Team Lead - Psychological Services in Bristol

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated individual to join our team as a Team Lead in Psychological Services at healthcare rm. In this pivotal role, you’ll lead and inspire a clinical team to deliver high-quality emotional wellbeing services, while ensuring operational efficiency and client satisfaction. You'll be responsible for coaching, performance monitoring, quality assurance, and supporting the development of clinical best practices across the business. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with strong leadership skills and a passion for mental health to make a real difference within a forward-thinking organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• To lead, develop and motivate a team—creating a supportive, inclusive and high-performance culture aligned to HCML Group values.
• To take clear ownership and accountability for safe, efficient service delivery—optimising capacity, utilisation and workflow to meet service standards and client outcomes.
• To ensure robust quality assurance, clinical governance and risk management are embedded across service delivery, with appropriate escalation, learning and compliance.
• To act as a visible point of contact for internal stakeholders and clients—building trusted relationships, communicating clearly, managing expectations and resolving issues.
• To strengthen capability across the service through staff development (coaching, training and supervision) and continuous improvement, informed by performance data, audit outcomes and feedback.

Operational Management

• Demonstrate teamwork ethos & develop and sustain relationships with both internal and external customers.
• Be able to forecast, and monitor core performance areas and client activity to effectively resource the running of the day-to-day operations.
• Line manage team members, including recruitment support, onboarding, rota/leave planning, supervision, wellbeing check‑ins, performance management and absence management in line with company policies.
• Coordinate day-to-day service delivery across the team, ensuring effective triage, case allocation, capacity management and timely progression of work in line with service standards and clinical priorities.
• Maintain oversight of performance and service metrics (e.g., activity, utilisation, waiting times, SLA/response times, quality/audit outcomes, client satisfaction), producing regular reports and action plans to address variance and risk.
• Support the progression and evolution of the service through continuous improvement activity, including identifying themes from data and feedback, contributing to service development plans, and implementing/embedding agreed process changes and learning.
• Conduct regular supervisions (1-2-1s) while always considering CSMART / GROW principles when setting objectives and coaching.
• Identify opportunities to improve, and support modification of standard operating procedures to ensure customer journey/process improvement, while considering the commercial impact.
• Oversee completion of clinical audits (including assessments and processes), reporting back trends, plans to reduce risks and training requirements to senior management.
• Support client account management activity including through transactional contact and meeting attendance, ensuring appropriate delivery & demonstration of outcomes that delight end‑users and customers alike.
• Be able to produce improvements in quality and commercial success from involvement with projects, cases and other activities.
• Motivate direct reports and other operational staff, to deliver best‑in‑class performance that supports the growth of the HCML Group.

Service Coordination

• Provide oversight of case formulation and pathway decisions, ensuring the team applies stepped‑care consistently and explains contributing factors and recommended options (e.g., self‑help, guided self‑help, signposting).
• Coordinate complex case activity, including timely involvement of relevant parties, accurate documentation and handovers, and liaison with senior clinicians/managers where additional input is required.
• Provide day‑to‑day clinical leadership to maintain standards of practice in line with employer requirements and relevant professional/regulatory and accrediting bodies (e.g., BPS, UKCP, BACP, BABCP, EMDR).
• Support effective case communication with clients and stakeholders, including explaining decisions and managing expectations with appropriate ethical and professional sensitivity.
• When required, liaise directly with clients, carers/relatives and other health professionals to share complex information, maintaining confidentiality and professional boundaries.
• Promote inclusive, non‑discriminatory practice, ensuring communication respects diverse beliefs and cultural practices.
• Undertake other reasonable duties to support safe and effective service delivery.

Quality Assurance

• Ensure team compliance with legal, regulatory and internal requirements and agreed QA standards, including accurate record‑keeping and data protection, and lead timely incident reporting and escalation in line with policy.
• Identify and escalate ethical, operational, safeguarding and crisis concerns through the appropriate governance routes, supporting team members to follow policy and maintain clear documentation.
• Support quality and consistency of client‑facing content by delivering workshops within areas of expertise and contributing to the development and review of wellbeing programmes and psychoeducational materials.
• Maintain clear governance on what is in and out of scope for each client, ensuring decisions align to the service model, clinical guidance and contractual requirements.
• Conduct regular call and case audits to assure quality and consistency, identifying development needs, non‑compliance, risk themes and opportunities for best practice.
• Ensure the team is competent in risk identification and safeguarding practice, including robust assessment, timely response and use of agreed escalation pathways.

Person Specification

• 1+ years’ relevant management experience, including with leading or managing a clinical/wellbeing team.
• Experience coordinating day‑to‑day service operations (inc. workflow/case allocation, capacity planning, and utilisation management) to meet service standards.
• Operating experience with clinical governance and quality assurance processes, inc. evidence of continuous improvement outcomes.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office IT packages.

Skills & Knowledge

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to handle sensitive or emotive conversations calmly and professionally.
• Ability to review information, identify themes or patterns and summarise issues clearly for operational review.

Attributes

• Ability to work autonomously as well as collaboratively within a team.
• Calm, efficient, and professional approach to work and client interactions.
• Strong sense of responsibility and commitment to maintaining high standards.
• Good attention to detail.
• Leadership skills.

Qualifications and Training

• (Desirable) Current registration/accreditation with a relevant professional body (as applicable), e.g. HCPC, BABCP, BACP, NMC (RMN) or EMCC.

Equal Opportunities Statement

HCML is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.