Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) Manager

About this role

Spectrum.Life is a whole-of-health digital partner that guides organisations and their people to thrive, delivering clinically backed digital health, mental health and wellbeing solutions.

Our HealthTech delivers digital transformation for Insurers, Educators and Employers through Co-creation or seamlessly integrated out-of-the-box solutions, that decrease digital fragmentation and engage, empower, and transform their people’s lives.

Established in 2018 by Stuart McGoldrick and Stephen Costello, Spectrum.Life provides services internationally to over 7.2m insurance members, 3,000 corporate clients, 60 universities and 650,000 university students. Spectrum.Life currently employs over 450 people.

Our vision is to change and save as many lives as possible.

The PWP Manager provides integrated clinical and operational leadership to a team of Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners delivering NHS Talking Therapies Step 2 low-intensity CBT interventions within Spectrum.Life.

This is a dual-function role — 50% clinical and 50% operational — reporting into both the Head of Operations (solid line) and the Clinical Director (dotted line). This structure reflects the clinical reality of PWP management and is required for NHS Talking Therapies compliance.
While the primary focus of this role is the PWP team, the postholder may also carry line management responsibility for other clinical staff including counsellors, high intensity CBT therapists, and psychologists.

This role exists to:

• Ensure PWPs practise safely, competently, and within the tightly defined PWP scope of practice set out by the NHS Talking Therapies Manual (2023), NICE guidelines, and BABCP accreditation standards.

• Provide direct clinical supervision and case management — a core function of this role, not a delegated activity.

• Manage the operational performance of the PWP team against NHS Talking Therapies access and quality targets.

• Act as the clinical safety net for the team, ensuring risk is appropriately assessed, managed, and escalated.

• Bridge clinical and operational functions at team level, ensuring service pressure never compromises clinical integrity.

Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am–5:00pm
Training: The initial training period will run for 2 weeks.

Clinical (50%)
Supervision and Case Management

• Provide weekly group case management meetings to the PWP team, with each PWP receiving a minimum of one hour of supervision per week.

• Provide individual clinical supervision proportionate to each PWP's experience level and caseload risk profile.

• Structure supervision to cover active case review, outcome data (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WSAS), risk and safety planning, and treatment fidelity.

• Maintain accurate supervision records in line with BABCP and NHS Talking Therapies requirements.
Clinical Risk and Safety

• Act as the named clinical point of contact for active risk cases, supporting PWPs in real time when safety concerns arise.

• Ensure robust risk escalation pathways are in place and consistently applied, including step-up to high-intensity (Step 3), safeguarding, and emergency response.

• Review and co-sign risk management plans for high-risk cases managed at Step 2.

• Act as the designated safeguarding lead for the PWP team.
Clinical Quality

• Maintain active oversight of each PWP's practice to ensure adherence to the PWP scope of practice.

• Identify and address scope drift — both over-scope and under-scope — proactively.

• Monitor outcome data at individual and team level and use this to inform supervision and quality improvement.
Professional Development

• Identify CPD needs and develop personal development plans for each PWP.

• Support newly qualified PWPs through their consolidation period with increased supervision intensity.

• Facilitate peer learning through reflective practice sessions and skills development workshops.

Operational (50%)
Service Performance

• Manage the team's performance against NHS Talking Therapies access and quality indicators including waiting times, recovery rates, and stepped care rates.

• Monitor caseload capacity and ensure equitable distribution of referrals across the team.

• Contribute to regular performance reporting for operational and clinical governance purposes.
Workforce and HR

• Manage day-to-day HR functions including recruitment, induction, sickness absence, annual leave, and performance management.

• Conduct annual appraisals integrating clinical quality and operational performance goals.

• Manage rotas and resource allocation to ensure consistent service delivery.

• While the primary focus is the PWP team, the postholder may also carry line management responsibility for other clinical staff including counsellors, high intensity CBT therapists, and psychologists.
Governance and Stakeholders

• Ensure the team operates in accordance with GDPR, NHS Information Governance, and Spectrum.Life clinical governance frameworks.

• Contribute to clinical audit, service evaluation, and quality improvement initiatives.

• Act as the primary operational point of contact for commissioners, referrers, and partner agencies.

• Work collaboratively with the broader clinical team to ensure smooth step-up and step-down processes.

Essential Qualifications and Registration:

• BABCP accreditation as a PWP or BABCP accreditation as a High Intensity CBT therapist.

• Formal training in low intensity CBT interventions, including guided self-help, behavioural activation, worry management, structured problem solving, and/or sleep restriction.

• Completion of a recognised PWP Supervisor Training Programme (NHS Talking Therapies-aligned).

• Where degree-level entry: minimum undergraduate degree (2:1 or above) or equivalent professional experience.

Essential Experience:

• Minimum 3 years post-qualification experience as a practising PWP across the full Step 2 range; or for BABCP-accredited HI CBT therapist applicants, minimum 2 years direct experience…