Deputy Manager, Welfare and Counselling

Salary: £35,608.00 - £37,694.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date:   17 November 2025

the role

The Student Health and Wellbeing Service is seeking to appoint a dynamic and impactful candidate to the post of Deputy Manager, Welfare and Counselling Services. Reporting to and working closely with the Manager of Welfare and Counselling, you will play a pivotal role in the effective operational leadership and team management of the service.

The role requires strong line management skills to lead and support Counsellors and Mental Health Advisers, oversee daily operations, and uphold service standards. You will also form a key part of the senior escalation process, offering expert advice and guidance to internal and external colleagues and students in complex or high-risk situations, ensuring responsive, informed, and legally compliant decision-making that supports a safe and positive student experience.

A central aspect of the role involves line management of Counsellors and Mental Health Advisers; supporting them to provide expert support to students with diverse welfare and mental health needs. 

You willl also promote a positive, respectful, and inclusive culture team culture that supports team cohesion and student access, progression, and retention. 

The role will involve close operational collaboration with the Students’ Union, university departments, and key external stakeholders to support strategic priorities and ensure compliance with legal and sector 
obligations regarding disabled students. 

As visible leadership is key to the success of this post, it is primarily campus-based. There may be occasional flexible hybrid working dependent on service need.

The fixed working hours are Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. However, the post requires some out of hours working to support the management of the Counselling Evening Clinic, and occasional crisis management support for students.

 
Interviews to be held on Friday 28th November 2025.
 
If you are interested in applying and would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Kirsty Hutchinson, Manager of Welfare and Counselling Services via kirsty.hutchinson@ncl.ac.uk 

You can also find further information about the Student Wellbeing Service online.

To apply please upload your CV and cover letter evidencing how your skills and experience align to the person specification as set out in job description, there are also 3 role specific questions to answer.

Key Accountabilities 

• Service Leadership: Work alongside the Manager to lead and develop a professional, welcoming, and accessible service that responds effectively to the diverse needs of the student population. 
• Integrated Student Support: Collaborate with colleagues across SHWS to support an appropriate, integrated and holistic student support model. You will ensure that service data recording and reporting systems are fit for purpose and provide needed intersectional data, informing service enhancement, resource allocation and forward planning. 
• Representation and Partnership: Represent the service and university at local and national multi-disciplinary groups where required, building and maintaining partnerships to support a safe and positive student experience. 
• Line Management and Development: Provide effective line management to direct reports, monitor performance against agreed targets, and support staff development to ensure high levels of individual and team performance. 
• Operational Oversight: Support the leadership of day-to-day operational and personnel processes, including induction, absence and leave management, probation, performance reviews, and staffing finance. 
• Policy and Procedure Development: Support the development, review, implementation, and evaluation of relevant policies and procedures to ensure effective and inclusive service delivery. 
• Service Governance and Quality Assurance: Oversee service governance, including compliance with training, supervision, and data reporting systems, ensuring data is fit for purpose and informs service planning, enhancement, and resource allocation. 
• Training and Guidance: Work collaboratively with university teams to provide education, training, and expert guidance to the wider university community. 
• Legislative and Sector Knowledge: Maintain in depth and current knowledge of relevant 
legislation, sector standards, and policy developments to inform the university’s provision of reasonable adjustments and risk mitigation strategies. 
• Professional Standards and Student Support: Promote ethical practice and uphold professional standards within the team, maintaining a student-facing role where appropriate and taking proactive responsibility for personal wellbeing and professional development. 

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Proven strong leadership skills showing the vision and the ability to motivate and support a team of staff though change. 
• Ability to support and direct colleagues and key third parties in challenging situations. 
• Professional interpersonal skills to successfully engage, and support, colleagues’, student loved ones and students when a crisis occurs. 
• Ability to maintain high levels of personal and professional resilience. 
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oratory, with the ability to deliver training to a diverse audience. 
• Possession of the vision and the ability to motivate and support a team of staff though change. 
• The capacity to delegate effectively. 
• Proven ability to create and manage service data recording and reporting systems, to inform service delivery plans and evidence service impact. 
• Excellent I.T. skills, strong attention to detail, including understanding and reporting of data. 
• Experience working in partnership with external providers, to effect positive change. 

Attributes and Behaviour 

Planning and Organising 

• Effective at organising and managing complex management responsibilities. 
• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances. 
• Able to set own priorities in conjunction with institutional, team and area objectives. 

Finding solutions 
• Encourages creative and innovative thinking in self and others. 
• Recognises urgency and takes decisive action when required. 
• Confidently deals with a broad range of information. 
• Considers large amounts of complex information quickly and identifies key issues. 

Influencing 
• Uses a variety of influencing styles to suit the audience. 
• Thinks about the desired impact required and plans and prepares a suitable approach. 

Communicating 
• Tailors content of communication to the audience, changing style, and tone and format appropriately. 
• Uses face to face communication regularly; team meetings, one to ones, informal discussions/chats, briefing sessions etc. 
• Can put forward own view whilst listening and respecting the views and opinions of others. 

Embracing Change 
• Takes the initiative to ensure future success of the University and area/junction by presenting new ideas and approaches. 
• Accepts the reality and requirements of change as part of achieving organisational goals. 
• Anticipates and accepts change and prepares for it accordingly. 

Other Relevant Information 
• A DBS check is required for this post. 
• The post requires some out of hours working to support the management of the Evening Clinic, and occasional crisis management support for students. 

Qualifications 

A degree level professional qualification appropriate to mental health care. E.g. Mental Health Social Work/Nursing, Safeguarding, Counselling. 

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28758