treatment are timely, safe, effective and appropriate to clinical need.
• Provide clinical and operational leadership across treatment services, working with service leads to maintain safe staffing, caseload oversight and consistent practice.
• Ensure therapists follow agreed clinical processes, including assessment, care planning, record keeping, handovers, clinical meetings and outcome monitoring.
• Oversee delivery against agreed service standards, programme requirements and commissioner expectations, taking prompt action where performance or quality varies.
• Support recruitment, induction, workforce planning, retention and succession planning for the therapy workforce.
• Work flexibly across services and support the Clinical Director and other senior colleagues as required.

Clinical governance quality safeguarding and risk

• Lead therapy-related clinical governance activity, including audit, policy development and review, peer review, supervision frameworks, practice observation, incident learning and quality improvement.
• As Designated Safeguarding Lead, maintain oversight of safeguarding suicidality, crisis escalation and clinical risk management, ensuring that concerns are identified, documented, escalated and reviewed appropriately.
• Ensure compliance with safeguarding legislation, professional standards, regulatory requirements, commissioner expectations and Gordon Moody policies and procedures.
• Monitor clinical quality indicators, treatment outcomes and service performance, analyse variation and implement corrective actions and sustainable improvements.
• Lead the quality assurance and monitoring arrangements relevant to the therapy workforce and the professional bodies represented within it.
• Support preparation for inspections, audits and commissioner reviews, providing clear evidence of safe practice, learning and improvement.
• Promote an open learning culture in which staff can raise concerns, reflect on practice and learn from incidents, feedback, complaints and outcomes.

People leadership supervision and development

• Line manage Gambling Therapists and other allocated clinical staff, including objectives, one-to-one meetings, appraisal, wellbeing, attendance, capability and performance.
• Provide expert clinical supervision and ensure all clinicians receive supervision appropriate to their role, professional registration, competence and caseload complexity.
• Lead reflective practice and support clinicians with complex formulation, therapeutic decision-making, professional boundaries and risk management.
• Define and maintain clear competency expectations for therapeutic roles and identify development needs through supervision, audit and performance information.
• Develop and deliver training for clinical and wider teams, promoting current evidence, professional standards and consistent application in practice.
• Support trainees and developing practitioners while ensuring that delegation, oversight and scope of practice remain safe.
• Promote staff engagement, psychological safety, inclusion and a compassionate, accountable performance culture.
• Deputise for the Clinical Director in their absence

 

Strategy service development and partnerships

• Contribute as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, providing clear professional advice on clinical risk, therapy, workforce and service development.
• Work with the Clinical Director and senior colleagues to design, review and diversify treatment programmes in response to evidence, outcomes, policy and service-user need.
• Ensure therapeutic services align with national gambling harms treatment frameworks and relevant ambitions within wider NHS mental health policy.
• Support integration with mental health, addiction and other health and social care services, strengthening referral and onward-care pathways.
• Represent Gordon Moody in clinical networks, commissioner discussions, partnership meetings and relevant external forums.
• Act as an internal and external subject matter expert, communicating good practice and innovation in gambling harms and addiction treatment.
• Contribute to strategic planning, business development and change programmes, ensuring that clinical quality and safety remain central to decision-making.
• Facilitate in-house clinical training.

Outcomes evaluation research and learning

• Report on programme activity, completion, outcomes, quality and effectiveness to the Executive Team, commissioners and other stakeholders as required.
• Lead or contribute to programme evaluation, audit, policy development and service-related research within gambling harms and addiction treatment.
• Use clinical data, service-user feedback, research and audit findings to identify priorities and demonstrate the impact of treatment.
• Build links with academic, clinical and professional partners where these strengthen evidence, evaluation, innovation or workforce development.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of gambling treatment, mental health practice and therapeutic innovation, and translate relevant learning into services.

Professional and organisational responsibilities

• Maintain professional registration or accreditation, supervision and continuing professional development appropriate to the role.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines, agreed authority and Gordon Moody’s policies and procedures.
• Uphold Gordon Moody’s purpose and values and contribute to an inclusive, respectful and person-centred culture.
• Maintain confidentiality, information governance and accurate clinical records in line with legal, professional and organisational requirements.
• Undertake other duties consistent with the seniority and purpose of the role as services develop.

