Job Description

Job Category: Academic
:
Grade UE08: 49,559 to 60,907 per annum
CAHSS / Health in Social Sciences
Full-time: 35 hours per week
Open-ended (permanent)
The Opportunity:
We are looking for a clinical academic in the field of Counselling and Psychotherapy to co-direct the Hope Park Counselling Centre and to contribute to core teaching on our professional programmes and have the opportunity to contribute to the research portfolio.
The Masters and Doctoral programmes in Counselling and Psychotherapy educate students to become qualified counsellors and psychotherapists, both in the UK and across the globe. Based in the dialogue between the psychodynamic and person-centred approaches, the programmes provide professionally-accredited education in non-directive, relationship-based therapeutic practice.
The Hope Park Counselling Centre is a University-based adult public counselling service which also serves as a placement provider for Masters and Doctoral trainees in Counselling and Psychotherapy and as a research resource for staff and students. The Centre is run jointly with the Centre for Psychological Therapies, a therapy centre for young people and families, which serves as a placement provider and research resource for Applied Psychology trainees.
As Co-Director of the Hope Park Counselling Centre, you will provide clinical leadership, training, consultation and guidance to counsellors and psychotherapists in training, as well as qualified counsellors working at the Centre and to the Doctoral Career Development students, who assist with the operational management of the Centre. You will also provide clinical governance, consultation and guidance to the experienced team of clinical supervisors who supervise the practice of trainee and qualified counsellors and therapists at the Centre.
As Centre Co-Director, you will be involved in supporting the development of clinical research within the Centre, including facilitating students and academic colleagues in service-based research activity, whilst having opportunity to develop your own research programme and potentially collaborate on research grant bids.
Together with the Director of the Centre for Psychological Therapies and the Project and Development Manager, you will contribute to the strategic development of both Centres and their respective services and research programmes. The aim is to achieve integration of core services and research strategies for both centres as one unit of operation.
In addition to directing the Centre, you will also support Counselling and Psychotherapy students in securing placements in the broader network of community-based services. This placement liaison work involves maintaining a network of community placements, supporting the development of new placements and facilitating communications between placements, students and academic programme staff.
In your teaching duties, you will contribute to course organisation, curriculum development, teaching and research supervision in the Counselling and Psychotherapy programmes. You may also provide teaching contributions to the undergraduate MA in Health in Social Science and the MSc by Research in Health, Humanities and the Arts programmes, depending on your interests and specialisms.
The Counselling and Psychotherapy programmes are founded on social science and practice-based research and scholarship, including case study and experience-near research paradigms and creative-relational inquiry approaches. You will be supported to develop collaborative research initiatives and independent research outputs in your areas of interest.
You will be joining an enthusiastic, motivated and diverse team where different experiences and skills are valued and contribute to our ability to provide an excellent student experience. You will be offered mentoring and professional development to enhance your leadership, research and teaching, including the opportunity to undertake the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. This role is on campus and requires evening work to provide clinical cover for the Centre.
Your skills and attributes for success:

• Postgraduate qualification in Counselling and Psychotherapy, at Masters or Doctorate level holding professional accreditation with a relevant Counselling and Psychotherapy professional body (COSCA, BACP, UKCP or equivalent) or eligibility to apply for accreditation

• You will have experience of supporting counselling practice placements and directing counselling services

• You will have experience in professional education in the field of Counselling and Psychotherapy

• You will have the ability to design and deliver course materials and assess student performance in both academic assignments and counselling practice development

• You will be able to take responsibility for organising your own activities and for the management of allocated resources

• You will have the ability to work effectively both independently and as a member of a team as well as able to take responsibility for organising your own activities and for the management of allocated resources.

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Application Information
Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV

• Cover letter

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary.

• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.

• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community

• To develop management clinical lead skills and professional programme teaching skills in a well- supported team recognising your contribution and rewarding success

• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our

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Championing equality, diversity and inclusion
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
Our offer is subject to membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme and a satisfactory PVG check. Once you have accepted our offer, we will write to you separately with information on this. Please note that a delay in completing your PVG application or releasing the result to the University may cause your start date of employment to be postponed.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our (opens new browser tab)
On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.
Key dates to note
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30th July 2025.
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.
Interviews likely to be held week commencing 18th August 2025.
About Us: As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow's greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
About the Team:
The School of Health in Social Science is a vibrant research and professionally driven academic School within the University of Edinburgh's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The School strives to have a transformational impact on individuals and communities through internationally excellent research, knowledge exchange, and learning and teaching. The distinctive composition of disciplines in the School leads to an emphasis on optimising physical, mental and emotional health for people; amplifying the potential of people and communities vulnerable to exclusion and working with others to achieve this. The Subject Areas are: Clinical Psychology; Nursing Studies; and Counselling & Psychotherapy and Applied Social Sciences. The School works in partnership with a wide range of global and local educational and research partners.
The School of Health in Social Science is a leading provider of postgraduate and undergraduate education in health and related fields. We offer two undergraduate programmes (one leading to professional registration in nursing); together with postgraduate degrees in Clinical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Health in Social Science, and Nursing Studies and an expanding range of Continuing Professional Development and on-line distance learning opportunities.
The School of Health in Social Science is committed to equal and fair treatment of all its employees and in recognition of the positive promotion of diversity and gender equality among staff and students the School holds a Silver Athena SWAN award.