Short Term or As Needed Coverage, MFLC Counselor, China Lake CA
Listed compensation
$28/hr
The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed
Ask the employer about call expectations, weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.
Job Description
Make a difference in the lives of our military Service Members and their families with your expertise in counseling and behavioral health – without the fuss of insurance or paperwork.
Military and Family Life Counselors (MFLCs) are the first line of defense for our Service Members’ mental health, and we need flexible, ready-to-serve counselors willing to jump in at a moment’s notice.
Leidos seeks passionate licensed mental healthcare providers ready to embrace a flexible PRN-type schedule, stepping in where needed across military installations and communities to safeguard and enhance mental well-being.
MFLCs proactively provide counseling services, preventative in nature, to address and provide solution-focused approaches to issues before they become greater challenges.
Interested counselors may support either adults or minors in a wide variety of assignments including but not limited to being embedded with a military unit, supporting military families, or working within a school setting. What is Mission Ready Reserve (MRR)?
Mission Ready Reserve MFLCs are trained and available counselors ready to serve when called upon. Working as a Mission Ready Reserve MFLC allows counselors to focus wholeheartedly on their passion for helping others, without by administrative burdens.
Mission Ready Reserve counselors are assignment ready and taking an assignment is at the discretion of the Mission Ready Reserve counselor. The Mission Ready Reserve Team has a backfill (fill-in) position for an existing MFLC that is taking a leave of absence.
In this position, the MFLC serves Service Members and their families at Camp Pendleton, CA. This is an interim position with the MFLC Program and provides an opportunity to positively impact those who serve our Nation.
MRR MFLC Service Oriented Model: The Mission Ready Reserve model allows you to focus on your counseling and the military Service Members and the families you will be supporting. Counselors have: No insurance to file. No progress notes required. No treatment plans to develop.
Intuitive reporting tools MRR MFLC will also benefit from: Unlimited and free CEUs through a Leidos affiliate. Reimbursement for job-related license renewal fees. Eligibility to participate in 401K retirement plan. Referral incentives. Access to health and wellness programs with cashback incentives.
Access to Leidos’ Employee Discount Program and exclusive discount marketplace. MRR MFLC responsibilities include: Face-to-face counseling to military service members and their families (individual, couples, family, and children).
Recommending appropriate referrals and handoffs based on your experienced differential clinical skills to military and community resources according to the needs of military service members and their families.
Offer presentations to address social skills development and social emotional learning that is crucial for childhood early development. Build rapport with service members, spouses, and children by attending installation and community events.
Help families and children with challenges that are particular to the military community, transitions, reoccurring moves, frequent separations, deployments, and more.
Environment: At the direction of the Department of Defense (DOD), duties are performed in multiple indoor locations (approximately 60%) and outdoor locations (approximately 40%).
The indoor locations are located within a military installation, a school setting, or a child development center (CDC) setting controlled by the DOD. The outdoor locations frequently involve traversing over uneven grassy, gravel, and/or dirt areas, ascending/descending stairs, and exposure to the weather.
CDC settings frequently involve sitting on the floor to interact with children for up to two hours at a time. As a Mission Ready Reserve MFLC, you may experience various environments depending on the assignment. Minimum Requirements: A master’s degree or higher in the Behavioral Health Professions (MS/MSW/MA/PhD).
The candidate must hold a valid independent license in the mental health field from any US state or territory (LCSW, MFT, LPCC, Psychologist). Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must be able to pass a basic background check for employment, a Child National Agency Check, and Inquiries (NACI/CNACI) clearance, commonly called a Public Trust clearance.
Pay Range
Pay Range $28/hr. - $50/hr. If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history.
We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting: May 20, 2026 For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range
Pay Range - The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary.
Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
Leidos Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations.
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For more information, visit leidos.com. Pay and
Benefits
Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement.
More details are available here. Securing Your Data Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address.
If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to spam.leidos@leidos.com.
Commitment and Diversity All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.
Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.
Key Responsibilities
Provide proactive, solution-focused counseling to military service members and their families in various settings. Responsibilities include conducting face-to-face sessions, offering social skills presentations, and managing referrals to community resources.
Requirements
Requires a master's degree or higher in Behavioral Health and a valid independent license (LCSW, MFT, LPCC, or Psychologist). Candidates must be U.S. citizens capable of passing a Public Trust clearance.
Qualifications
- Education
- Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
- Experience
- 2+ years of experience
Key Skills
Clinical Psychology — Counselor Career Context
The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
Of the 50 active Clinical Psychology listings this role was benchmarked against, 30% are remote, 32% have no call, 66% require no weekends.
Clinical Psychology pay on WeekdayDoc is up 11.6% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).
Work-Life Balance Analysis
WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Short Term or As Needed Coverage, MFLC Counselor, China Lake CA at Leidos a 7.5 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as very good. This places the position in the top 25% in Clinical Psychology (Counseling) — ranked against 357 active Clinical Psychology (Counseling) listings on WeekdayDoc.
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