FFT Worker Job Vacancy
We have an exciting opportunity to become part of an established outcome based FFT team and are looking to recruit a therapist in Suffolk.
Position: Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Worker
Salary: £39,708 - £54,279 (depending on experience) This is our Stronger Families salary range which includes 2.5% retention bonus.
Contract: Fixed term to end-of-January 2027 (subject to confirmation of contract agreement, expected August 2025).
Location: Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds including Western surrounding area
Closing date: Tuesday 12th August 2025, 5pm
Interviews : Thursday 21st August 2025, West Suffolk House (Bury St Edmunds)
Background
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a well-established Functional Family Therapy team in Suffolk. We are seeking a team member who is an experienced and professional individual (social work, mental health nursing, psychology) to join the team of 5 therapists. Functional Family Therapy. is a licensed, evidence-based program with a strong track record of positive outcomes.
This is an outcomes-based contract for children 8-17 at risk of care entry (using a social impact bond structure), working to prevent children and young people entering care. We also work with a smaller cohort of young people who have entered care, for whom the service will manage a return home using the FFT intervention.
About you
With significant family work experience, you may already be on the journey towards accreditation as a family therapist or systemic practitioner (in which case we may help to support your training) or you may already be qualified. You may also be trained in another therapeutic model but seek to expand your knowledge to systemic work. You will be joining a current team of 5 therapists from different clinical backgrounds, supervised by two FFT Supervisors.
The team has been operational since March 2019 covering the county of Suffolk and is embedded into the Social Care and Family Support Teams. You will achieve fidelity to the therapeutic model through initial training and continuous consultation, coaching supported by the Supervisor. You will take referrals from Suffolk Social Care and Family Support Teams and establish effective working relationships with both Social Care and partner agencies to achieve outcomes for families. You will be comfortable working with the FFT model which will make the best of your skills in engaging families and creating sustainable change with them. You will take an outcome-focused approach with good sensitivity to dynamic risk, child protection, interagency working and complexity.
A relocation package is also available up to £2,000 or support with accommodation.
A retention bonus scheme is in place for this position, more information on this will be provided during the interview process.
About us
FPM is a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by its employees. We have extensive expertise in evidence-based programmes and anticipate future opportunities to develop and broaden our portfolio of services. If you're interested in learning more about employee ownership in FPM, please contact the EO Council by sending an email to EOCouncil@fpmcic.com.
FPM is committed to fostering inclusion and expanding the diversity of its workforce. We recognise the significant value that a diverse workforce brings to our organisation, and we believe that the inclusion of diverse voices plays a vital role in driving our company’s mission. We therefore encourage suitably qualified applicants from a range of backgrounds to apply.
Next steps
This is an exciting opportunity to work within an established team, be employed by a staff-led company, and develop new ways of intervening to protect and support young people and their families with complex needs and challenges.
We have an application pack for the role, which includes the job description, the person specification, and additional information about the company, our values, and our approach to employee ownership. Please see the image tile and link below.
If you have any questions about the role or the application process – or if there are any ways we can make the recruitment process more accessible for you – please contact the Programme Manager Vicky McCaig (she/her) on vicky.mccaig@suffolk.gov.uk or FPM Clinical Director Brigitte Squire (she/her) 07787 105445 / brigitte.squire@fpmcic.com.
For more information and to apply
Our Application Pack including full details of the job role, key responsibilities and person specification can be downloaded by clicking on the application pack image.
All appointments are subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service check.
To apply for the role, you can either complete the online application form or download the Word version available here and once completed, send it to recruitment@fpmcic.com.
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Family Psychology Mutual is a staff owned social enterprise which is registered as a Community Interest Company limited by shares. All staff, after their probationary period, buy a single £10 share in the business and all eligible staff are therefore owners of the company with an equal stake. Our articles of association are clear that we do not profit share, instead we invest any surplus into either staff development or investments in the company. Employee ownership therefore shapes what we do and how we are governed. The company has a board of nine which includes three members of the Leadership Team, three staff employee owners and three Non-Executive Directors. This enables the company to ensure high standards, compliance and good governance. All Directors are registered with Companies House. All staff attend the Annual General Meeting and we have a number of structures in place to consult with and respond to the employee owners so that participation can be achieved.
The company was established in 2015 as a spin out from Cambridgeshire County Council but it took until 2017 before the anchor contract with Cambridgeshire for the provision of Multi Systemic Therapy was TUPE transferred to the new business. This service was closed in 2019 due to funding constraints.
In early 2018 FPM began the mobilisation of the Positive Families Partnership in London as a social impact bond collaboration with Bridges Outcomes Partnerships. A Functional Family Therapy Team was established which was managed by FPM whilst two MST teams were also created to service the contract which was initially for five London Boroughs before expanding to ten. FPM undertook the programme management of the services as well as delivering the FFT. This finally closed in December 2021.
FPM established an FFT team in Suffolk as an edge of care intervention with Bridges as the social investor in 2019. A FFT Child Welfare Team was also established in Norfolk on a similar basis in the same year. Both services have expanded and are set to run to January 2024.
In Redbridge FPM was grant funded for a feasibility study with randomisation to pilot the clinical variant of FFT for young people at risk of criminal exploitation/gang involvement FFT Gangs. This service is undergoing an independent evaluation with the University of Greenwich and ran from 2019 to April 2022.
FPM places a high value on the human capital which we have supported and trained. We invest in staff training and development and seek to reward and value our staff by providing opportunities for growth, development and progression. Of course we must balance our books and ensure that we take good strategic decisions for the business. We are seeking to diversify and develop a range of services so that we can manage how we take on both contracted and commissioned work. We have a staff from a diverse range of disciplines including social work, psychology, mental health nursing, systemic and family therapy. We aim to involve the staff in business development and in identifying opportunities for growth and expansion.
We have a good relationship with Bridges Outcomes Partnerships who have invested in the services we have provided as a social investor and through the creation of outcomes based contracts. FPM is paid on a fee for service basis so that there are no undue or adverse incentives for us in the clinical work we undertake.
As a business we strive to live by our company values and to be led by evidence, data and outcomes in how we plan, deliver and evaluate our services. We know that working in this way can be challenging and disciplined but we know that it also creates opportunities for clinical creativity, learning and experience which can be highly rewarding. We know that staff have been able to progress their careers with us and also to attain promotions elsewhere with highly valued skills.
We have specific plans in place to support and celebrate diversity in the workplace and aim to ensure that we reflect the diverse nature of our families.
Please send completed application forms to recruitment@fpmcic.com