About this role
Job summary
Touchstone is a multi-award-winning mental health and wellbeing charity operating in communities across Yorkshire. Touchstone understands that we can only deliver excellence to the people we serve if the people we recruit are happy, empowered, supported to reach their potential and trusted to lead.
Join the Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) and play a key role in managing and leading a team of mental health practitioners to support effective service delivery of a high-volume clinical service, with elements of matrix-management.
Main duties of the job
You will operationally lead a Hub team within Leeds, ensuring high performance of staff and service delivery and contribute to service improvement. Being involved and leading on projects that enhance service delivery and enable better patient care. Overseeing daily operations, supporting multidisciplinary teams, management of performance and ensuring safe, effective, person-centred care. The ideal candidate will bring strong leadership, service-improvement expertise and excellent communication skills.
Information Session: Thursday 24th September at 5:30pm (email for TEAMS link to attend [email protected]
Interviews will be held on: Monday 19th October 2026
As an employee of Touchstone, you will benefit from the following:
Working for a diverse and inclusive organisation e.g. 36% *BME staff, 25% *LGBTQ+ staff, 16% *staff with a disability. Staff and peer support networks (*as above and many more)
28 days annual leave (rising to 31 after 2 years) + 8 bank holidays (pro-rata)
Flexible working opportunities
Personal wellbeing budget. Access to counselling and 24/7 confidential staff helpline.
Health and wellbeing activities and fun staff team away days
Inclusive maternity and parental policies and pay
Additional day of leave as a celebration day or health and wellbeing
Learning and personal development opportunities
About us
Touchstone is an equal opportunities organisation, an equal rights employer and applications are welcome from all sections of the community, particularly, BME and LGB and Trans communities and/or people with disabilities who are under-represented within Touchstone. All applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria will be interviewed. Additional information can be obtained from our equal opportunities policy. Please note that we do not hold a sponsor licence and we do not intend to offer sponsorship for this particular role. You should therefore ensure that you have/will have the right to work in the UK to be able to undertake this role, if appointed, you will be required to provide relevant right to work documents at the point of an offer being made to you. Applications can be obtained by visiting www.touchstonesupport.org.uk or by e-mailing [email protected]. Please note that feedback is not provided to applicants who have not been shortlisted. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Job description Job responsibilities
BACKGROUND TO SERVICE
The Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) is a city-wide service composed of two elements; NHS Talking Therapies (offering talking therapies to adult NHS patients) and a broader Primary Care Mental Health service (offering mental health and wellbeing support primarily based in primary care settings (GP surgeries, health centres etc).
The service is delivered by a partnership of Third Sector and NHS organisations, comprising Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds & York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, Northpoint Wellbeing, Inspire North, Touchstone, Womens Counselling and Therapy Service & Homestart Leeds.
LMWS employs around 260 staff, working in 3 operational Hub teams, each covering a specific geographical area of the city and will support people with common mental health problems and more complex issues.
PURPOSE OF THE JOB
The post-holder will manage and lead a team of mental health practitioners, supported by a Deputy Team Manager and a PCMH Clinical Team Manager, collectively forming the Hub Management team. The role involves supporting service delivery and staff management in a high-volume clinical service, with elements of matrix-management.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. The PCMH Operations Manager will co-lead a designated locality team in a specific geographic area of Leeds, with responsibility for ensuring a consistent Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) approach across their locality area.
2. They will work alongside a Deputy Team Manager, who will support the Operations Manager in working as a Hub Management Team.
3. The Operations Manager will have line-management responsibilities for staff attached to their locality team and maintain operational management oversight for Touchstone employed Primary Care Mental Health Staff.
4. To hold day-to-day responsibility for locality team delivery, by acting as the first or second point of contact for staff on operational and clinical issues, and to act as a duty manager for the whole service on a rota basis (within office hours).
5. To ensure any safeguarding or risk issues are identified quickly and that staff are supported to manage these appropriately within existing policy frameworks.
6. To highlight any significant clinical concerns, ethical issues, or logistical challenges to the Clinical Lead and/or Head of Services, and to work collaboratively with colleagues to address these.
7. To ensure there are sufficient staff in place to deliver the contracted levels of service delivery, planning where possible for staff changes (e.g. maternity leave, long-term sick-leave) in order to minimise impact on service delivery, and leading on the recruitment and induction of any new staff, in line with LMWS & Touchstone policies and procedures.
8. To secure appropriate clinic space for the delivery of the service and to resolve any issues arising around clinic space, in conjunction with the Deputy Team Manager and primary care colleagues.
9. To provide line management supervision, including caseload supervision, to named team members, facilitating access to training and development and evaluating staff work performance in line with service policies.
10. To lead on managing any grievances, complaints & disciplinary issues arising within the Team, and take appropriate action in line with Touchstone policies and procedures and the matrix management framework.
11. To liaise with the LMWS Clinical Team Managers, and clinical supervisors, ensuring that the team receive appropriate levels of clinical supervision, in line with recognised best practice.
12. In conjunction with the Deputy Team Manager to facilitate the development of service protocols, and practice guidelines as required, taking account of partner provider joint protocols and procedures.
13. In conjunction with the Deputy Team Manager, to ensure that robust policy and procedures are in place and implemented to support service delivery within appropriate clinical governance frameworks.
14. In conjunction with the Deputy Team Manager, to contribute to effective systems of communication, consultation, referral, and liaison between colleagues and teams in LMWS and other agencies, especially around care pathways for clients.
15. To support staff to ensure client records and monitoring systems are maintained and comply with LMWS and regulatory standards.
