Parkville Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (PYMHWS) is a new, dedicated public youth mental health service and is the first of its kind in Australia. We are looking for a passionate and dedicated individual to join our team.

Clinical Director of Community and Enhanced Care

Parkville Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (PYMHWS)

Fixed Term 5 years| 76 hours per fortnight | 📍 Parkvlle

Lead the delivery of Specialist Care in the Community at Victoria’s first standalone public Youth Mental Health Service providing care to young people and families across Norther Western Metropolitan Melbourne.

·         Join Victoria’s newest Public Mental Health Service dedicated to youth

·         Fixed term role 5 years 

·         Salary Packaging | | 5 weeks Annual Leave

About Us:

Parkville Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (PYMHWS) is Victoria’s newest public mental health service dedicated to the care of young people aged 12 to 25 experiencing complex mental health challenges. 

PYMHWS is leading a bold and values-driven transformation in youth mental health care across Melbourne’s north and west. We exist to walk alongside young people, their families, carers, supporters and kin delivering care that is accessible, inclusive, developmentally appropriate, evidence-informed, and grounded in lived experience. Our service model is shaped by the voices of young people and their communities, and underpinned by a commitment to safety, equity, and continuous learning.

At PYMHWS, we are working with our community and partners to build in a future where all young people can access world-class mental health support, close to home. As we grow, we are looking for passionate, skilled, and visionary professionals to join us in shaping a new era of youth mental health in Victoria.  

Why Join PYMHWS?

• Be part of building a legacy for youth mental health in Victoria
• Work alongside passionate, visionary leaders in a values-led organisation
• Salary packaging options, up to $11,600 tax free earnings
• 5 weeks annual leave plus monthly ADO for full time employees
• Flexible working arrangements including remote work options where possible
• Employee wellbeing focused, access to EAP
• Fitness Passport membership
• Flexible, inclusive, and supportive workplace culture
• Opportunities for professional growth and development

About the Role:

The Clinical Director – Community and Enhanced Care is a senior medical leadership position responsible for providing clinical, professional and strategic leadership across PYMHWS Community and Enhanced Care services. The role leads and oversees the delivery of safe, timely, effective, developmentally appropriate, culturally safe, evidence-informed and person-centred care for young people, families, carers, supporters and kin.

Reporting to the Chief Medical Officer, the Clinical Director works in close partnership with the Deputy Medical Director, Clinical Director – Acute, Admitted Care and FYMHS, operational leaders, Quality and Safety, People and Communications, the Medical Workforce Unit and multidisciplinary leaders.

In addition to stream-level leadership, the role provides service-wide portfolio leadership for Medical Workforce, including senior medical staff recruitment, credentialing, supervision, performance development, Doctors in Training oversight, workforce planning, rostering governance and succession planning.

The role contributes to organisation-wide clinical governance, accreditation readiness, research translation, service innovation and continuous improvement. The Clinical Director is expected to ensure timely escalation of clinical risk, workforce risk, professional conduct matters, performance concerns, medicolegal issues and service-level risks to the Chief Medical Officer.

The Clinical Director will also have a 0.5 FTE Clinical Role lead a MDT in the Community providing care to young people 12-25 and their families.

The Consultant Psychiatrist will carry out their duties in consultation with and under the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer. The Consultant Psychiatrist may be required to undertake the statutory responsibilities of the Authorised Psychiatrist for PYMHWS, as required by the Mental Health Act. 

What You'll Do:

Clinical and Strategic Leadership

·         Provide senior medical leadership in the delivery of young person and family centred care demonstrating commitment to clinical excellence, innovation, quality improvement, promoting research and research translation, workforce development and education.

·         Lead and oversee the delivery of high-quality, developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed and culturally safe, timely, safe, effective and person-centred multidisciplinary clinical care within all areas of responsibility across community and enhanced care streams.

·         Work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, cultural consultants, young people, families and communities to ensure service delivery is culturally safe, inclusive and meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.

·         Liaise with Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Mental Health Tribunal and other statutory bodies and related stakeholders as required, in partnership with the Medical Director.

·         Provide professional leadership and delegated  oversight of lead consultants, senior and junior medical staff across Community and Enhanced Care programs

Quality, Safety and Governance

•              Lead clinical governance within Community and Enhanced Care and contribute to the organisation-wide Clinical Governance portfolio, ensuring alignment with the PYMHWS Clinical Governance Framework.

•              Support and monitor compliance with relevant national standards, legislative requirements, accreditation obligations and organisational policies within areas of responsibility Contribute to accreditation readiness, including evidence of compliance with NSQHS Standards, mental health service standards, RANZCP and PMCV accreditation requirements, and other relevant regulatory frameworks.

•              Provide senior medical leadership for safety and quality processes within Community and Enhanced Care. This includes oversight and clinical input into serious incidents, critical risk events, RiskMan reviews, incident analysis, audits, clinical policy review and care pathway improvement, in partnership with the Medical Director, , and Quality and Safety team, Operational Leaders and relevant leads.

•              Provide senior medical input into medicolegal matters, coronial requests, police statements, complex Freedom of Information matters and other statutory or legal processes, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer, Legal Counsel and relevant organisational leads.

Medical Workforce Unit

•     Provide senior medical oversight of the PYHMWS Medical Workforce Unit and Coordinator of Medical Training, in partnership with Chief Medical Officer

•     Oversee recruitment, credentialling, onboarding, professional support and retention strategies for Senior Medical Staff at PYHMWS

•     Maintain and develop external stakeholder relationships for Doctor in Training secondments and accreditation

About You:

Formal Qualifications:

·         Registration as a medical practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

·         Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists or equivalent.

Essential:

•     Demonstrated senior clinical leadership experience in youth mental health and acute, admitted or forensic mental health settings

•     High level communication, conflict resolution and stakeholder engagement skills including the ability to manage complex clinical, workforce and organisational issues.

•     Proven ability to lead inclusive, multidisciplinary teams

•     Sound knowledge of clinical governance, quality improvement systems, risk management, accreditation standards, medicolegal obligations and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic)

•     Proven ability to supervise and mentor consultants, registrars and clinicians

•     Strong commitment to evidence-based practice, academic inquiry and multidisciplinary collaboration

•     Understanding of and ability to implement and work in the principles and expectations of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Victoria).

•     Commitment to our values

Desirable:

·         Willingness to work from a community-based site, and across multiple sites if required 

·         Have experience in teaching and involvement in research. 

·         A current Victorian driver’s licence. 

·         Knowledge of relevant guidelines, plans and strategies related to the mental health service system (E.g. Victorian Mental Health Reform Strategy, National Standards for Mental Health Services, etc). 

Ready to Make a Difference?
If you're looking to be part of something truly meaningful—we’d love to hear from you.

For a confidential discussion, contact Dr Astha Tomar – Chief Medical Officer 03 9966 9100

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Recruitment is ongoing, with interviews commencing as soon as suitable candidates are received. Advertising may cease prior to the closing date.

We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to support all applicants. If you require any adjustments, please let us know via the application prompts or inform our People and Culture team if you’re contacted for an interview.

To view the full Position Description, please click HERE

All appointments are made subject to a satisfactory Criminal History Record Check and a Working with Children Check. Successful applicants will be required to provide evidence of an immunisation assessment prior to commencement.

PYMHWS stands in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in work and care. We are proud to be a workplace that champions diversity, inclusion and equality for our staff and our community.  Our goal is for our people to feel safe, included and supported so that they can be at their best every single day. We encourage talented people from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities to apply to our vacancies, and will consider adjustments to support such applications.