Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Non Medical Clinical Lead

NHS; Bradford; On-site; GBP 76,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider seeks a Consultant Clinical Psychologist to lead psychological services at the West Yorkshire Assessment & Treatment Units. The role involves providing evidence-based psychological therapies, clinical leadership, and developing new services to improve patient care. Candidates should have a doctorate in clinical psychology, significant leadership experience, and a commitment to high-quality care. This permanent position offers a salary between £76,965 and £88,682, with an emphasis on flexible working arrangements and professional development.

Benefits

Increased mileage rates

Health and wellbeing support

Development and learning opportunities

Qualifications

• Doctorate level training in clinical or applied psychology.
• Eligibility for Chartered Clinical Psychologist status.
• Leadership training.
• Significant experience in relevant mental health practice.
• Significant post-qualification experience (at least 5 years).

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological therapies.
• Provide clinical leadership and supervision.
• Lead service and policy review.
• Ensure clinical effectiveness through audit and evaluation.
• Work as part of the leadership team for service direction.

Skills

Effective communication

Consultation skills

Psychological assessment

Program planning

Autonomous decision-making

Supervision

Teaching

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Eligibility for Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Job description

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the leadership triumvirate for Assessment & Treatment Services across West Yorkshire and Barnsley, delivering specialist inpatient care for people with a learning disability. Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust & South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust work in partnership to deliver services from the Horizon Centre, Wakefield & the Najurally Unit at Lynfield Mount Hospital, Bradford, with Leeds & York Partnership Foundation Trust providing governance.

Our ambition is to develop a West Yorkshire Centre of Excellence, delivering high-quality specialist inpatient care through a collaborative, trauma-informed approach, supporting people as close to home as possible. We are seeking a compassionate, motivated Consultant Clinical Psychologist committed to making a difference & helping realise this vision.

As the non-medical clinical lead, the Consultant Clinical Psychologist will work alongside the Programme Lead & Medical Lead to support service development at local and strategic levels. The role includes leadership & governance responsibilities for psychological practitioners and the wider MDT, ensuring safe, effective practice & staff development.

The successful candidate will have experience working with people with complex learning disabilities & mental health needs, including behaviours that challenge, using evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches to reduce distress & promote wellbeing and social inclusion.

Main duties (Responsibilities)

• Provide specialist, evidence-based psychological therapies, making autonomous clinical decisions within own scope of practice.
• Provide clinical leadership, supervision, consultation and specialist advice on psychological therapies and psychological aspects of care.
• Lead service and policy review, development and specialist teaching in psychological therapies across the West Yorkshire Assessment and Treatment Unit (WY ATU).
• Take lead responsibility for the development and implementation of NICE-compliant psychological interventions within the WY ATU.
• Ensure clinical effectiveness by leading audit, service evaluation, research and service improvement activities relevant to the WY ATU.
• Provide specialist psychological advice to the Programme Lead on service development.
• Act as an Approved Clinician for identified service users and/or work towards Approved Clinician status.
• Work as part of the WY ATU leadership triumvirate to influence strategic direction, ensure clinical engagement, and deliver high-quality services with robust governance, reporting to the WY ATU Strategic Partnership Group.
• Lead the non-medical workforce in relation to the strategic direction of inpatient and community learning disability services across West Yorkshire.
• Work alongside triumvirate colleagues to embed quality, safety and continuous improvement across the clinical pathway.

About us

Everything we do is underpinned by our core values:

• We Care – We act with respect and empathy, and always value difference.
• We Listen – We understand people’s views and respond to their individual needs.
• We Deliver – We develop and provide excellent services and support our partners.

We will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements to enable staff to balance their work and home lives and support staff by offering a fantastic range of benefits including:

• Increase mileage rates for > 3500
• A wide range of health and wellbeing support packages
• A range of internal and external development and learning opportunities
• Plus many more.

We are also proud to pledge our support to the Armed Forces and hold a Bronze Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.

BDCFT is dedicated to environmental and social sustainability by delivering on the commitments within our Green Plan. All staff are actively encouraged and supported to participate in training and to identify and implement sustainable quality improvement across all service areas and activities.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible.

Closing Date: 31st January 2026

Shortlisting Date: W/C 2nd February 2026

Interview Date: TBC

Employment details

• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 8c
• Salary: £76,965 to £88,682 a year Per Annum
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time
• Reference number: 453‑25‑7671551
• Job locations: Najurally Centre, Lynfield Mount Hospital but working across both West Yorkshire ATUs – To Be Decided (convenience of the service and individual), Bradford, BD18 3LD

Qualifications (Essential)

• Doctorate level training in clinical or applied psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical, psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence.
• Eligibility for Chartered Clinical Psychologist status.
• Undertaken post‑qualification further training in a specialised area of psychological practice e.g. neuropsychology, CBT, CAT, DBT, solution focused therapy, analytical therapy, systemic / family work etc.
• Leadership training.
• If not yet an approved clinician a preparedness to train and seek registration as an approved clinician.

Qualifications (Desirable)

• Teaching (clinical practice) qualification/certificate or equivalent experience.
• Training in advanced clinical supervision.
• Training in trauma informed care.
• Trained and registered as an Approved Clinician.

Experience (Essential)

• Significant experience in relevant area of mental health practise.
• Extensive experience of providing successful clinical leadership within multi‑service, multidisciplinary mental health provider context.
• Experience of teaching, training, supervision and consultation.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Significant post‑qualification experience and training (at least 5 years).

Experience (Desirable)

• Experience as a consultant psychologist/psychological therapist.

Knowledge (Essential)

• Significant clinical knowledge relevant to service area.
• Evidence based psychological therapies and approaches relevant to service area.
• Doctoral / master’s level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis.
• Able to contain explore and formulate an understanding of high levels of distress both directly with patients and indirectly via supervision or case reviews with other staff.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

Knowledge (Desirable)

• Demonstrable knowledge of the theory and practice of leadership and management in mental health services.
• Highly specialist clinical knowledge relevant to a service area.

Skills (Essential)

• 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.
• Well developed skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Well developed skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention, and management.
• Well developed skills in individual and group work and in programme planning and systemic interventions.
• Able to make autonomous decisions using judgement.
• Ability to supervise learners and other staff.
• Competent teaching skills.

Skills (Desirable)

• Writing for publication skills.

Attitude/Approach (Essential)

• Commitment to ethos of the clinical service and MDT working.
• Aware of racial, culture, sexuality and gender issues and their impact on mental health and in therapy.

Attitude/Approach (Desirable)

• Demonstrable knowledge of the theory and practice of leadership and management in mental health services.
• Highly specialist clinical knowledge relevant to a service area.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Najurally Centre, Lynfield Mount Hospital but working across both West Yorkshire ATUs – To Be Decided (convenience of the service and individual), Bradford, BD18 3LD