The Severnside Initiative for Psychotherapy Hiring for Head of Training & Education Job at Bristol, England Full Time

ABOUT SIP

Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy was set up as a membership and training organisation in 1984 and is a charity and limited company, and a Member Institute of the British Psychoanalytic Council(BPC).

Currently SIP has 89 professional members and associates, as well as 18 trainees following clinical trainings (leading to registration with the BPC as either a psychoanalytic psychotherapist or a psychodynamic psychotherapist), and a further 23 students attending preparatory courses (which may or may not lead to professional qualification). SIP hosts events open to the public, including our Annual Lecture, presented by a psychoanalyst with an established national or international reputation, and occasional Study days, alongside clinical workshops and seminars for our members and associates. In our recent accreditation visit by the BPC, we received excellent feedback on our training and on being a well-functioning organisation, able to discuss and address areas of tension or conflict. And our therapists are in high demand.

We would like to draw your attention to the statement of our Mission, Values and Aims (available on our website), produced in consultation with SIPs members, Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, and ratified at our AGM in 2022, which gives a summary of the intended direction of travel of all our endeavours.

SIP has proved financially resilient even through the vicissitudes of COVID, and we will, in January 2023, complete the purchase of the building we have been renting for nearly thirty years, which is centrally located in Bristol and houses our office, library, seminar, and lecture rooms, and which also has income-generating consulting rooms that are rented out to Severnside members and other therapists and counsellors.

SUITABILITY

This role may appeal to psychotherapists, clinical or social care managers, or educationalists with a strong track record of working with and leading others. The ideal applicant will be an enabler and developer.

The role could suit a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapist who has been involved in the delivery of training to psychotherapists and who appreciates the timing of the academic year. It would also suit someone with clinical or social care management experience with an interest in the psychotherapies, as well as someone experienced in working within the mental healthcare sector. Experience of team working in a professional context (such as health or education) would be an advantage.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, please send your CV, accompanied by a cover letter addressing the Person Specification, with the Job Description in mind (see below). The deadline for applications is Thursday 19th January 2023 (5 PM).

Interviews will take place on Saturday 28th January 2023. If invited to interview applicants will need to be available both morning and afternoon on this date (if you know you cannot attend, please state this in your application as we may be able to accommodate another interview date).

The interview process will involve giving a 10 – 15-minute presentation on the following:

“What do you think are the challenges and opportunities facing SIP in respect of training and education, and how would you meet them?”

Contract type: Permanent (subject to review after 6 months)

Hours: 15 hours p/week, including some evening work and very occasional weekend work

Salary: £52,500 p/annum (pro rata £21,000 p/annum, equivalent to £35 p/hour)

Location: At least 1 day p/week in our central Bristol office during term time

Role context: This is a new operational leadership role and the postholder will be actively involved in the further definition and development of it. It is one of four paid roles at SIP; all other roles are held voluntarily, mostly by professional members of SIP (psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists). The post holder is a non-voting member of the SIP Executive Committee and chairs the Training Committee, a sub-committee of the Executive Committee. The Head of Training is managed by the Chair of the Executive Committee and is accountable to the Executive Committee and ultimately the Board of Trustees.

The Head of Training and Education, working with the Training Committee, the Executive Committee, the Training Administrator, and the Finance Manager, is responsible for the overall operational management and financial stability of SIP’s training and education programme. The postholder, working with the Training Committee, will ensure that SIP’s existing clinical trainings (and preparatory courses) remain of the highest quality and retain accreditation with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC). In addition, working with SIP’s Executive and Training Committees, as well as the Training Administrator, the postholder will, when feasible, develop additional non-clinical educational courses, in line with SIP’s strategy of making psychoanalytic thinking and practice more widely accessible.

SIP, a member institute of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), has been offering an Introductory Course and a Clinical Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy since the 1980s. Over the last 15+ years, what we offer has diversified, to include a number of courses which can be taken either as standalone learning or in preparation to enter one of the two BPC accredited clinical trainings we now offer, in Psychoanalytic and in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

Presently, training is delivered at SIP in three ten-week blocks each year, which are split into five-week segments either side of the Bristol schools’ three designated half-term holidays. The period between February and July is the busiest time of the year in this role, while academic holiday periods tend to be much quieter. Some flexibility on the part of the postholder may be necessary to accommodate the variation in workload across the year. At any one time there are between 45-60 individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds following our training programmes.

Although our student numbers are small, trainees’ individual learning pathways, often over several years, are specific to them and our training offering has developed organically; there is thus a degree of complexity to be managed by the Head of Training in the delivery and development of the courses and trainings.

