Lead Student Counsellor

Purpose of Position:

NCI is seeking to appoint a lead student counsellor to join our highly valued and impactful student counselling team. The Counselling Team in NCI plays a vital role in supporting our diverse students throughout their studies with us, to support their success within and beyond NCI. The Team currently provides services to NCI’s full and part-time students.

The Lead Student Counsellor will ensure that the professional services provided to NCI students are accessible and impactful. They will lead the team of counselling staff around clinical governance decision making and represent the views and needs of the team within NCI’s wider structures for supporting student success.

Reporting to:

Student Welfare Manager, Student Success Services

Key Relationships:

Director Student Support Services
Student Engagement and Welfare manager
Student Success Team Members spanning several support services
Deans and Vice Deans of Schools
Director, Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning
Director, IT
Academic Operational Management Team
Programme Coordinators and Programme Directors
NCI students, student representatives and NCISU Sabbatical Officers

Key Responsibilities:

To lead the NCI team of student counsellors and oversee clinical governance decisions.
To provide individual counselling to students with emotional, psychological, academic, or personal development needs.
To provide psychological assessment and intervention.
To maintain case records and statistical data as required.
To provide group counselling to students with a view to helping their academic progress and personal/social development.
To design and deliver seminars/workshops on life skills/personal development, stress management, substance abuse, etc.
To organize and run, in collaboration with other appropriate staff, workshops or groups on study skills, presentation skills, examinations’ techniques, etc.
To be involved in the preparation and provision of special training/information seminars for staff.
To collaborate with staff in the design and provision of special programs/projects, for example, induction, peer mentoring, etc.
To contribute to the evaluation, consumer satisfaction, and impact of the Student Counselling Team on student retention and success.
To liaise with and make referrals (as appropriate) to academic, administrative, and support services staff across NCI.
To participate in regular in-service consultation, ongoing training, and professional development.
To participate in student engagement and welfare service team meetings and service planning discussions as appropriate.
In the context of the Student Counselling Service’s procedures and policy, liaise with and refer students to external services as appropriate.
To assist NCI in anticipating, identifying, and providing conditions that will facilitate the wellbeing and success of students and in developing preventative and educational programs for students.
To participate in the ongoing review and development of student services procedures, policies and practices.
To prepare statistics relevant to the service and to produce an annual report on the work of the service and other reports as required from time to time.
To participate in any NCI committees/groups of which the appointee is a member or to which he/she is assigned.
To perform such other relevant duties as may be assigned from time to time by the University.

Candidate profile:

5+ years’ experience working in student counselling/mental health services in a higher education institution
A Masters/Doctoral level qualification in Clinical Psychology, Counselling, Psychology or Psychotherapy
A member of a professional regulating body with a professional code of ethics (PSI, IACP, IAHIP)
3+ years experience of clinical governance
Experience of work effectively across a diverse range of stakeholders to meet the needs of students
Excellent interpersonal, time management, communication, and organisational skills
Proven ability to contribute to the implementation of an efficient and effective counselling service.

Salary: Senior Specialist Supervisor Band: €41,412-€62,121

Contract: Full-Time Permanent

Application Process:

To apply, please e-mail your cover letter and CV, quoting reference number: 0971 to recruitment@ncirl.ie by 25th February 2022

The successful applicant will be subject to Garda Vetting and must not have any convictions under the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

Note:

The functions and responsibilities assigned to the Lead Student Counsellor are based on the current stated position and objectives of the College. These functions and responsibilities may alter in line with any change in the role and objectives of the NCI to be agreed by way of amendment to the Job Description.

Equal Opportunities Policy:

National College of Ireland is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to the employment policies, procedures and practices which do not discriminate on grounds such as gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, race, religious belief, sexual orientation or membership of the traveller community.

The Importance of Confidentiality

We would like to assure you that protecting confidentiality is our number one priority. You can expect that all enquires, applications and all aspects of the proceedings are treated as strictly confidential and are not disclosed to anyone, outside those directly involved in that aspect of the process.

Candidates' Obligations

In submitting a completed Curriculum Vitae and supporting documentation, candidates are declaring:

That all the particulars furnished in their application are true and correct without omission and that they are aware of the qualifications and particulars for this position.

That to the best of their knowledge that there is nothing in relation to their conduct, character or personal background of any nature that would adversely affect the position of trust in which they would be placed by virtue of this appointment.

Their irrevocable consent to NCI making such enquiries as deemed necessary in respect of their suitability for the post in respect of which their application is made.

Their acceptance and confirmation of the entitlement of NCI, as appropriate to, reject their application, or to terminate their employment (in the event of a contract of employment having been entered into on foot of this competition) if they have omitted to furnish NCI with any information relevant to their application or their continued employment or where they have made any false statement or misrepresentation relevant to this application or their continuing employment with the College.#

Candidates should note that they may be required to submit documentary evidence in support of any particulars given by them in their application for the post.

Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018 and the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 to 2014 as amended

Data collected for the purposes of recruitment activities

NCI conducts recruitment processes to fill vacancies within the college. When applying for these competitions applicants are asked to submit a range of documents, e.g., a completed application form, CV and/or a personal statement or cover letter. For the purposes of recruitment activities, we will not collect any personal data that we do not need to assess your candidature for a role with us.

Legal Basis for Processing

NCI ’s legal basis for the processing of this data is a combination of individual consent, contractual necessity and legal obligations.

Withdrawal of Consent

Applicants can withdraw their consent for the processing of their personal data at any time by notifying the College. It is important to note that withdrawal of consent prior to the completion of the process will be considered as a withdrawal of the application.

What we do with your data

People who are directly employed by NCI and are based in Ireland process all the personal data collected for both recruitment and HR purposes.

Shortlisting

HR draft up the shortlisting documents and provide the initial screening to determine if a person meets the essential criteria of the competition. A shortlisting panel is generally made up of two senior grade staff members from the relevant department for which the role is being recruited.

Sharing of your data

Where you have been successfully shortlisted for a post, each interview panel member will be furnished with a copy of the relevant information of those who will be attending interview in order that they can review applications in advance of the interview process. All such information will be returned to NCI and shredded following the competition process. Some of the interview panel will be external interviewers, who are not employees of NCI but are engaged for the purpose and are strictly subject to the rules and policies of the College.

Access

Applicants can request and receive access to their data at any time and can request and receive a copy of this data, in electronic/transferable format.

Erasure

Applicants can request the data held be erased. In this case, the application for a position is considered withdrawn.

Rectification

Applicants can have any incorrect information corrected.

Objection / Withdraw

Applications can object to this information being processed and/or can request to withdraw from the application process

Complain

Applicants can make a complaint to our internal Information Governance and Data Protection Officer

NCI Information Governance and Data Protection Officer

National College of Ireland, Mayor Street, IFSC, Dublin 1

Tel (Direct): + 353 1 4498 523 ; Tel (Reception): + 353 1 4498 500

And/or make a complaint to the relevant authority

Data Protection Commission, 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28

Tel: +353 (0) 761 104 800

National College of Ireland is an equal opportunities employer and is a Member of the Athena SWAN Charter. NCI is committed to serving our diverse community and welcomes applications from underrepresented groups.