Online Adult Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner

Kooth is a fast-growing business with a social purpose. Our mission is to provide welcoming and effective digital mental health support to the nation. Working in partnership with the NHS, we are already the UK’s largest digital mental health platform for young people aged 10-25. We use the collective insight from nearly 1 million hours of professional support we have provided to guide people to self‑help, community support, and professional help that matches their wants, needs, and goals in life.

We are looking for Online Adult Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners to join Kooth. This role is fully remote. We offer part‑time contracts for 26, 28, 30 and 32 hours per week, with evening and weekend hours. A role with Kooth is a chance to join the pioneers of digital mental health and well‑being. A job with us at Kooth offers you the chance to contribute to filling the gaps in current mental health provision and be part of a caring community at the forefront of providing adults, children and young people with access to immediate support.

Through Kooth, users can go online and access effective therapies and well‑being strategies to manage their mental health in a safe and anonymous way. We are working with over 100 Local Authorities, CCGs, mental health trusts, businesses and charities across the UK to ensure it’s easy and safe for all generations to access the best emotional and mental health services as and when they need them.

Role

As an Online Adult Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner, your role will be at the heart of what we are doing. You will be:

• Working as part of a team providing guidance, initial support, assessment and advice to adult service users aged 18+.
• Cultivating a strong sense of community around our service users, engaging users and ensuring that the online community is maintained as a safe and confidential environment.
• Implementing the Online Services’ Moderation Strategy across platforms.
• Monitoring and moderating user‑generated content.
• Engaging with relevant other professionals to engage on the forums and respond to messages from service users.
• Carrying out risk and safeguarding checks and escalating cases of concern according to service policies and procedures.

What You’ll Do

• Work for adult services but be part of an experienced national team who offers support, advice, emotional well‑being support and counselling to adults.
• Navigate service users through their Kooth Adult pathway ensuring they experience a smooth journey.
• Refer to the psychoeducation, informal education and self‑help resources available on the site to support adults with issues affecting them.
• Support our service users by providing help to utilise the communication tools available.
• Respond to user posts in a timely and appropriate manner, ensuring that concerning messages are promptly acted upon in line with Kooth safeguarding policies and procedures, and escalated to relevant staff.
• Refer adults to the Counselling Team where appropriate.
• Review and sensitively moderate all user‑generated content and user profiles (either pre‑, post‑ or reactive moderation) within forums, comments, images, videos, audio and goals.
• Assist with or lead content pieces as and when helpful and useful to the overall team and end users.
• Liaise fully with the online moderation strategic lead to ensure team alignment and that all processes remain relevant to the evolving service.
• Regularly feedback insights gained from community moderation into the Moderation Strategic Lead and via shared forums such as MDT meetings.
• Contribute to using statistics, identifying patterns, trends, issues and outcomes in relation to activity within the online community, feeding back to the Service Manager for inclusion in reporting processes.
• Assess adults to determine suitability and appropriateness for needs‑led drop‑in support, guidance or therapeutic interventions, together with identifying risk and safeguarding concerns.
• Offer supportive drop‑in chats, engaging adults who access the service in the ‘here and now’, helping them to build resilience in an early intervention context.
• Develop, create and support with the running of forums and supporting users in developing the themes and responses to them.
• Manage a small caseload of adults including support, advice, guidance, empowerment and early intervention work.
• Provide Key Work interventions (supporting adults to engage in face‑to‑face services local to them).
• Assist the Online Manager with actions resulting from Safeguarding concerns to ensure a timely response.
• Liaise and network with identified groups, agencies and individuals who may be in contact with adults.
• Monitor industry relevant and company information and news to anticipate potential issues and keep fully briefed on all current Kooth Adult contracts to ensure the criteria for each of these are fully met.
• Work collaboratively with the wider online team to continue to develop an accessible and appropriate online support, advice and counselling service given the changing needs of both adults and the changing IT environment.
• Work a rota including evenings up to 10 pm and weekend work.
• Be aware of and ensure compliance with legal requirements and internal policies with particular reference to Safeguarding.
• Participate in line management, team meetings and internal clinical support in line with mandatory requirements.
• Undertake any requests made by the Kooth Management Team that are relevant to the post of Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner.

