We are looking for an experienced and passionate Head of Counselling to lead and develop this highly-regarded Service. You will lead a team, oversee around 15 committed volunteers and ensure we deliver a safe, professional and effective service to a range of clients. The role is an excellent opportunity for the right person.

Full details can be found in the job description below however a summarised list of some of the main responsibilities can be found below.

The Head of Counselling has a key role:

• Managing and delivering counselling service.
• Ensuring robust governance of the service.
• Working with the church leadership team to ensure there is strong interface with other church ministries and that the counselling service is integral part of its vision and strategy

The Counselling Service is a member of the Association of Christian Counsellors and adheres to their statement of faith and code of conduct.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Lead and manage Ps & Gs Counselling Service.
• Manage Counselling Staff team.
• Oversee a team of volunteer counsellors.
• Provide support and guidance to both qualified and student counsellors.
• Ensure all qualified and student counsellors receive required level of supervision.
• Offer supervision as appropriate.
• Hold a personal caseload.
• Plan a programme of CPD for the team.
• Take the professional lead in reviewing/updating counselling policies and practices.
• Lead and supervise the development and implementation of all operational business plans and service improvement.
• Lead on the recruitment and induction of volunteer trainee and qualified counsellors and volunteer receptionists.
• Attend staff prayers and other staff meetings each week and establish working relationships with the wider staff team.
• Report annually to Vestry.
• You will be responsible for the budgets for the counselling service, under the direction of the Finance Team.
• Ensure team have regular safeguarding training and all safeguarding guidelines are followed.
• Follow GDPR guidelines and ensure IT is used responsibly, including safe storage and appropriate retention of client information.
• With the Support of the Counselling Advisory group, ensure a pattern of review for governance, best practice, guidance and procedures.

Social Work Scotland is the professional body for social work managers and leaders. We are a membership organisation with over 350 individual and corporate members. We exist to promote and support the development of the social work profession, and to inform, influence and improve public policy and public services.

We are excited to be recruiting for a new Adult Social Work Policy and Practice Lead. With cross-party support for the development of a National Care Service in Scotland, to include a National Social Work Agency and the legacy of COVID-19 still unravelling, the next few years will present many opportunities to reassert the role and value of social work. For adult social work and social care, new structures of governance, operations and scrutiny may be built; in each domain social work must articulate what it needs in order to deliver positive change for individuals and communities. This post with Social Work Scotland will be at the centre of those national debates, helping to facilitate the engagement and leadership of our Adult Standing Committee members, Chief Social Work Officers and the Social Work Scotland Board. In partnership with colleagues in Social Work Scotland and the Scottish Government’s Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor, this post also offers a chance to join up interdependent but disconnected policy agendas, constructing a more coherent and enabling operational environment for social work as a whole. The post will have a role in supporting national projects currently hosted by Social Work Scotland, such as implementation of Self-Directed Support.

If successful in securing the post, you will have the opportunity to build relationships with the leadership of the social work profession in Scotland, in operations, regulation, advocacy, policy making, education and academia. You’ll also build or strengthen links across the Adult Social Work and Social Care sectors, within Scotland, the UK and internationally. You will be a visible representative of the profession, and you will help Social Work Scotland’s members to realise opportunities and resolve challenges. At the core of Social Work Scotland is a commitment to assisting the profession be the best it can be for the individuals, families and communities who need social work or social care support; the Adult Social Work Policy and Practice role is central to us delivering on that commitment.