Communities Service Lead
| Posting date: | 14 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £34,000.00 to £38,000.00 per year |
| Additional salary information: | £34000.00 - £38000.00 a year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 29 January 2026 |
| Location: | Swindon, SN2 2PN |
| Company: | NHS Jobs |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | E0343-26-0005abl838 |
Summary
The successful candidate will play a critical role in development of the service and in the day-to-day delivery of effective mental and emotional well-being support to CYP within our community. This position involves providing direct urgent mental health services, collaborating with families, emergency services, CAMHS, schools, and community organisations, and contributing to a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for young people. The ideal candidate will have experience in operationally managing a team of Emotional Well-being Practitioners and counsellors in the provision of mental health support and a strong understanding of the challenges faced by young people. The risks presented on engagement with emergency and urgent services and effective responses to behaviours that challenge, de-escalation techniques, and a commitment to delivering high-quality, compassionate care. Main Duties and responsibilities: To provide managerial supervision, oversight of work schedules and allocation of resources to the team ensuring team is trained and fit for purpose. To coordinate the team rota. To assist in recruitment in adherence to the keeping children safe in education framework. To strategically promote the service to ensure system partners are aware of our offer and KPI requirements are delivered. Liaise with key stakeholders to collaborate, maintain positive, cohesive relationships and avoid system duplication. Support routine internal governance audits and respond to any identified actions / improvements ensuring the team are confident in maintaining accurate records. To nurture links with other CYP agencies and services and have a good understanding of local services for signposting and onward referrals. Lead in managing any potential safeguarding concerns through school consultation and MASH liaison. Manage risk and recognise and pro-actively respond to child protection and safeguarding issues. Support the evolution of service delivery and resources to adapt and flex to local demands. Provide on call support. Haven (Evening service) In this part of the role you will lead the delivery of the service in providing direct urgent emotional support to CYP presenting significant critical safety needs and behaviours that challenge. After initial contact with one of our identified urgent / emergency service referral partners, the Haven service provides immediate intervention. 365 days on rota basis of days, evening and weekends including bank holidays. (Day services) In this part of the role, you will lead the delivery of emotional support to CYP in community settings inc. education settings, community centres and Be U therapeutic spaces. This service supports CYP through highly targeted interventions with immediate care needs within the Getting risk support / Getting more help elements of the iTHRIVE model. To conduct and support a team to: Independently conduct rapid assessment of referred CYP against service inclusion / exclusion criteria in liaison with Police, Ambulance, ED and CAMHS, collaborate with these services to agree and coordinate ongoing safety on acceptance to service. Implement immediate mood regulation interventions and emotional support for CYP experiencing urgent mental health issues. Conduct rapid risk assessments and agree necessary collaborative interventions with referral partners to identify the severity of mental health need mitigate identified risks and develop appropriate, effective urgent high need safety plans. Provide evidence-based therapeutic interventions, including individual and group therapeutic interventions to CYP. Deescalate and compassionately manage presenting CYPs potential behaviours that challenge. Report any identified safeguarding concerns of CYP and coordinate necessary actions to mitigate any immediate risks to self / others. Liaise with Caregivers and referral partners to ensure ongoing immediate safety of CYP post intervention and coordinate a safe return to home residence or work with partners to identify safe emergency accommodation. Develop and implement follow-up care plans, including referrals to appropriate mental health services (internal Be U Swindon & external service offers). Offer guidance and support to families and caregivers, helping them understand and effectively respond to the mental health needs of their children. Engage with children in various settings, including schools and community centres. Work closely with families as appropriate to offer guidance, education, and support in managing their child's mental health challenges. Maintain accurate and up-to-date records, ensuring all interventions and plans are thoroughly documented. Participate in ongoing training and professional development opportunities to stay current with best practices in mental health care. Participate in regular supervision and peer support meetings to ensure best practices and continuous professional growth. Collaborate with schools, healthcare providers, social services, and other community organisations to coordinate care and ensure a system led, holistic approach to each child's well-being. Engage with local communities to raise awareness about mental health issues and available support services for children and young people. Any other duties appropriate to role to support the development of the service offer and quality of care received by CYP. This job profile is intended as a general guide to the responsibilities attached to the post and may be altered from time to time, following consultation with the post holder to reflect changing needs of the service &/or ABLs priorities Skills & Competencies required: Strong urgent intervention, de-escalation and risk assessment skills. Experience in working in a contract led commissioning, KPI focussed, fast paced environment. Excellent leadership and management skills. Positive and proactive to achieve the highest standards and outcomes in engagement with children, young people, their parent/carers, and professionals. Understanding of emergency and urgent services and effective collaboration to mitigate identified risks. Resilience to highly demanding care environments. Compassionate when responding to significant behaviours that challenge. Excellent understanding of CYP MH challenges and effective interventions. Adept at coordinating emergency continuation plans such as facilitating safe return to home residence / emergency housing and hostels. Proficiency in maintaining detailed and accurate documentation. Familiarity with local mental health resources and services. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust and rapport with children, families, and professionals. Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Open, respectful, committed to equality and inclusiveness and motivated by new ideas and perspectives. Cultural competency and sensitivity to the diverse needs of the community. Communication Be able to communicate and engage with all stakeholders and adapt presentation style depending on audience Ensure young people feel listened to, feel in control and are respected. Promote a mutually respectful working environment, nurturing a positive team culture. Standard Information Information Governance Employees of ABL Health must comply with the provisions of GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The post holder must not; either during the course of their employment, or following termination of their employment, disclose any information relating to service users or employees, or of the lawful business practices, of the organisation. The post holder will be required, when and where appropriate to the role, to comply with the processing of requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 The post holder must comply with ABLs policies that protect the information assets of the organisation from unauthorised disclosure, modification, destruction, inappropriate access or use. The post holder will be responsible for maintaining the clinical and/or corporate records that fall within the remit of this role to the standards in ABLs records management policies, and data quality processes and standards. Health & Safety Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions. Safeguarding is Everyones Business ABL has a responsibility to ensure that all children / young people and adults are adequately safeguarded and protected. As a consequence, all ABLs employees, temporary staff and volunteers are required to adhere to ABLs safeguarding policies / procedures in addition to local and national safeguarding policies and to act upon any concerns in accordance with them. Smoke Free ABL is Smoke - Free. Smoking is not permitted on any of our premises or the surrounding land including car parking facilities. Training The post holder must attend any training that is identified as mandatory to their role. The range of duties and responsibilities outlined above are indicative only and are intended to give an overview of the range and type of duties that will be allocated. They are subject to modification in the light of changing service demands and the development requirements of the post holder. Equality, Diversity & Human Rights It is the responsibility of every person to act in ways to support equality and diversity and to respect human rights, working within the spirit and detail of legislation including the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.