Location: Edinburgh
Salary: £28,069 - £30,828 per annum (£14.39 - £15.81 p/h equivalent)
Full Time – Permanent
The Edinburgh Crisis Centre provides short term, emotional and practical support at times of mental health crisis or distress for people who are aged 16 and over and a resident in the City of Edinburgh. This is provided via telephone. e-mail or in person appointments and can include extended face to face support, from its building in Leith. The service is registered with the Care Inspectorate as an ‘Adult Support Service, not care at home’. The Edinburgh Crisis Centre operates 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.
The service is currently in transitionary phase, working in partnership with Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership to provide both unscheduled crisis and scheduled Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) support within the one newly developed service. It is envisaged that integrated working between the crisis and distress support approaches will develop and the management team will have an important role in this process.
The role of the Team Leader is to manage, support and supervise a diverse Recovery Practitioner staff team to assist people who use the service to establish and maintain a meaningful and fulfilling life in the community; with a focus on crisis and distress management. This includes working collaboratively with the national DBI Programme and with the local DBI partnership, the team leader will form part of the comprehensive DBI delivery and implementation to deliver compassionate, connected support to the people of Edinburgh. In the role, you will be expected to support the co-ordination and facilitation of Distress Brief Intervention training with frontline and Penumbra staff.
DBI is a two-tiered response; a Level 1 response from frontline partnership agencies and Level 2 supportive interventions delivered by Penumbra. DBI responds to a referral made on behalf of a person experiencing distress within 24 hours, with the provision of time limited support. The Service then delivers community-based problem-solving support, wellness and distress management planning, supported connections and signposting for a period of up to 14 days.
The Edinburgh Crisis Centre (ECC) Group
The service is developed and provided according to a philosophy that reflects Centre contacts and Carers’ needs and aspirations. These arrangements enable Centre Users and Carers to contribute to decision-making and influence the service along with other partners in key decisions. The group meets regularly to review and monitor service delivery and discuss service planning and development. The partners are Penumbra (service provider), and representatives from Edinburgh Users Forum, CAPS Advocacy Police Scotland and The Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership.
As Team Leader, you will ensure that Penumbra’s core values and methodology are fully embedded within service provision, promoting a personalised and recovery focused approach that enables people to live independently and meaningfully within the local community. Using existing experience and knowledge of the social care environment, the postholder working in partnership with the centre Operations Manager will seek to continually improve and develop the service, including finding creative solutions to operational challenges.
This is an exciting opportunity for you to play a key role in leading our pioneering approach to crisis and distress support.
Usual working hours for the Team Leader would be Monday-Friday 9-5pm however there may also be a requirement for evening, weekend and waking night shifts on occasion.
As a mental health charity, we really value the wellbeing of our staff. That’s why we want you to know that you’ll be joining a friendly team, who will give you a supportive environment to help you thrive in your role, including all the training you need to feel confident and equipped.
We can offer you a tonne of employee benefits, and we can promise you’ll be inspired by some pretty amazing humans every single day. We will support you on your own career path; developing new skills, accessing formal and informal learning experiences and providing opportunities to put your continual progress into practice.
For more information, including full job description and application/interview guidance, please download our https://penumbra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/E56-Team-Leader-Recruitment-Pack.pdf
We cannot consider CV’s – all applications should go through the application process on our website. Only applications completed through our website will be considered. If you are unable to complete an online application, please contact us at [email protected] and we can arrange for a paper copy to be sent out to you.
Please note that unfortunately we cannot offer visa sponsorship. We can only accept applications from applicants who currently have the legal right to work in the UK, or applicants who have already have an application in progress to obtain the legal right to work in the UK.
Updates and responses to applications will come from our recruitment system. These emails may go into your spam inbox so please check frequently for any updates on your application. To avoid this happening please add “Penumbra Careers” – [email protected] to your contact list. You can also check the status of your application by logging into the careers portal. If you have not had any update on your application, please contact us at [email protected].
Penumbra is committed to supporting candidates with disabilities, neurodiverse candidates, and candidates with mental health conditions throughout the recruitment process. We will make any reasonable adjustments required to ensure a fair and inclusive process for all. If you think you require reasonable adjustments, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
