Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist

Job Title: Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist
Salary: £65,000 per annum, plus 15% ILW if applicable 
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week 
Contract Type: Permanent 
Location: Birmingham, Liverpool, London, or Newcastle, with travel to other centres when required
Reports to: Director of Clinical Services

THE CHARITY 
Suicide is the leading cause of death of men under 35 and three quarters of those who die by suicide are men. James’ Place exists to save the lives of men in suicidal crisis through delivering clinical services. We are a charity currently offering free, life-saving therapy to suicidal men at our centres in Liverpool, London and Newcastle. 

James’ Place was set up by Clare Milford Haven and Nick Wentworth-Stanley in 2008 after their twenty-one-year-old son, James, died by suicide ten days after a minor operation. James had no history of mental illness or depression and had sought urgent help for anxiety and suicidal thoughts but didn’t find it.    

James' Place was set up to make the experience of finding help as easy as possible. We offer men who are experiencing a suicidal crisis a brief, intensive, therapeutic intervention in a safe environment. Men who walk through the door at James’ Place will be in a space where they feel valued and respected.  We provide a calm and peaceful environment both inside the centres and in our outside spaces, accessible to men who visit us as well as their friends and families. We have so far treated over 5,100 men who might otherwise have been unable to access the support they desperately need.

In early 2026 we will be opening our fourth centre in Birmingham. Our new centre in Birmingham will be there to support suicidal men living in the West Midlands.

THE OPPORTUNITY
We are looking for Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist to join our expanding clinical directorate. The Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist is a senior clinical leader responsible for the delivery, governance, quality and continuous improvement of the organisation’s therapeutic suicide prevention model.

The Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist reports to the Director of Clinical Services who retains overall strategic, executive and corporate accountability for all aspects of clinical services across the organisation.

Within this structure, the Consultant Suicide Prevention Therapist plays a pivotal leadership role in translating strategic direction into operational delivery of therapeutic services. The postholder ensures consistency, quality, safety and fidelity of clinical practice across centres, working closely with Heads of Centres and clinical staff to embed standards, manage risk and drive service improvement.

The role combines coordination and delivery of specialist clinical expertise, leadership, research and evaluation, clinical training and opportunity to deputise for the Director of Clinical Services in defined areas of delegated responsibility.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Advanced Specialist Clinical Practice

• Provide expert consultation on cases involving increased risk
• Operate with high autonomy in complex, high-stakes clinical decision-making
• Model advanced formulation, safety planning and therapeutic engagement
• Support multidisciplinary decision-making in situations with significant clinical and organisational implications
• Hold a small, specialised caseload offering welcome assessment and interventions

Research and Evaluation

• Review existing research and literature to inform your own work
• Lead clinical audit and service evaluation programmes
• Initiate and oversee research activity in suicide prevention
• Develop academic partnerships where appropriate
• Disseminate learning internally and externally
• Analyse and interpret data and other information
• Comply with ethical, legal, and health and safety requirements when undertaking research

Clinical Training

• Lead on advanced clinical training frameworks
• Design and (co)deliver suicide prevention and risk management training
• Develop and maintain clinical competency frameworks
• Provide supervision to senior clinicians and specialist practitioners as required
• Embed reflective practice and continuous professional development structures

Service Performance, Quality Data Leadership

• Establish and monitor KPIs and clinical outcome measures
• Interpret complex clinical and operational data to inform service improvement
• Lead quality improvement initiatives across centres
• Ensure robust data governance and confidentiality standards
• Oversee digital safety and governance in remote or technology-enabled delivery
• Use evaluation findings to influence strategic and commissioning discussions

Strategic and Service Leadership 

• Support implementation of the Director of Clinical Services’ strategic vision for therapeutic services
• Lead operational delivery of the organisation’s suicide prevention therapeutic model across centres
• Translate organisational strategy into clear clinical standards, competencies and delivery expectations
• Work collaboratively with Heads of Centres to ensure consistent standards of care, governance and risk management
• Provide professional leadership and clinical direction to Principal-, Senior- and Suicide Prevention Therapists
• Ensure fidelity to evidence-based suicide prevention frameworks
• Represent the organisation in multi-agency suicide prevention partnerships and regional forums
• Escalate systemic risks, quality concerns and strategic issues appropriately