Purpose of the Post:

• To implement strategy for SIP’s training and education offering, in line with SIP’s strategic plan
• To provide leadership in relation to the delivery and development of SIP’s training and education programme, ensuring consistency, quality, and coherence across it to facilitate joint working between the two clinical trainings.
• To provide governance oversight to ensure training at SIP complies with BPC requirements, and adheres to GDPR, Safeguarding, and Copyright Licensing legislation
• To line manage the training administrator working 22.5 hours per week

JOB DESCRIPTION

Leadership:

• Working with the Training Committee, the Executive Committee, the Finance Manager and line managing the Training Administrator and in line with SIP’s aims and objectives and strategic plan, to; a) oversee and manage the delivery, resourcing and developmental planning of SIP’s training and education programme and b) be responsible for drafting the annual Training Budget for approval by SIP’s Executive Committee
• To hold knowledge of and work within SIP’s Data Protection (including GDPR), Safeguarding, and Equal Opportunities Policies, and SIP’s Mission, Values and Aims statements
• To liaise with BPC over training and accreditation matters, including by attendance at BPC’s Head of Training meetings, and to represent SIP at national, regional, and local levels as necessary
• To undertake such other tasks as may be commensurate with the post

Chairing the Training Committee:

• To chair six meetings of the Training Committee annually. (The Training Committee comprises the Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic training sub-committees and the Chair of the Training Therapists’ Committee)
• Within the Training Committee, and working alongside the clinical training sub-committees; a) to have oversight and promote development of the Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic clinical trainings (which offer related but distinct pathways to professional qualification), ensuring they are of the highest quality, and that they meet SIP’s aims and objectives and BPC accreditation criteria, b) to manage joint working between the two clinical training subcommittees (which retain responsibility for the selection, assessment, and qualification of their respective trainees), c) to ensure the common theory curriculum meets the needs of both clinical trainings, d) to ensure that new members are recruited to the Training Committee as needed, that the roles of Admissions Advisor (to potential applicants), Training Patient Coordinator (overseeing referral of training patients to trainees) and Curriculum Coordinator are fulfilled and that the appointment of Clinical Training Leads and External Examiners is approved, and e) To oversee the contents of the Clinical Training Handbooks and ensure their accuracy and implementation
• To manage the implementation of Training Committee decisions
• Working with the Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Leads and the Training Administrator, to manage issues arising in the day-to day delivery of the training; the Leads being responsible for communicating with their sub-committees as necessary
• To liaise with the Chair of the Training Therapists’ Committee (including regarding communication with Training Therapists and Supervisors over the expectations of them in regard to the training)
• To represent SIP’s training and education on the Executive Committee (as a non-voting member) and to communicate Training Committee business to the Executive Committee and vice versa

Pre-clinical and introductory courses:

• To ensure that the pre-clinical and introductory courses offer valuable learning to participants, whether or not they intend to apply to one or other clinical training
• Working with the Training Committee, to ensure that the pre-clinical courses deliver what is required of them by the clinical trainings
• To ensure that the pre-clinical course handbook is accurate and up to date
• To manage the delivery of the pre-clinical courses (overseeing the work of the Training Administrator and working with seminar leaders and tutors regarding publicity, applications, course content and delivery, in line with the pre-clinical course Handbook)
• To oversee the delivery of the introductory courses, being available to the Introductory Course Lead and Training Administrator as necessary

Development:

• Over time, to develop links with potential providers of psychiatric and clinical experience placements to pre-clinical students and clinical trainees
• As and when present offerings are consolidated, to work with Training Administrator, the Training Committee and other interested SIP members to propose, research demand for, develop and deliver additional non-clinical courses to offer psychoanalytic thinking across a broader programme, to a wider demographic, in line with SIP’s strategic plan and aims and values
• To promote and improve equality of access to SIP’s training programme

Line Management of Training Administrator:

• To line manage the Training Administrator, including conducting an annual appraisal
• To provide co-ordination and general oversight of the Training Administrator’s work for other members of the Training Committee (the clinical course Leads for example), ensuring it is in line with the relevant Handbooks (the Training Administrator’s work includes publicity, admissions, seminar leader and tutor recruitment and induction, the provision of course material and support of seminar delivery)

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential:

• A professional qualification in the clinical, educational, or social work sector
• Preparedness to work to SIP’s Mission, Aims and Values
• Experience or understanding of managing people
• Self-motivated and able to work autonomously as well as part of a leadership team
• Excellent administrative skills
• Awareness of confidentiality and data protection issues – GDPR
• Awareness of equality and diversity in relation to applicants, trainees, training personnel and paid staff
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal
• Well-organised with an ability to prioritise and meet deadlines
• Flexible and resilient
• Ability to use Microsoft 365 and Zoom

Desirable:

• An understanding of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapies
• Experience of psychoanalytic or psychodynamic teaching or training
• Experience of public engagement and/or partnership working
• Experience of working in a training, or educationally focused, organisation
• Experience of chairing committees
• Experience of managing budgets and resources

Job Types: Part-time, Permanent
Part-time hours: 15 per week

Pay: £52,500.00 per year

Benefits:

• Flexitime
• Sick pay
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in BRISTOL

Application deadline: 19/01/2023