Open Door Practitioner

Role Description

Department

Student Life & Wellbeing provide a range of professional services to assist students with many aspects of their university life. Sitting within Student Life & Wellbeing, Open Door is a well-established multi-disciplinary team of mental health professionals and wellbeing officers, who work with students who are experiencing a broad range of wellbeing concerns and mental health difficulties.

Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the team of mental health practitioners who are embedded in academic departments. The post will involve undertaking initial assessments with students presenting to the service, and delivering evidence-based psychological interventions, brief therapeutic work or case management. This role will also act as clinical lead for Grade 5 generalist roles located in academic departments. Working collaboratively, the post-holder will also play a key role in developing the strategy for embedding mental health and wellbeing activity in academic departments.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• An Accredited/ Registered professional qualification in an appropriate discipline e.g. Mental Health Nursing, Social Work, Occupational Therapy.
• Current knowledge of mental health, mental ill health & psychological difficulties and appropriate psychological interventions indicated after assessment.
• Ability to assess the full range of presenting issues, including complex mental health difficulties and risk.
• Recent experience of delivering evidence-based brief interventions and managing a caseload, providing appropriate interventions according to the needs of the person.
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team and to negotiate and work within appropriate boundaries, including internally with professional services teams and colleagues in academic departments, and externally with relevant services/professionals (e.g. GPs, Community Mental Health Teams)

Interview date: 16th September 2026

For informal enquiries: please contact Steve Hardy (steve.hardy@york.ac.uk) or Helen Barker (helen.barker@york.ac.uk) via email, or on 01904 322140.

Condition of employment

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Consequently, all applicants will be asked to declare both unspent and spent convictions on their application form.

Appointment of the successful candidate will be conditional on a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum (essential) criteria for each position will be offered an interview.  Read more about the University of York’s commitments under the Disability Confident scheme.