Director - Older Youth Service Development Mental Health

Serve something greater. See something greater. Strive for something greater

• Excellent benefits including salary packaging

• Fitzroy location

• Best practice implementation

• Senior leadership opportunity

• Permanent, Part Time 17.5 hours per week

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary and strategic mental health leader to join St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne as the inaugural Director – Older Youth Service Development, Mental Health.

In this newly created role, you will lead the development, implementation, and governance of an innovative clinical Model of Care supporting young people aged 18–25. You'll collaborate with Directors, Operations Managers, clinical staff and lived experience teams to embed best practice, improve service quality, and transform youth mental health outcomes.

Classification: HN44–HN59 + Manager Allowance $22.21/hour (commensurate on experience)

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive the implementation of a best-practice Model of Care for older youth

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all older youth clinical teams

• Oversee clinical governance and quality outcomes for this service stream

• Collaborate across disciplines to ensure consumer-centred, evidence-based care

• Lead service development and continuous improvement initiatives in partnership with key stakeholders

About You

You are an experienced, values-driven mental health leader with deep expertise in service development and clinical governance within the public mental health system.

Your Background Includes:

• Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (or equivalent)

• Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP)

• Minimum of 6 years' clinical experience in mental health, with significant leadership exposure

• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and drive service transformation

• Experience working within Area Mental Health & Wellbeing Services

• Current National Police Check (or willingness to obtain)

What We Offer

• Salary packaging – increase your take-home pay

• Access to Employee Assistance Program

• Fitness Passport – discounted access to 400+ gyms and wellness facilities

• Ongoing training, development and leadership opportunities

• Inclusive and values-driven workplace culture

• Discounts through the St Vincent's Foundation partner network

About Us

The St Vincent's Mental Health and Addiction Medicine Program (MHAM) delivers acute and community-based services across Yarra and Boroondara, including Tier 5 services for older youth aged 18–25. As part of St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, a leading tertiary teaching hospital and a member of St Vincent's Health Australia, we are committed to excellence, compassion, and social justice in all we do.

Apply Now

Please submit your resume and cover letter outlining your suitability for this role. Shortlisting will commence immediately – early applications are strongly encouraged.

For a confidential chat or to know more about the role, please contact Dominika Baetens -Director of Clinical Services - Mental Health via email at  or Brad Wynne-General Manager Mental Health And Addiction Medicine on

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and identities. Diversity and inclusion are vital to our mission, and we are committed to reflecting the communities we serve.

Please see below for a copy of the position description

KEY POSITION DETAILS
Job Title: Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health
Reports to: Clinical Program Director and General Manager Mental Health & Addiction Medicine
Program: Mental Health & Addiction Medicine

Department: Mental Health
Industrial Agreement:
AMA – Victoria Victorian Public Health Sector Medical Specialists Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2026, or its successor -In line with experience with Over Award Classification:HN44 to HN59, with an additional Manager Allowance of $22.21 per hour

Risk Category: A

LOCAL WORK ENVIRONMENT
St. Vincent's Mental Health and Addiction Medicine Program (MHAM) includes the inner east adult and older adult area mental health and wellbeing service for the inner-city areas of Yarra and Boroondara and the Addiction Medicine Service. This includes delivering community and acute Tier 5 Mental Health Services to older youth (aged 18 to 25years). The adult and older adult mental health service components are: the Footbridge Community Care Unit (CCU), the 44 bed Acute Inpatient Service (AIS) located on the St. Vincent's Hospital site, and two community mental health services (CMHS) at Hawthorn and East Melbourne (Clarendon CMHS). Community mental health services comprise Continuing Care (CCT), Mobile Support and Treatment (MST), Homeless Outreach (CHOPS), Perinatal Emotional Health (PEH) and Public Housing Tenancy Support (STAY) services. The adult prevention and recovery care (PARC) service provides a short-term, intensive residential service with a recovery focus. A Consultation & Liaison Psychiatry Service is provided to the health service. NEXUS Dual Diagnosis Service, the Body Image and Eating Disorders Assessment and Treatment Service (BETRS) are regional services. The Community Acute Response Team (CART) is comprised of the Triage and Crisis assessment and Treatment (CAT) service, Emergency Department Mental Health (EDMH) and Emergency Department Mental Health & Alcohol & Other Drug Hub (ED MH&AOD Hub), Extended Triage and Hospital Post-Suicidal Engagement (HOPE) services. State-wide services are the Victorian Dual Disability Service and the Victorian Transcultural Mental Health Unit. The AIS includes 5 beds designated as the Koori State-wide Inpatient Service and linked to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. The Addiction Medicine Service includes Depaul House (12 bed residential drug & alcohol withdrawal service), Clinic 62 (outpatient Addiction Medicine service), AOD Consultation & Liaison and in-reach to the ED MH&AOD Hub.

