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Bereavement Counsellor Lead (Maternity Cover –12month post)

 

Job Title	Bereavement Counsellor Lead (Maternity Cover –12month post)
Contract	Maternity Cover
Hours	20 hours per week in total; 12 hours -of counselling in Forth Valley (In person and remote client work) 8 hours- Lead coordinating role (hybrid at home and in office)
Salary	£34,000 (pro rata) at 20 hours is £19,427.20 per annum
Reporting to:	Chief Operating Officer
Key working Relationships:	Staff / Families / Volunteers / External Agencies / Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Health Care
Qualifications:	Essential: Diploma in counselling Member of an accredited professional body (e.g. BACP/COSCA/NCPS) Person centred counsellor  Experience or knowledge of trauma and bereavement
Regular place of work:	For this role we currently offer our counselling services from our premises in Forth Valley, with some meetings at our central office in Craiglockhart (Edinburgh) and home working

Organisational background:

We are a Scottish charity providing baby loss counselling and peer support to families, with over 40 years’ experience of offering compassionate bereavement care in the community.

Many of our staff are bereaved parents themselves, so through shared, lived experience, we provide compassion and support to each other and connect through our care for our families and each other.  Our families are the heart of everything that we do. All our support is free, personal to each family and for as long as is needed. Our support includes counselling, one to one peer support, our Hospital to Home service, group support and events.

We are in a period of growth, having expanded the team from 4 to 26 over the last 8 years and, most recently, extending our geographical reach from Edinburgh and the Lothians to Fife, Forth Valley and the Highlands.

Job Summary	– To deliver specialist baby and child bereavement counselling over 26 weeks to families in Forth Valley. – To hold and manage a caseload with complex bereavement needs – To work closely with other Counsellors, Bereavement support lead and the Head of Support Services in co-ordinating the service ensuring timely and sensitive communication. – To monitor and develop the counselling service waiting list. – To offer an initial assessment as part of a new triage system to clients referred to counselling. To lead on a new counselling structure
Role responsibilities	– To offer bereavement counselling to individuals or couples who have complex, intense and often unpredictable bereavement needs – To keep records which facilitate communication within the charity and are compliant with all current GDPR regulations (both on IT systems and paper files) – To manage all requirements relating to data collection research and audit within the service, including statistics and records, communications to referrers and others involved in client care, providing regular reports on activity within, and effectiveness of the bereavement services at staff meetings and other ad hoc meetings with counselling colleagues. – To manage caseload of clients to ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient. – Lead on the administration and management of our counselling wait list. – Work with our COO on the development of the counselling service to include supporting documentation and processes. – Administration tasks associated with client allocations, appointments, cancellations etc. – Contribute to Senior Leadership Team projects as directed, taking a proactive approach to collaboration and progression, drawing on principles of Continuous Improvement – Support the design, development and delivery of clinical training products alongside colleagues – Participate in internal and represent Held In Our Hearts at external meetings; robustly championing ethical, clinical and best practices in mental health services – Provide accurate, consistent, robust support for counsellors and support staff in client matters including complex, risky or ‘challenging’ cases in line with relevant policies and best practice guidance – Seek out critical perspectives and work to keep knowledge current of good practice in the profession of counselling/psychotherapy and mental health – Contribute to the process of undertaking compliance and quality assurance activities with counsellors e.g. fitness to practice information gathering and meetings/coaching – Organise and prioritise tasks and project activities appropriately, managing time effectively
Professional Responsibilities	– Requirement to hold relevant professional liability insurance. – To participate in regular clinical supervision. – To participate in service evaluation, research and audit relevant to the charity. – To be a committed Team member across the organisation – Ensure best practice and standards according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (e.g. BPS, UKCP, BACP, COSCA, NMC) and keep up to date with new recommendations/guidelines and legislation. – To ensure that client confidentiality is protected at all times. – To be aware of, and keep up to date with advances in the spheres of counselling – Keep up to date all records in relation to Continuous Professional Development – Attend relevant conferences/workshops
General Responsibilities	– Provide cover for colleagues as needed. – The post-holder will have access to confidential data on staff, patients and services within Held In Our Hearts. Failure to maintain confidentiality will lead to disciplinary action, which could ultimately lead to dismissal. – Held In Our Hearts is committed to Equal Opportunities for all present and potential members of staff. Therefore we expect all employees and volunteers to understand, support, and apply this policy through their working practices which requires all individuals to be treated with respect, dignity, courtesy, fairness and consideration. – The post holder must familiarise themselves with matters relating to health and safety management as they affect them personally and/or Held In Our Hearts, reporting any potential risks to life or property immediately in accordance with the charity’s Health and Safety policy and procedures. They must use all equipment provided to undertake their role safely. – Where you are a member of a professional body you are required to conform to the professional standards set by that body. You are required to ensure your registration is current and practice continuous professional development. – To undertake any other duties which reasonably fall within the scope of the role.
Skills	– Confident spoken and written communicator able to represent Held In Our Hearts in professional context externally – Takes a creative, constructive approach to problem-solving – Ability to appropriately respond, with confidence, to contain a range of ‘challenging’ emotions that may present in clients and colleagues, including risk – Proficient in the delivery of therapy and reflective practice with an ability to mentor others, particularly trainee and newly qualified therapists Desirable: – Design, develop and deliver training programmes on topics relevant to staff – Able to manage the authority of the role with a balance of assertive and sensitive boundaries – Foundational skills in project management – Willingness to work towards foundational skills in line management – This is an outline Job Description and may be subject to change, according to the needs of the service, in consultation with the post holder.
GDPR information	– If you apply for this role, we would like to keep this data until our open role is filled. We cannot estimate the exact time period, but we will consider this period over when a candidate accepts our job offer for the position for which we are considering you. When that period is over, we will either delete your data or inform you that we will keep it in our database for future roles. – Here’s a link to our privacy policy – https://heldinourhearts.org.uk/privacy-policy/ In this policy, you will find information about our compliance with GDPR. You can find how to send us a request to let you access your data that we have collected, request us to delete your data, correct any inaccuracies or restrict our processing of your data. – You have the right to lodge a complaint about the way we handle your data, and you can contact us on info@heldinourhearts.org.uk or on 0131 622 6263 for more information or concerns. Alternatively, you can make contact with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the independent regulatory authority who exist to uphold information rights in the UK. For more information, visit their website or call their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Staff Benefits	– Immediate entry to the company’s group life assurance benefit scheme of 4 x your basic annual salary. – Employee Assistance Programme – Following 3 months’ service you will (subject to eligibility) be entitled to opt into the company pension scheme. The company will pay a contribution of 3% of your salary. You may be required to make a personal contribution, as required under auto enrolment legislation, which will be deducted from your salary. – Flexible working available. – Public holidays not given, but extended holidays gifted over Christmas and New Year – 35 days of annual leave pro rata – External supervision
Application details	Please send your CV and a covering letter direct to info@heldinourhearts.org.uk by noon on the 8th of August 2025.
Interview date information	Interviews will be held on 18th and 19th August 2025.

Goodmoveshttps://goodmoves.org/vacancy/a4sP1000000zvFtIAI/bereavement-counsellor-lead-maternity-cover-%E2%80%9312month-post