Senior Clinical Psychologist / Applied Psychologist 7/8a

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The postholder will hold a clinical caseload including complex cases, support clinical staff through training and clinical practice, provide clinical supervision and line management to colleagues, be responsible for leading on an area of service development and contributing to the management and operations of psychological interventions within the SPMHS. The postholder will support the psychology management team and develop clinical expertise in perinatal psychology.

The postholder will provide advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues; will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Trust and Service's policies and procedures. The postholder will utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the service.

NHFT welcomes applications from people, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status or pregnancy or maternity status. We would encourage applications from groups who are currently underrepresented in the organisation. In particular, applications from disabled people (with both visible and non-visible disabilities), people from black and minority ethnic communities and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) people.

NHFT is committed to building a diverse workforce, ensuring staff are treated fairly at work and ensuring all staff have the learning and development they need on equality in order to undertake their job role.

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria

1. Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent), including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as accredited by the BPS, or Doctoral level training in Counselling Psychology (or equivalent - masters level plus completed post qualification training).
2. Experience of working in a mental health, providing NICE compliant interventions.
3. Experience of leadership and service development within the NHS.
4. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of physical and mental health conditions and across care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
5. Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, particularly trauma.
6. Experience of interdisciplinary working.
7. Meeting the CPD requirements for ongoing accreditation with the relevant professional body, or an alternative agreed by the Principal Psychologist.
8. Experience of supervising other psychological therapist practitioners within a clinical mental health service.
9. Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision of staff from a range of clinical backgrounds.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of working with severe and complex mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
2. Experience of risk assessment and risk management strategies and their application to practice, particularly in the perinatal period.
3. Experience of the applications of psychological interventions in different contexts.
4. Parent Infant Therapy/VIG/EMDR.
5. Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Training.
6. Experience in Safeguarding children and adult processes and inter-agency work with families.
7. Training or experience of working with ASD / ADHD and neurodiversity.

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

1. Broad knowledge of specialist mental health services of mothers and their infants and the wider network of mental health services in the NHS.
2. Knowledge of policies and procedures relating to Child Protection.
3. Knowledge and understanding of diversity and equality issues and their application in perinatal mental health services.
4. Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies relevant to the perinatal period.
5. Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professionals colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
6. Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessments, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
7. Skills creating and delivering presentations and training programmes. Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
8. Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of leading and carrying out research projects and interpreting data using statistical analyses.

Important Information

By completing an application you are giving authorisation for the transfer of your data. In submitting an application form, you authorise us to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process. Including factual reference, occupational health clearance and statutory and mandatory training records and full service history.

Correspondence regarding your application will be sent to you via a TRAC system account.

Please submit your application as soon as possible; due to the high volumes of applications we receive we reserve the right to close any adverts before the closing date once we have received sufficient applications.

We are an equal opportunities employer, which aims to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons from all backgrounds.

All roles are subject to the home office immigration rules and therefore eligibility must meet certain requirements for any sponsorship to be considered. Please visit the government website for more information regarding eligibility.

At NHFT we support many of our colleagues to work flexibly and we will consider requests for flexible working from day one. For this role, we are open to discussing a range of options including flexible hours, agile/home working, compressed hours and part time hours. Please have a conversation with the recruiting manager about the flexibility you need and we will promise to explore what is possible with you.

Applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria for the job will be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process please make the recruitment services team aware as soon as possible.

All posts that are engaged in a regulated activity will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a DBS re-check on a three yearly basis whilst employed in such a role. Staff employed in these posts will therefore be asked to register with the DBS Automatic Update Service upon receipt of their DBS certificate and must update yearly, the annual fee will be reimbursed subject to Trust policy. For further information please visit: DBS Update Service: applicant guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Please note if a DBS is applicable for the position then a charge will be deducted from your first salary or upfront cost if a staff bank position.

Please note that all new starters to the trust are subject to a probationary period.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 704.5KB)
• Benefits (PDF, 570.7KB)