POSITION PURPOSE
The Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health is a new senior medical clinical position in the Program in response to one of the priorities of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System Priority 2 introduces two age-defined area mental health & wellbeing services – Infant, Child and Youth (0-25yo) and Adult & Older Adult (26+yo). At SVHM we deliver an adult and older adult area mental health and wellbeing service while continuing to deliver service to the older youth cohort (18-25yo). This position will have a key responsibility for the development of an older youth clinical, quality and safety framework and model of care at SVHM.

The Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health has a dual governance reporting line to the Clinical Program Director Mental Health & Addiction Medicine and the General Manager Mental Health & Addiction Medicine.

The Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health, in partnership with the Director Adult Mental Health, Operations Manager Adult Community Mental Health, Director of Nursing Mental Health and Manager Service Development Unit, will provide dual governance leadership for Service Development activities across the Program and the older youth mental health clinical services once established in the program. The Director will provide direct leadership for the Consultant Psychiatrists who work within the Service Development Team and older youth model – Acute and Community - and is accountable for the delivery of clinical services to the consumers. In the service development role, the Director will provide governance of the provision of high-quality clinical services, contributing to and leading service evaluation and research and displaying a commitment to ongoing learning and professional development in psychiatry.

POSITION DUTIES
Clinical Leadership

• Identify and support service improvement and development in conjunction with key stakeholders (Directors, Operations Managers, Clinical Directors and Managers

• Perform a lead role in program strategic and service planning, quality improvement, teaching and research for the service

• Work in partnership with the relevant Directors and Operations Managers to deliver an older youth clinical mental health service (a current service development priority)

• Work in partnership with the relevant Directors, Operations Managers and Managers in the State-wide Services to enhance the service development function and integration with SVHM and across the state.

• Recovery-oriented assessment and care of mental health consumers across the continuum of care

• Oversight of clinical governance for all older youth clinical teams and services

• Attend operational and clinical meetings in service development, older youth and adult mental health to ensure timely, quality care is delivered

• Manage SMS specifically allocated to the Service Development and Older Youth Service clinical service including performance, leave and remuneration issues

• Lead service liaison with all internal and external clinical and non-clinical partners and stakeholders

• Ensure regular and effective communication with staff across the program

• Assist with recruitment of SMS and participate in the recruitment of junior medical staff if required

• Work collaboratively with nursing staff, allied health and lived experience staff to ensure the optimum management of consumers' needs.

• Together with key stakeholders ensure that workforce planning is regularly undertaken and implemented to provide for the ongoing needs of the youth mental health service

• Participation in the Senior Medical Staff Psychiatry after-hours roster and any other Senior Medical Staff Psychiatry rosters required to support clinical escalation processes and service delivery (this may include participation in ECT roster)

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
Clinical Service Provision

• Clinical governance responsibility for the provision of quality clinical services by staff in the service

• Ensure clinical treatment and Models of Care are in line with current best practice standards, using the best available evidence and meeting the requirements of relevant law, ethics and community needs and ensure service development is in line with SVHM Clinical Governance Framework

• Ensure the development of new models of care and treatments are informed by appropriately evidenced practice

• Ensure consumers are aware of their rights, responsibilities and how to provide feedback on the service provided

• Develop and implement relevant clinical policies and procedures pertaining to the service

• Encourage active staff engagement in relevant quality improvement meetings and forums

• Ensure the service meets the requirements of National Standards including College requirements
 

Teaching and Education
Position Description
Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health
Director Older Youth and Service Development Mental Health

• Participate and ensure that service staff are appropriately involved in teaching activities of the program, including medical student teaching as requested by the clinical school, postgraduate teaching, research training, continuing medical education, nursing and allied health education and Post-Graduate Overseas Service Training.

