Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is growing and changing. We provide specialist mental health, learning disability and community services across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. We’re looking for people who care about others, take responsibility, treat people with respect and have the confidence to speak up and shape what comes next.
We’re focused on the future, with a clear Trust Strategy and our Best for the Black Country programme driving improvement across our services and communities.
What we do
· Adult and older adult mental health
· Children and young people’s mental health
· Specialist learning disability services
· Community healthcare for children, young people and families in Dudley
Why join now
We’ve got real momentum. Clear priorities and our Best for the Black Country work mean things are moving in the right way, fast.
Our culture is built around being compassionate, accountable, respectful and empowering each other - you’ll see this in how teams support patients and colleagues every day.
You’ll be looked after. Flexible working, family-friendly policies, supportive teams, proper wellbeing support and opportunities to learn and develop.
There’s room to grow. A wide range of services, space to try ideas and a voice that’s heard.
It’s a great place to live. Diverse communities, good transport links, strong schools and green space, with a lower cost of living than many city regions.
What it’s like to work here
You’ll join friendly, skilled teams who look out for each other. We plan together, share pressures and celebrate wins. You’ll be encouraged to take ownership, speak up and learn from experience. New starters get a warm welcome and clear induction; early careers colleagues have preceptorship and buddying; experienced staff can lead, teach and innovate.
Who we are
We’re 4,000+ colleagues from many backgrounds, committed to improving health and wellbeing for our communities and for each other. If you’re interested in the role but don’t meet every requirement, please apply — we value potential, different perspectives and people who want to grow.
As part of our commitment to fairness, transparency, and personal integrity, we ask all applicants to ensure that their job applications reflect their own experiences, skills, and motivations. While AI tools can support spelling, grammar, or formatting, we expect that the content of your application—especially personal statements and responses to role-specific questions—is written by you. This helps us get to know the real you and ensures that our recruitment process remains equitable and meaningful for everyone.
Job overview
Are you a registered mental health professional keen to make a meaningful difference and develop specialist skills? Join our innovative Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) Team and help shape a psychology-led pathway across the Black Country.
Working alongside Community Mental Health Teams, we provide coordinated, trauma-informed and non-stigmatising care for people with complex emotional needs. As a Band 6 CEN Practitioner, you will work across the four Black Country localities within a developing service. A smaller caseload and more frequent, purposeful contact will enable you to build therapeutic relationships and deliver creative, personalised, recovery-focused support.
The role offers opportunities to:
· Help shape a new service.
· Develop specialist CEN knowledge and skills.
· Work within an integrated multidisciplinary network.
· Deliver relationship-based care using professional judgement and creativity.
We welcome registered mental health nurses, occupational therapists and social workers. Experience of complex emotional needs and knowledge of DBT would be beneficial, alongside an understanding of trust, consistency, compassionate boundaries and person-centred language.
If you are curious, resilient and passionate about improving care, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Advert
In this varied and rewarding role, you will develop high-quality, formulation-led risk management and care plans with a strong psychological focus. You will work directly with people accessing the service by delivering intervention led support while providing leadership, guidance and support to CEN Wellbeing & Recovery Facilitators. Working in close partnership with Community Mental Health Teams and medical colleagues, you will help ensure that agreed care plans and positive risk-management strategies are understood and delivered consistently. You will be encouraged to develop through regular supervision, reflective practice and constructive feedback, with day-to-day support from CEN psychologists and Clinical Leads. You may also have opportunities to undertake training in evidence-informed approaches relevant to complex emotional needs, such as Structured Clinical Management, cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.
Working for our organisation
Black Country Healthcare covers three towns and one city, and is home to a highly diverse population, with areas of socio-economic deprivation. We offer both community and in-patient services to children and adults with mental health difficulties, learning disabilities and autism and work in partnership with the third sector and Local Authorities.
We aim to recruit a workforce that is representative of our population and inclusive practice is at the heart of our Trust values, with the aim that everyone has a voice that needs to be heard. We aim to develop and co-produce our services and have a strong cohort of Lived Experience Practitioners. We believe in a culture of compassion and strongly promote staff Wellbeing initiatives.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical Work – You will manage a smaller caseload, enabling you to provide more intensive, responsive support and Interventions and meet with people more frequently. You will undertake assessments, coordinate clinical care and respond flexibly to emerging needs. With supervision from the CEN MDT, you will develop bespoke, formulation-led care plans, positive risk-management plans and psychologically based interventions that reflect each person’s needs and goals. Through close liaison and shared agreement with the wider Community Mental Health Team, you will help ensure these plans are understood and implemented consistently.
Teamwork – You will be a valued member of the pan-Trust CEN Team, working alongside psychologists, CEN Clinical Leads and Wellbeing & Recovery Facilitators, and alongside the Community Mental Health Teams across the trust. You will contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings, provide in-reach support to inpatient services, and attend professionals’ meetings and case conferences as required to promote coordinated, consistent care.
Training, Reflective Practice and Supervision – You will participate in regular supervision and reflective practice within the CEN pathway, supporting your professional development and the delivery of safe, effective care. You will undertake relevant training to strengthen your knowledge and skills in working with people with complex emotional needs. As your experience develops, you may also contribute to supervision and reflective practice for Community Mental Health Team colleagues and CEN Wellbeing & Recovery Facilitators.
Professional Responsibilities – You will practise in accordance with your professional code of conduct, relevant legislation, Trust policies and Trust values. You will maintain high standards of care, professional accountability and accurate, timely clinical records, while promoting safe, compassionate and person-centred practice in your own work and across the wider team.
For more details see attached Job description
Applying and timelines
We may close this advert early if we receive a high volume of applications, so please apply soon. We shortlist after the closing date and will contact shortlisted candidates usually within two weeks. If you haven’t heard by then, you haven’t been shortlisted. Please check your email for updates and contact Recruitment for feedback.
As part of our commitment to fairness, openness and accountability, we ask all applicants to ensure that their job applications reflect their own experiences, skills and motivations. While AI tools can support spelling, grammar or formatting, we expect that the content of your application especially personal statements and responses to role-specific questions is written by you.
Pay and contracts
Most NHS roles are paid under NHS Agenda for Change. With us, your starting point is set against the advertised band and your relevant NHS service, with progression through annual increments.
Medical and Very Senior Manager roles follow separate national pay frameworks, not Agenda for Change. Details are provided in each advert and during recruitment.
Standards and checks
· Clinical posts up to and including Band 4 are expected to hold the Care Certificate. If you don’t have it yet, we’ll support you to complete it in post.
· Some roles require a Standard or Enhanced DBS check under part V of the Police Act 1997. Having a criminal record won’t automatically prevent employment - we consider the role and individual circumstances.
· We are an equal opportunities employer, offer flexible working, and are a smoke-free Trust.
Inclusion, equality and adjustments
· We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating an environment where everyone is treated with dignity, feels respected and is able to thrive.
· We are an anti-racist, disability-inclusive and LGBTQ+-inclusive Trust.
· We welcome applications from under-represented groups and people with lived experience relevant to our services.
· Disabled applicants can request consideration under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme where essential criteria are met, and you can ask for reasonable adjustments at any stage.
Our culture and values
Best for the Black Country is our improvement journey. Our values Compassionate, Accountable, Respectful and Empowered guide how we work every day.
That means:
- taking time to understand people and respond with kindness
- being open and taking responsibility for our actions
- listening and valuing different perspectives
- supporting each other to speak up, improve and make a difference
You’ll see this in how teams work together and in the impact you can have on local people.