16. To support the involvement of clients in service developments where appropriate through co-production mechanisms such as qualitative feedback forms, consultation exercises, involvement in patient groups, etc.
17. To contribute to promoting the LMWS particularly to client groups who experience health inequalities.
18. To represent LMWS & Touchstone at local forums, external meetings, etc.
GENERAL
1. To seek out and capitalise on opportunities to develop and sustain this area of business in conjunction with the Business Development Team.
2. To be supervised, appraised and trained in line with the organisations policies, procedures and practices.
3. To be an active member of Touchstones Management Team and to undertake any work arising from it as appropriate.
4. To undertake any other duties as directed by the Touchstone Partnership Manager that may reasonably fall within the scope of the post.
5. To provide information about Touchstone to people/agencies interested in the organisations work.
6. To operate within the aims, policies and practices of Touchstone and employing organisations at all times and to be committed to and promote the organisations equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory policies
7. To ensure information is dealt with in accordance with Touchstones and employing organisations policies around Confidentiality, Communications, Internet, Email and Telecommunications and steps are taken to ensure that confidential information is secure e.g. service user data
8. To be responsible for promoting the work and services of Touchstone and LMWS to others
9. To be responsible for personal learning and development where appropriate and undertake training, both mandatory and optional, to increase knowledge, skills and awareness
10. To implement the Touchstones policies, procedures and practices and, to comply with the aims of Touchstone and service partners at all times; to be committed to and implement Touchstones and employing partners Equal Opportunities Policy and to promote this.
11. To be aware of and apply the principles of Trauma Informed Practice
12. To be aware of and employ the general practices of Touchstones and employing organisations Safeguarding and Health and Safety policies and ensure these are adhered to at all times.
13. To ensure that Data Protection, Health & Safety, Complaints Handling and Corporate Governance requirements are met.
14. To undertake any other duties as directed by your Line Manager that may reasonably fall within the scope of the post.
15. Participate in Touchstone Manger on Call (Three to Four times annually) after appropriate training.
September 2026
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Minimum 2 years experience of project or service management, preferably in a social care, NHS or voluntary sector setting Previous staff management/supervision experience, including matrix management. Previous experience of working with clients with common mental health problems (depression, anxiety states etc) Experience of using risk assessment principles and processes Knowledge and experience of working to good practice guidelines in relation to safeguarding Experience of working with data collection and monitoring systems, including data analysis, identifying themes across a service Experience of Budget Management
Desirable
Experience of working across primary and secondary care sectors Confidence in line managing deputy managers
Qualifications Essential
Applicants should be able to demonstrate theoretical & clinical knowledge appropriate to the service area & profession; either: a relevant HCPC-registered title (i.e art therapist, arts psychotherapist, drama-therapist, counselling psychologist, clinical psychologist) or: a qualification (diploma or above) from a BACP/BABCP accredited training or equivalent (equivalent qualifications from non-accredited courses should be of a level that would be recognised for professional accreditation purposes and sufficient to practice as a counsellor/therapist) or: professional degree or diploma in relevant field with appropriate statutory registration or: minimum of two years experience of health or social care management, including experience of staff recruitment, induction, supervision, appraisal and training
Attitudes and Behaviours Essential
Commitment to Touchstones aims and values Commitment to respecting diversity and anti-discriminatory/anti-oppressive practices. Commitment to personal development, learning and reflective practice Commitment to team working. A commitment to applying the principles of Trauma Informed Practice Open to change in line with the needs of the service/organisation. A commitment to working in partnership with service users. Willingness to be managed and supervised. An ability to work flexibly according to the needs of the service. Motivated and self-confident. Ability to work under pressure to set deadlines and to work under own initiative. Commitment to maintain confidences of Touchstone
Skills Essential
Ability to build strong and lasting relationships across the partnership with an ability to maintain these and manage competing priorities Leadership abilities to facilitate the development and maintenance of a cohesive team approach characterised by a sense of shared purpose and collective responsibility Effective delegation skills identifying skills and interests within the team and facilitating development opportunities. Able to motivate, communicate and sell new ideas effectively to team colleagues and other stakeholders. Able to provide caseload management to team members Able to take responsibility and accountability for service delivery and day to day management of the staff team Able to performance manage team members in order to meet commissioning requirements Able to balance different job requirements and work in a self- directed manner on a day-to-day basis High level verbal and written communication skills to enable effective leadership and representation of the service Ability to use IT packages (i.e. MS Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer) And be competent and confident in using varying patient management systems (System One) with appropriate training.
Desirable
Recognises value of and contribute to audit / evaluation.
Equal Opportunities Essential
Must be able to recognise discrimination in its many forms and be willing to put into practice Touchstones Equality Policies. Must be sensitive to the needs of disadvantaged groups in the planning and delivery of services. A commitment to providing high quality services to the diverse communities of Leeds. Must be able to communicate effectively with a broad range of diverse service users, management and staff, from both organisations and the community Must be committed to working and supporting Health Equity and Health Inequalities
Knowledge Essential
Knowledge of general principles of HR management (e.g. around leave/sickness) Understanding of principles of data security and information governance within an NHS context Knowledge & Understanding of Primary Care Networks Knowledge of the issues facing disadvantaged groups and communities in Leeds Knowledge of resources available in local community
Desirable
Knowledge and understanding of National Standards, including Neighbourhood Health
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer details Employer name Touchstone
Address Touchstone LMWS
179 - 181 Haslewood Drive
Leeds
LS9 7RE
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://touchstonesupport.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)