Clinical Governance and Organisational Risk

• Lead and maintain the clinical governance framework for suicide prevention services
• Oversee serious incident review processes and ensure implementation of organisational learning
• Lead on governance, audit and risk reporting relating to therapeutic services
• Ensure safeguarding standards are consistently embedded across centres
• Develop and review organisational policies relating to suicide risk management and crisis response
• Ensure readiness for internal and external inspection and compliance within our agreed quality standards
• Manage high level clinical risks with potential organisational or reputational impact

Financial and Resource Responsibility

• Hold delegated responsibility for defined elements of the service budget (e.g., training, research or service development)
• Contribute to workforce planning and establishment modelling
• Ensure effective and efficient use of clinical resources
• Provide input into business cases and funding proposals

Leadership and Line Management

• Provide direct line management to designated colleagues 
• Hold responsibility for appraisal, performance management and capability processes
• Provide professional leadership across all therapist grades
• Support Heads of Centres in managing complex clinical performance or risk issues
• Ensure safe caseload allocation and supervision structures
• Contribute to recruitment and workforce development strategy

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 

• Lead culturally competent and trauma-informed suicide prevention practice
• Address inequalities in access, experience and outcomes
• Promote inclusive, anti-discriminatory clinical standards and practice across services

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
Qualifications

• Professional qualification in Psychology, Psychotherapy, Counselling, Psychiatry, Nursing, Social Work, or equivalent
• Current registration with relevant statutory body or accredited membership of recognised professional body (e.g., Health and Care Professions Council, NMC, UKCP, BACP, BABCP) 

Experience

• Substantial post-qualification experience working with individuals at high risk of suicide
• Experience leading clinical governance frameworks
• Experience managing serious incident reviews and embedding learning
• Experience contributing to organisational strategy implementation
• Experience delivering advanced supervision and training
• Experience influencing service delivery across multiple teams or sites
• Experience interpreting complex service data to drive improvement
• Experience operating with significant professional autonomy

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of suicide theory, risk formulation and evidence-based interventions
• Knowledge of safeguarding legislation and practice relevant clinical governance frameworks
• Understanding of best practice models, and quality standards
• Knowledge of outcome measurement systems and quality improvement methodology
• Awareness of national suicide prevention strategies and policy landscape

Skills and Competencies

• Advanced clinical risk assessment and formulation skills
• Strategic thinking and systems leadership
• Ability to translate strategy into operational delivery
• Strong analytical and data interpretation capability, to design, conduct and evaluate research
• Skilled in influencing senior stakeholders
• High emotional resilience and professional integrity
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills

Desirable
Qualifications

• Leadership or management qualification
• Post Qualifying masters and/ or Doctoral level qualification 

Experience

• Experience with delegated budget management.
• Experience representing services in regional or multi-agency forums
• Research publication or formal evaluation leadership

WE OFFER

• A 7% employer contributory pension scheme
• Family friendly policies
• Death in service insurance scheme 
• 25 days plus bank holidays leave entitlement (FTE), including enhanced holiday allowance with incremental rises after qualifying period 

LEARN MORE
If you would like to learn more about working for James' Place, sign up to our online recruitment information session on Wednesday 8th April at 6:30pm - 7:15pm by emailing [email protected]. 

HOW TO APPLY
To apply, please use the online application system to submit your CV detailing your experience, roles and responsibilities, and answer the two screening questions relating to the knowledge and skills you hold for this role. Please note, you do not need to upload a cover letter for this role. If prompted to upload a cover letter, please attach a copy of your CV instead.

Closing date: Wednesday 15th April, 12 noon
First round interviews are expected to be held on Wednesday 22nd April via MS Teams.

James’ Place is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community. Our aim is that no job applicant, temporary worker or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, disability, gender and transgender status, race and ethnicity, religion and belief (including no belief), marriage or civil partnership status or sexual orientation.

If you have a disability or health conditions which means you'd benefit from any adjustments to the interview process to help you perform at your best, please do let us know in advance.

Any job offers made are subject to the receipt of two relevant satisfactory employment references. We expect this to include one from your most recent or current employer. Any job offers made are also subject to a satisfactory DBS check and a Right to Work in the UK check.

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