Lead Mental Health Practitioner

Job Title: Lead Mental Health Practitioner & Case Co-ordinator (Part-Time Fixed Term Contract – Elite Sport)

Location: Loughborough Hi Performance Athletics Centre

Hours: 1 day per week (part-time)

Salary: Equivalent to NHS Band 8a - 8C pro rata (depending on experience).

Contract Type: Fixed-Term Consultant (Start date TBC to 31 March 2027)

Reports To: Lead Olympic and Paralympic Doctors

Role Summary

UK Athletics is seeking a skilled and experienced Mental Health Practitioner (Lead Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist or Mental Health Nurse Consultant) to join our integrated performance and medical team on a part-time basis (1 day per week). This new role is designed to address the growing complexity of mental health presentations within elite sport, alleviating the mental health care coordination currently managed by Lead Doctors and performance Psychologists. The successful candidate will ensure athletes with moderate to severe mental health needs receive timely, appropriate, and well-matched psychological care across internal and external providers.

Key Responsibilities

• Care Coordination: Lead the end-to-end management of clinical mental health pathways for elite athletes, ensuring seamless coordination between in-house performance teams, external psychiatrists, and therapy providers.
• Therapy Matching: Assess clinical needs and recommend or select appropriate psychological therapies (e.g., CBT, ACT, trauma-informed care) based on best practice guidelines.
• Clinical Liaison: Act as the central point of contact for complex mental health cases, maintaining continuity and collaboration between multidisciplinary professionals.
• Referral Oversight: Manage referrals and follow-up plans, reducing the operational burden on medical staff and supporting athlete welfare during transitions (e.g., injury recovery, diagnosis, return to play).
• Staff Support: Provide consultation and guidance to doctors, performance psychologists, coaches, and physiotherapists regarding signs of clinical distress and appropriate referral protocols.

Person Specification

Essential:

• Qualified Lead Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or Mental Health Nurse Consultant with appropriate registration (HCPC, RCPsych, RCN).
• Appropriate level of qualification in Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry or Mental Health Nursing.
• Demonstrated experience in care coordination and therapy pathway management.
• Strong working knowledge of multiple evidence-based psychological therapies.
• Familiarity with elite sport environments and athlete mental health needs.
• Excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary liaison skills.

Desirable:

• Prior experience working within high-performance or elite sport settings.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed care and return-to-play psychological protocols.
• Ability to work autonomously within a complex, dynamic team structure.

Team Integration

This role sits at the intersection of performance psychology and clinical care, and will closely collaborate with:

• Lead Olympic and Paralympic Doctors – supporting them by managing the clinical care burden.
• In-house Performance Psychologists – providing escalation guidance and clinical insight.
• External Psychiatrists and Therapists – ensuring consistent, coordinated care delivery.

This integrated model aligns with national and international best practice standards, including those set by UK Sport, the British Psychological Society (BPS), and the International Olympic Committee.

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to shape and support athlete mental health at the highest levels of sport, with a focus on impactful care coordination rather than high-volume therapy. Your contribution will be pivotal in improving outcomes for athletes while enabling the medical team to focus on their core remit.

How to Apply

To apply, to please visit and submit a CV and covering letter outlining your relevant experience and interest in the role.

Closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 9 November 2025.

References

• APA (2018), BPS (2021, 2023), NICE (2022), Henriksen et al , Rice et al , NHS Agenda for Change (2024), Royal College of Psychiatrists (2023)

In the result of high volumes of applications, UK Athletics reserves the right to close the vacancy ahead of the stated closing date - please apply early to avoid disappointment. We will endeavor to reply to all applicants but if you do not hear from us within two weeks of the closing date, then please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

As the nation's favourite Olympic and Paralympic Sport. UK Athletics embraces equality, diversity, and inclusion both on and off the field of play where everyone can participate, we encourage job applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates irrespective of their race, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, age and other protected characteristics to reflect the diversity of our sport. Athletics is a Disability Confident Leader and will guarantee an interview to any candidate with a disability who meets the minimum job criteria.