• Participation in regular Supervision and Peer Review

Research

• Assist in the development and implementation of a research strategy for the program

• Provide leadership, direction and support for all clinicians in service area

• Support the scoping and adoption of outcome measures to facilitate, monitor and inform continuous improvement

Business Planning

• Contribute to the development and implementation of service plans and annual operational plans for the program

• Review the service goals and strategies and assist the Operations Managers to formulate relevant parts of the annual operational plan for the service

• Contribute to broader strategic planning, quality improvement, performance improvement, teaching and research for the service as a whole, in partnership with others

Finance and Assets

• In conjunction with Operations Managers manage budget performance as required

• Assist key stakeholders in managing the budget pertaining to the service including financial and activity planning and monitor activity levels against agreed budget and targets

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the Senior Medical Staff Psychiatry after-hours roster

• Contribute to capital planning as required

INCUMBENT OBLIGATIONS
General

• Perform the duties of the position to the best of their ability and to a standard acceptable to SVHM

• Ensure all those in the area they manage, comply with all SVHM policies, procedures, by laws and directions

• Ensure all those in the area they manage, only access confidential information held by SVHM when this is necessary for business purposes, maintaining the confidentiality of that information once accessed

• Participate in the annual SVHM performance review process

• Display adaptability and flexibility to meet the changing operational needs of the business

Clinical Quality and Safety

• Ensure clinical care is undertaken within established procedures in order to provide safe clinical care for patients/residents, ensuring clinical risk is minimised

• Ensure clinical staff work within their approved scope of practice and at all times with appropriate supervision

• Ensure all junior medical staff are appropriately supervised by senior clinical staff and trained to provide safe clinical care

• Promote a culture that supports learning and encourages reporting of errors

• Implement systems to identify and manage risks and to deal with and learn from incidents and complaints

• Collaborate with more senior levels of management to implement the SVHM safety and quality agenda

Person Centred Care

• Ensure that consumers and their carers/supporters receive information in an appropriate and accessible format

• Actively support consumers to make informed decisions about their treatment and ongoing care

• Ensure consumers and their carers/supporters are aware of their rights and responsibilities and how to provide feedback

Health and Safety

• Ensure all health and safety related policies, procedures and directions are complied with in the clinical service

• Ensure all those in the area they manage undertake annual Fire and Emergency Training and comply with fire and emergency procedures

• Ensure all those in the area they manage treat others with respect, behaving professionally and in accordance with the SVHM Code of Conduct and undertaking annual Workplace Culture and Equity Training

• Minimise WorkCover costs by actively assisting the return to work of any employee injured in the area they manage

Human Resource Management

• Ensure that workforce planning is regularly undertaken and implemented to provide for the ongoing resource needs of the area they manage

• Ensure recruitment and rostering practices comply with applicable Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and cost effectively support delivery of quality services

• Ensure new employees are properly orientated to their local work environment and attend the General Hospital Orientation program

• Actively manage individual and team performance to maximise performance and minimise workplace problems and conflict

• Ensure leave is rostered fairly and that employees in the area managed, regularly take leave and do not accumulate excessive leave

• Continuously seek individual and team improvement and take responsibility for the introduction of any changes required to bring about such improvements

Financial management

• Participate in the development of the annual budget allocation for the area managed

• Monitor FTE and expenditure to ensure spending remains within budget allocation

• Ensure decision making remains within delegated authority

SELECTION CRITERIA
ESSENTIAL REGISTRATION, LICENSE OR QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery or equivalent

• Fellowship of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists or equivalent

• Registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

• Extensive leadership experience within Area Mental Health & Wellbeing Services

OTHER ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated excellence as a clinician with excellent communication skills with consumers, carers/supporters and colleagues

• At least 6 years experience in demonstrated clinical leadership in an interdisciplinary mental health service

• Commitment to SVHM mission, values and organisational objectives

• Excellent leadership skills to support, motivate and encourage staff

• Commitment to evidence-based practice, research, continuing education / self-development and quality improvement activities

• Proven high level strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills

• Proven effective time management skills and ability to meet deadlines

At St Vincent's we acknowledge the importance of creating a work environment that is welcoming, safe, equitable and inclusive for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Employees. As part of our Commitment to Reconciliation and Closing the Gap in employment related outcomes, we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

For further information, visit or get in contact at

View Reconciliation Action Plan

View Code of Conduct