Clinical psychologist 7/8a

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Kettering; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in Kettering is seeking a Clinical Psychologist to join the Children\'s Community Team for People with Learning Disabilities. The role is fixed-term for 9 months (maternity cover) and supports assessments, formulations and interventions for children and young people.

You will work within an MDT, provide neurodevelopmental assessments, supervise trainees where appropriate, and contribute to service development.

Qualifications

• Doctoral-level training in clinical psychology is required.
• Experience working with children and young people with learning disabilities.
• Experience supervising others or providing consultation.
• Knowledge of LD-related legislation and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Providing complex assessments and formulations, including some neurodevelopmental assessments.
• Providing direct or indirect interventions based on psychological formulations.
• Providing training and indirect work with care providers/parents.
• Possibility of supervising trainees/assistants depending on experience.
• Opportunities for audits and research.
• Developing skills in positive behaviour support and training others in this approach.
• Becoming an integral MDT member and embedding psychological principles.

Skills

Complex assessments

Formulations & interventions

Teach/train others

Interpersonal skills

MDT collaboration

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical psychology

Experience with learning disability population

Job description

Main area Clinical Psychologist, Children's Community Team for people with Learning Disabilities Grade Band 8a Contract Fixed term: 9 months (Full time) Hours

• Full time
• Part time
• Job share
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week Job ref 270-TH332-MH

Site St Mary's Hospital Town Kettering Salary £49,387 - £64,750 pa, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 21/09/2026 08:00 Interview date 14/10/2027

Job overview

We are seeking an enthusiastic individual to join our Children's Community Team for People with Learning Disabilities. This position is for a fixed term, 9 months maternity cover. We are a passionate, multi-disciplinary team who puts service users and their families at the forefront in everything we do. You would be providing assessments, formulations and interventions to service users and their families/ support systems. You would be working with children and young people presenting with a wide range of psychological distress and difficulties including people with autism, ADHD, attachment issues, trauma, loss, mental health issues, behaviour which challenges.

We have an excellent reputation for being a compassionate service who leads in trauma informed practice. We are a welcoming and inclusive psychological service and MDT, who work together to ensure the services we provide are of high quality. Reflective practice is essential in our work and we provide excellent quality supervision, peer supervision, journal clubs and reflective practice sessions to ensure we are working at the high standard that service users deserve.

Main duties of the job

Providing complex assessments and formulations, including some neurodevelopmental assessments and formulations.

Providing direct or indirect interventions based on psychological formulations and models.

Providing training and indirect work with care providers/ carers/ parents.

Possibility of supervising trainees/ assistants depending on experience

Opportunities for audits and research

Developing skills in positive behaviour support and being involved in training others in this approach.

Opportunity for CPD in whatever area of interest you have and exploring how to incorporate this into working with people with learning disabilities.

Becoming an integral member of the MDT, ensuring psychological principles are embedded in the teams.

Exploring opportunities for improving service development within the service

Working for our organisation

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools.We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning to improve the care and safety of our patients and staff, which focuses on people who enable our Trust to be ‘outstanding’ by supporting opportunity, innovation, development and growth.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading.

Main responsibilities:

Supporting children and young people who are experiencing psychological distress.

Working with their families and support systems.

Providing assessments, formulations and interventions to children, young people and their support systems.

Working in a MDT to bring a psychological perspective and supporting MDT colleagues in their work

Conducting neurodevelopmental assessments, providing assessments, formulations and interventions for people with neurodiversity.

Attending supervision, peer supervision, journal clubs, reflective practice, professional network meetings.

Person specification

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Knowledge of legislation and key documents in relation to the LD population
• Experience of supervising of others or providing consultation to others
• Experience for working with people with LD

Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of psychological therapies with people with LD
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessments, formulations and interventions
• 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 professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to utilise them to communicate effectively within a multi-disciplinary team based working environment as well as with service users and their families/carers
• Experience and ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
• Skills in developing systemic formulations around the person with LD

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.

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.

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

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.