Principal Psychological Professional

Job summary

We are seeking a Principal Psychological Professional (Clinical Psychologist / Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist / Systemic Psychotherapist) Clinical Lead to join our Children in Care Team within Children and Family Health Devon. This is a unique fixed term opportunity to take a leadership role in a team supporting children and young people who are in care, care leavers, or subject to child protection plans. This role is offered at 22.5 hours (0.6 WTE)

The multi-disciplinary team work together to deliver trauma-informed, relational, and developmentally-sensitive care, for children and young people, many of whom will have experienced significant adversity and trauma.

As Clinical Lead you will provide specialist assessment and intervention, clinical supervision, and clinical leadership across the team. You will contribute to strategic planning to ensure that the psychological needs of this highly vulnerable group are central to the care they receive.

We offer:

• A clinical leadership role in a well-established, innovative, and multi-disciplinary service.
• Access to peer support, and specialist CPD opportunities.
• A service culture that values compassion, inclusion, and co-production with children and young people.

Main duties of the job

• Provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for children and young people in care, including those with complex emotional and developmental needs.
• Offer clinical supervision and consultation to psychological professionals and other clinicians working within and alongside the Children in Care Team.
• Lead on the psychological thinking and trauma-informed approaches within the team.
• Work in partnership with social care, education, mental health teams, and voluntary sector partners to ensure joined-up, developmentally appropriate, and relationship-focused care.
• Contribute to the clinical leadership of psychological therapies within CFHD, supporting quality, safety, and staff wellbeing.

If you are a motivated and experienced Clinical Psychologist / Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist / Systemic Psychotherapist with a passion for improving outcomes for children and young people many of whom are care experienced, then we would love to hear from you.

About us

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations working together to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon.

CFHD provides integrated care and treatment for children and young people across physical and mental health which are provided by Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust and Devon Partnership Trust. We are working closely with other organisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide based integrated access to all of our services.

CFHD works closely with our local universities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where we support students in clinical training placements and in addition support our own staff to undertake post graduate training.

Our integrated care and treatment has been developed and refined in partnership with children, young people and their families/carers.

Our children and young people say

We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure.

Our vision is to be a successful, vibrant, partnership that benefits the communities we serve.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification (note there is a JD for each profession). Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specificationand ensure you evidence essential criteria in your application.

Job description
Job responsibilities

Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification (note there is a JD for each profession). Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specificationand ensure you evidence essential criteria in your application.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering effective evidence-based, outcomes-informed psychological therapy interventions with children, young people and families, including risk assessment and risk management
• Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including shared decision making and the use of both clinician and patient rated outcome measures
• Experience of working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary services and across organisational boundaries
• Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
• Experience of obtaining service user feedback and data to improve outcomes and services
• Experience in teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice. Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate.
• Experience of using an equality and diversity framework in clinical, supervisory and leadership practice Experience of initiating, chairing, attending and contributing to multi-professional and interagency meetings.
• Experience of working as an autonomous individual, taking on responsibility, making decisions and seeking support as needed. Experience of providing clinical supervision, undertaking appraisals, developing job plans, recruitment, managing performance, absence and staff development.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Frequent requirement to travel across Devon
• Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and share this with others including service users and professionals
• The ability to work as an autonomous senior clinician, make decisions under pressure and seek support as appropriate.
• The ability to communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with children and young people, parents, carers and others as appropriate, conveying information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning assessment, clinical formulation and treatment, at times during emotionally difficult situations
• The ability to present complex, often sensitive information in a variety of formats, both written and verbal, in a professional, clear and organised manner, including public speaking to a range of audiences

Qualifications

Essential

• A Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent e.g. Masters level qualification in Clinical Psychology if qualified before 1996; OR Doctorate Level ACP accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy; OR Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy plus specialist post-qualification training to Doctorate level
• Active registration as a Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC Post qualification training in supervision; OR Active registration with the UKCP as a Systemic and Family Therapist; OR Full member of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)
• Post qualification training in supervision
• Post qualification training or proven equivalent experience in leadership or management
• Post qualification specialist therapy/assessment training relevant to children and young people

Person Specification
Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering effective evidence-based, outcomes-informed psychological therapy interventions with children, young people and families, including risk assessment and risk management
• Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including shared decision making and the use of both clinician and patient rated outcome measures
• Experience of working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary services and across organisational boundaries
• Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
• Experience of obtaining service user feedback and data to improve outcomes and services
• Experience in teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice. Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate.
• Experience of using an equality and diversity framework in clinical, supervisory and leadership practice Experience of initiating, chairing, attending and contributing to multi-professional and interagency meetings.
• Experience of working as an autonomous individual, taking on responsibility, making decisions and seeking support as needed. Experience of providing clinical supervision, undertaking appraisals, developing job plans, recruitment, managing performance, absence and staff development.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Frequent requirement to travel across Devon
• Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and share this with others including service users and professionals
• The ability to work as an autonomous senior clinician, make decisions under pressure and seek support as appropriate.
• The ability to communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with children and young people, parents, carers and others as appropriate, conveying information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning assessment, clinical formulation and treatment, at times during emotionally difficult situations
• The ability to present complex, often sensitive information in a variety of formats, both written and verbal, in a professional, clear and organised manner, including public speaking to a range of audiences

Qualifications

Essential

• A Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent e.g. Masters level qualification in Clinical Psychology if qualified before 1996; OR Doctorate Level ACP accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy; OR Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy plus specialist post-qualification training to Doctorate level
• Active registration as a Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC Post qualification training in supervision; OR Active registration with the UKCP as a Systemic and Family Therapist; OR Full member of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)
• Post qualification training in supervision
• Post qualification training or proven equivalent experience in leadership or management
• Post qualification specialist therapy/assessment training relevant to children and young people

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the .

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. .
UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see

Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the .

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. .
UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see

Employer details

Employer name

Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Address

Children & Family Health Devon

Bittern Road

Sowton Industrial Estate

Exeter

EX2 7FW

Employer's website

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