Person Specification

The criteria below describe the qualifications, experience, knowledge and behaviours required to perform the combined clinical, professional and organisational leadership responsibilities of the role.

Criterion	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications and professional standing	·       A recognised therapeutic or mental health post-graduate / Doctoral professional qualification such as CBT, counselling, clinical or counselling psychology, or mental health nursing. ·       Current accreditation or with BABCP, BACP, HCPC, UKCP or another relevant recognised professional body. ·       A recognised clinical supervision qualification. ·       Evidence of advanced and current continuing professional development.	·       Qualification in leadership, management or a related field. ·       Qualification in an additional evidence-based modality, such as EMDR, CAT, DIT, IPT, DBT, MBCT or ACT. ·       Formal leadership, quality improvement, research or service evaluation training.
Clinical experience	·       Significant post-qualification experience, including at least three years in addiction and/or mental health services. ·       Substantial experience of assessing and treating complex and high-risk presentations, including safeguarding concerns, suicidality and co-occurring mental health difficulties. ·       Advanced experience in CBT formulation and intervention, with the ability to integrate other appropriate therapeutic approaches. ·       Experience of delivering individual and group interventions and maintaining high-quality clinical records. ·       Experience of providing clinical supervision to qualified clinicians and supporting trainees or developing practitioners.	·       Experience of working specifically within gambling harms services. ·       Experience across both residential and remote or community treatment settings. ·       Experience of other behavioural addictions, such as gaming, smartphone use or shopping.
Leadership and management experience	·       Proven experience of line managing qualified therapists or other registered clinicians, including appraisal, wellbeing, development and performance management. ·       Experience of leading a sizeable or dispersed clinical team and coordinating delivery across services. ·       Experience of contributing at senior leadership level and translating organisational strategy into operational delivery. ·       Experience of workforce planning, recruitment, induction and retention. ·       Experience of leading service change, programme development or clinical transformation while maintaining safe delivery.	·       Experience of deputising for a senior clinical leader or holding organisation-wide professional responsibility. ·       Experience of supporting business development, mobilisation or the design of new treatment pathways.
Governance quality and evaluation	·       Strong experience of clinical governance, audit, quality assurance and improvement. ·       Detailed knowledge of safeguarding, clinical risk assessment, crisis escalation and relevant legal and regulatory responsibilities. ·       Experience of monitoring outcomes, quality indicators and performance information and using findings to drive improvement. ·       Experience of preparing evidence for inspection, commissioner review or external assurance. ·       Ability to apply research, policy and evidence to programme design, evaluation and clinical practice. ·       Safeguarding level 3.	·       Experience of leading professional body quality assurance or accreditation processes. ·       Experience of research partnerships, publication, conference presentation or formal service evaluation. ·       Safeguarding level 4.
Knowledge and skills	·       Experience of working with addictions, complexity and comorbidity. ·       Advanced formulation, clinical reasoning and therapeutic decision-making skills. ·       Ability to balance strategic, operational and clinical priorities while maintaining high standards and sound professional judgement. ·       Excellent written, verbal, presentation and influencing skills, including the ability to communicate complex or sensitive issues clearly. ·       Ability to build effective relationships with service users, staff, commissioners, NHS services, regulators and external partners. ·       Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret clinical data, audit findings, outcomes and qualitative feedback. ·       Competence in Microsoft Office and the use of electronic clinical or patient record systems.	·       Knowledge of gambling disorder, gambling-related harms. ·       Advanced skills in clinical data systems, reporting tools or digital treatment delivery. ·       Experience of developing and delivering external training or professional education.
Values and approach	·       Compassionate, credible and visible leadership with a clear commitment to safe, person-centred and recovery-focused care. ·       A trauma-informed, inclusive and non-judgemental approach to people experiencing gambling-related harms. ·       Integrity, accountability and the confidence to challenge practice constructively and escalate concerns. ·       Commitment to reflective practice, learning, staff wellbeing and continuous improvement. ·       Ability to work autonomously, remain calm under pressure and make proportionate decisions in complex situations. ·       Commitment to Gordon Moody’s purpose and values and willingness to work flexibly across services.	·       Experience of involving people with lived experience in service design, evaluation or quality improvement.

This job description outlines the principal responsibilities of the role. It may be reviewed as services and organisational requirements develop, following appropriate consultation.

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