Job Opportunity: Meeting Minds Clinical Administrator
Reports to: Head of Counselling
Location: Bristol Mind Offices
Hours: 16 hours per week (8.45am to 5.45pm on 2 days: Mondays and one other day, either Tuesdays or Fridays -to be decided on at interview). There are potential opportunities for overtime to cover leave.
Salary: £24,720 p.a. pro rata (actual salary £10,690) plus 6% pension
Contract Type: Permanent
Start Date: Feb 2025
Background and Purpose
Bristol Mind is a local and independent charity working at the heart of our community to offer equity-based, inclusive and accessible mental health and wellbeing support. We work with over 2,000 service-users and 75 volunteers each year, delivering a range of services including:
• InfoLine telephone information and advice service
• MindLine confidential telephone listening support
• Meeting Minds 121 counselling, with LGBTQIA & Neurodivergence streams
• Community Wellbeing: targeted services for refugees and victims of hate crime
Bristol Mind is co-located with the Citizen’s Advice Bristol building on Fairfax Street in Central Bristol. This is a busy and dynamic environment and both organisations are working to ensure clients from each organisation can benefit from our collective services.
Meeting Minds is a busy low-cost counselling provision and one of a growing element of Bristol Mind’s services. Our online and face-to-face talking therapy is delivered by both trainee and qualified counsellors for adults aged 18+ for up to 16 sessions, and includes Humanistic, Psychodynamic, TA and Gestalt approaches. Our placement counsellors come from a wide range of training providers such as BCPC, UWE as well as Metanoia and the Berne Institute. In addition, we have some trainees on Doctorate programmes in Counselling Psychology in London, Newport and Bristol. All our counselling staff and volunteers are fully supported with regular clinical supervision and management, and feedback from both counsellors and clients is excellent.
With NHS services overstretched and affordable counselling out of reach for many households, we are seeing increasing demand for Meeting Minds. In order to meet the need and ensure we continue to offer a high quality and efficient service, we are seeking an experienced Clinical Administrator to join our team.
The ideal candidate will be warm and engaging, able to liaise with a diverse range of clients and counsellors whilst maintaining effective and rigorous administration. Working at the heart of a small and friendly team, your skills will be invaluable in ensuring best practice, advocating for a client-centred service which is highly organised and reliable, inclusive, flexible and non-judgemental. This role may suit someone training to be a counsellor, or whose interest is in this field extends beyond everyday administrative skills.
Good communication skills are essential, including an excellent telephone manner and active listening skills. You will need to feel confident to in addressing queries from the public, helping clients to register and pay for the service and supporting new counsellors with orientation and administration tasks including data entry, completion of clinical outcome and client feedback forms. This role will involve supporting clients in-person, on the telephone and via email with queries.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
• Provide administration support to colleagues, counsellors and clients using Case Management System (Beacon) and Sharepoint.
• Respond to and triage enquiries from the public and existing clients by phone and email.
• Correspond with potential clients to set up assessments and take payment, liaising with staff and their calendars.
• Assist in the triage process and assessment scheduling.
• Support counsellor queries relating to client appointments and payment issues.
• Ensure counsellors complete data monitoring and send reminders when necessary.
• Provide support to counsellors by having a physical presence in the waiting areas at times when the building is expected to be busier than normal (i.e. support with noise minimisation).
• Greet clients, if the counsellor is unable to, and escort them to the waiting area.
• Provide information to clients about our services who may drop-in to the building
• Check rooms and payment equipment daily to ensure the seamless delivery of counselling sessions.
• Assist with social media & email distribution of publicity posters & literature when requested.
• Maintain accurate and updated records and filing systems.
• Maintain own awareness and training in relation to confidentiality, safeguarding and GDPR.
Overall running of Bristol Mind
• Ensure that the views of staff, volunteers and service users are shared with the CEO and SMT to inform service development.
• Assist in the development of other projects and services specifically supporting people’s mental health and wellbeing.
• Carry out work in accordance with Bristol Mind’s policies and procedures, current legislation, and quality standards.
• Ensure that the organisation is presented in a professional manner to its beneficiaries, members and stakeholders.
• Take responsibility for your own safety and that of colleagues and visitors in the workplace.
• Contribute to events and activities that improve the visibility of, and raise the profile of Bristol Mind as a whole.
• Prepare for, attend, and engage in staff meetings, supervision, appraisal, and training, as agreed with your line manager.
• Undertake other tasks which may not be included in this job description, but which fall within the scope of this post.
Person Specification
ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE
Qualifications / Education
1. Min 2 years’ experience in administration role
Certificate or some preliminary training in Counselling skills
Administrative qualification (Diploma or above)
Knowledge & Experience
2. Competent use of Microsoft 365 (inc. SharePoint, Teams, Outlook)
3. Knowledge of Case Management systems
4. Experience (paid or voluntary) in a public-facing environment
5. Experience of communicating with clients directly via phone, email and in person. Experience of administration in a mental health service.
Experience of working in Voluntary Sector with vulnerable people.
Experience of working in customer care environment
Skills & Ability
6. Ability to work as a member of a team with a friendly and collaborative approach.
7. Ability to concentrate, pay attention to detail, prioritise and work to deadlines.
8. Proficiency in written English and Numeracy.
9. Excellent people skills, able to respond to clients with sensitivity and compassion.
Personal Attributes 10. Self-motivated, independent approach.
11. Commitment to the rights and self-determination of all people.
12. Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion with a passion anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice.
To apply
Bristol Mind is committed to developing our workforce in line with equitable principles. We encourage applications from people with lived experience of mental health issues and from people from minoritised groups who are under-represented within our services. This includes people who identify as from a Global Majority, refugee or migrant, neurodivergent or LGBTQIA group, or who have faced discrimination based on any protected characteristic.
Please read the job description and person specification carefully.
Please send a CV and covering letter to [email protected] which should specifically demonstrate where you feel your experience and knowledge meets the person specification, use examples from paid or voluntary experience.
Thank you for applying to Bristol Mind.
Posted on: 21st February 2025