Recruiting for a Clinical Specialist

Position: Clinical Specialist

Reports to: Clinical Lead

Purpose: To work as part of the Community Therapy Ireland team in carrying out and further developing the clinical governance function and supporting our diverse national membership in ensuring that the community counselling and therapeutic services they provide, are of the highest quality and professional services.

Contract: Permanent, part-time, flexible working hours

The contract will be:

- Provided on a part-time basis (21 hours a week)
- Subject to six-month probation
- Subject to continuous funding

Location: The organisation is operating a fully remote working model for the foreseeable future, subject to review based on organisational needs. There will be travel required by the post holder at times in the course of their role.

Salary: Grade V, point 3 of the HSE Pay Scale October 2024

The agreed salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Community Therapy Ireland provides a pension contribution once probation has been passed.

Annual Leave: 20 days per annum (pro rata)

1. About Community Therapy Ireland 

At Community Therapy Ireland, we believe that everyone deserves access to safe, professional, effective, trauma-informed, recovery-focused, person-centred, rights-based, culturally competent and sustainable counselling and psychotherapy services within their own community.

Every day, we work alongside our members who are community-based organisations operating right across Ireland to strengthen counselling and psychotherapy services so that every individual and family can access support with dignity, respect, and confidence when and where they need it.

Our vision

We envisage an Ireland where high-quality counselling and psychotherapy services are fully accessible to all.

Our mission

We offer Irish community therapy providers with a collective voice and supports that enable excellent practice.

Our impact

Community Therapy Ireland’s reach and impact is growing. We are an independent national membership organisation representing 29 community therapy service providers across Ireland. The organisation was established in 2008, with its founding members identifying a clear need to develop a community-based therapy programme that operates at national level, supports and enables excellent practice, and offers members with a collective voice.

Today, our members are section 56 and section 39 organisations, working in close partnership with Tusla, the HSE, Cuan, Pobal, and other State agencies.
 
Through the Community Therapy Ireland national programme and thanks to the close partnership with the State, in the last decade, our members have provided over 750,000 counselling and psychotherapy sessions directly supporting over 80,000 children, young people, families, and community members from diverse walks of life. In 2025 alone, Community Therapy Ireland’s members delivered 76,376 sessions to people from every county in Ireland.

The new opportunity

Community Therapy Ireland is now seeking a Clinical Specialist to join our growing team and work closely with our Clinical Lead. This is an exciting new opportunity for someone who is passionate about quality, continuous improvement, and making a meaningful contribution to the future of community therapy services in Ireland.

This role is about much more than compliance and reporting. It is about helping to ensure that community therapy services are safe, effective, person-centred, and responsive to the needs of the people who use them. It is an opportunity to influence positive change at a national level while supporting local services to thrive.

2. About the Role

As Clinical Specialist, you will play a key role in supporting clinical quality, service improvement, and evidence-informed practice (in the form of the Community Therapy Ireland Clinical Governance Badge of Excellence process) across Community Therapy Ireland's network of community therapy services.

Working collaboratively with the Clinical Lead, you will help develop and implement standards and systems that measure quality, monitor outcomes, identify learning opportunities, and strengthen clinical governance. You will contribute to a culture where data, feedback, and reflection are used not simply to measure performance, but to improve experiences and outcomes for people engaging in counselling and
psychotherapy, for counsellors and psychotherapists, and communities.

You will work with our community-based member services, as well as local and national stakeholders to support the development of services that are professional, ethical, accountable, inclusive, and continuously improving.