The main responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of duties, only a general guide to the post. In consultation with the post‑holder, the duties may change from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the service.

Working Hours

We offer contracts of 35 (full time) hours a week, which are available where you are willing to work further evenings up to 10pm and weekends. The service runs from 12pm to 10pm (Mon - Fri) and 6pm - 10pm (Sat - Sun), therefore all rota options will sit within our opening times. We offer a choice of 4 hour and 6 hour shifts, or split shifts.

Values Match Alongside you

• Warm, welcoming and companionable. Able to communicate effectively and empathetically with a diverse array of people across the service, including those with different specialities outside of mental health (e.g. engineering).
• Flexible. No two days are the same! Balancing autonomy with seeking support when appropriate, and adapting our approach to give the best experience to those using, and providing, the service.
• Compassionate. Able to have challenging conversations in a supportive and transparent way. Maintaining care and understanding for individuals who may appear distressed or stuck.
• Committed. Proactive, efficient, and enthusiastic about digital mental health and well‑being and the potential for service development.
• Safe. Ensuring that safety and safeguarding are always a priority and considered at every level of the service.

Requirements

• Degree in a relevant subject such as social care, nursing, education, counselling, social work, psychology or another relevant subject or qualified by experience with significant demonstrable training in Adult Mental Health support and engaging people around emotional well‑being or mental health difficulties.
• A relevant professional mental health qualification and post‑qualifying experience working with adult service users (18+).
• A minimum of 3 years post‑qualifying experience working with adults who present with mental health difficulties, in face‑to‑face or digital settings.
• Experience in providing effective engagement and ‘here and now’ support to help adults develop skills to make positive changes in their lives.
• Sensitivity and understanding of the social, environmental, and economic factors that impact people’s mental health.
• Be resilient, empathetic, and mentally equipped to help people that may present in distress.
• A ‘can‑do’ attitude and ambition to work hard as part of a team to build something really special in line with our mission statement.
• A clear understanding of issues pertaining to equality, diversity, and inclusion and how an awareness of these informs your practice.
• A willingness to learn and understand mental health issues and theories around psychological change, as this knowledge will influence what and how you write, moderate content, and support people.
• A belief that outcomes matter and have to be measured.
• Experience and ability to work collaboratively across multi‑disciplinary teams.

Highly Desirable

• A qualification and post‑qualifying experience in working with and supporting adults with mental health difficulties and around emotional well‑being in general – this could be as a mental health practitioner, counsellor, social worker, or mental health nurse – as examples.

*All positions are subject to a successful Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Application form

To Be Considered For The Role, Please Do Submit a cover letter with your application where you evidence how you meet all requirements for this position, outlined in the relevant section above. There is no word count. Answer all questions in the application form with clear and relevant examples.

Benefits

• Salary up to £26,936.00 FTE per annum pro rata (Dependent on experience).
• Permanent employment contracts of 26, 28, 32 or 35 hours per week.
• Afternoon and evening shifts (4 and/or 6 hour shifts, or split shifts).
• Rota options during Service Opening Times: 12pm - 10pm (Mon - Fri), 6pm - 10pm (Sat - Sun).
• A Kooth laptop for you to work comfortably from home.
• Paid Clinical Supervision (monthly) and clinical support.
• A full training programme to get you started. Yearly professional training programmes structured around you.
• Pension contributions.
• Eligible for annual award of Long Term Incentive Plan (shares).
• Healthcare Package.
• Wellness days.
• Life Assurance (4x Salary).
• Group Income Protection – long term sick insurance policy.
• Generous annual holiday allowance.