In this role, you will:

• Be guided and supported by our Clinical Lead.
• Work as part of a collaborative team, including colleagues at CEO, Clinical Governance Board Committee, and Board level.
• Connect with our diverse nationwide membership.
• Help member services continue delivering to safe, professional, effective, trauma-informed, recovery-focused, person-centred, rights-based, culturally competent and sustainable counselling and psychotherapeutic supports.
• Play an active role in strengthening service quality in a way that is uplifting, empowering and supportive.
• Someone who is interested in service quality, community impact, collaboration, and systems that make therapy better for everyone.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinating the annual in-person Clinical Governance Badge of Excellence review process.
• Visiting some of our 29 member services across Ireland with a focus on learning, reflection, support, and service growth.
• Supporting and processing membership applications and queries with clarity and care.
• Offering consultation, guidance, and signposting for member/external party queries.
• Helping shape new CRM systems for data, outcomes, and learning in Community Therapy Ireland and across the network.
• Contributing to training, continuous professional development (CPD), and sector conversations that benefit community counselling and psychotherapeutic services.
• Helping monitor service patterns and needs (e.g., complaints, member concerns, incidents, risk trends and emerging themes).
• Representing the organisation in clinical governance discussions, committees, or external networks.
• Keeping informed of any legal and regulatory updates in the counselling/psychotherapy and charity sector, supporting the standards underpinning the Community Therapy Ireland Clinical Governance Badge of Excellence.
• Collaborating with senior leadership to align governance processes with organisational strategy.
• Carrying out any other duties consistent with the role of Clinical Specialists as required.

Person Specification

We are looking for someone who shares our belief in the importance of accessible, high-quality counselling, psychotherapy and support services and who is motivated by the opportunity to make a real difference.

Someone that understands that quality improvement is most effective when it is collaborative, supportive, and grounded in the experiences of those who deliver and receive services.

Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience:

• Be a fully accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Counselling Psychologist with a recognised accreditation body e.g. ICP, IACP, PSI or equivalent.
• Have a minimum of three years’ experience working as a fully accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Counselling Psychologist.
• Demonstrated understanding of clinical governance, safeguarding, ethical frameworks, and risk management.
• Is passionate and understands the benefits for individuals of clinical and ethical governance in counselling and psychotherapy and the not for-profit/charities sector.
• Experience in policy development, quality assurance and service audits.
• Experience working within health, mental health, counselling, psychotherapy, community, or social care settings.
• Experience of working with a broad cross section of staff and professionals, across agencies/communities.
• Excellent communication, writing and report writing skills and the ability to establish rapport with a diverse range of people.
• Full drivers’ license, with access to car and willingness to travel to Community Therapy Ireland member services and stakeholder meetings.
• Previous experience working in the NGO/Charity sector – Desirable/Advantage

Key Skills

• High degree of attention to detail in reviewing or writing policies, guidelines, and protocols.
• Ability to deliver accurate information in a timely manner to support organisational decision making.
• Sufficient clinical experience to support member queries.
• Ability to take ownership and drive tasks through to completion.
• Ability to prioritise effectively and meet deadlines.
• Excellent English (written and oral).
• Strong interpersonal skills for working with members, stakeholders, funders and the wider Community Therapy Ireland team.

3. Our Culture

At Community Therapy Ireland, we recognise that meaningful work happens when people feel valued, supported, and connected to a shared purpose.

We are building a culture that is:

• Person-centred in how we work with service users and with one another.
• Collaborative, where ideas, learning, and innovation are encouraged.
• Values-driven, guided by integrity, respect and inclusion.
• Reflective, committed to learning and continuous improvement.
• Grounded in professional expertise and relevant professional ethics.
• Compassionate, recognising the importance of wellbeing and support for our team.
• Dedicated to bringing about positive change by working to strengthen access to quality counselling and psychotherapy services across Ireland.

We believe community therapy services can play a transformative role in improving wellbeing and reducing barriers to support. We are looking for someone who wants to be part of that vision.

4. Application Process

To apply, please submit an up-to-date CV and letter of application via email to ceo@communitytherapy.ie by 16th July 2026. The cover letter should address the essential requirements and convey the applicant’s understanding of this role. The CV should be no more than three pages long. Shortlisting of candidates may apply and will be based on the Job Description and Person Specification.

Candidates may be asked for further information or to undertake other tasks to assist in the assessment process. Community Therapy Ireland strives to be an Equal Opportunities Employer.