Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development post

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT); March; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) is recruiting a Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development for The Fen’s Service, a male high‑risk prison setting. The post offers progression from Band 7 to 8a with a permanent contract and a pro rata salary range £49,387–£64,750.

The role includes enabling competencies and leadership across NHS services within CPFT. The successful candidate will develop formulations, supervise teams, and expand clinical research links with

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology as accredited by the BPS
• Chartered forensic psychologist status supported by HCPC
• HCPC registration and ongoing professional development
• Experience with specialist psychological assessments and neuropsychology tools

Responsibilities

• Develop psychological formulations integrating personality pathology and offending behaviour
• Evaluate treatment options with complex cognitive and behavioural considerations
• Provide clinical leadership and coordinate mental health interventions across Fens and Outreach Services
• Implement neuropsychological assessments and neurofeedback within approved protocols
• Ensure governance, supervision, and dissemination of psychological research within the team

Skills

Clinical psychology

Trauma-focused therapy

Risk assessment

Leadership

Supervision

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical psychology

Chartered forensic psychologist

HCPC registration

Specialist assessment tools (PCL-R, HCR-20, WAIS-IV)

Tools

Neurofeedback

VR therapy

Job description

Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development post

Band 7/8a

Main area Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist Grade Band 7/8a Contract Permanent: Regional Secure Unit Allowance payable of £1293 per annum pro rata Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 310-ASMH-8166606

Site The Fens Service, HMP Whitemoor Town March Salary £49,387 - £64,750 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 07/09/2026 23:59

Job overview

The Fen’s service are advertising an 8a position, which includes the opportunity for people at a band 7 level to apply for and develop up to an 8a. Those already at the level of 8a are also welcome to apply.

If you are appointed as a Band 7, you will be provided with a list of competencies to complete and an agreed timescale in which to complete these, up to a maximum of 12mths. Competencies will be reviewed in your supervisions and appraisals. Only on successful completion of these competencies, you will progress to a Band 8a.

The Fen’s is an innovative and challenging service for individuals with chronic histories of trauma who are located in a male high-risk prison.

Our treatment draws on attachment theory and incorporates schema focused therapy, along with a range of short-term interventions such as EMDR, CBT, CAT etc. Through a combination of individual and group therapies, patients are given opportunities to heal from trauma and neglect, improve wellbeing and reduce risk.

We will support you in broadening your therapeutic skills, management, and working to achieve organisational change in a complex system. There are opportunities to further your research interests through our links with Universities.

The role is a permanent, full-time position with scope to complete some work from home .

Main duties of the job

You will have a managerial role working within the Fens Services. This will require the post holder to have a solid working knowledge of personality disorders, challenging behaviour and trauma, recognising the implications and consequences that can arise for those who struggle to live with personality difficulties arising from adverse childhood trauma.

The post holder is required to have good leadership skills and a desire to work collaboratively with both HMPPS and other NHS staff who provide additional core services within the main prison. This post requires experience of working in a challenging environment, with an understanding of risk management to assist in reducing personal distress and improve wellbeing. You will be required to provide a clinical leadership role, that ensures the systematic provision of a high-quality Mental Health intervention accessible across both Fens and the Outreach Services.

The post holder will work autonomously within their professional guidelines and the overall framework of both the Trust’s and The Fens Service’s policies and procedures.

“I wanted to change, I was crying out to change. You know, it was a trust element.…letting them see me warts and all….and that was the hard thing. Breaking down crying…getting the stuff out I needed to. I grew from that…if I don’t like myself, how can anyone else like myself. How can I move on if I don’t forgive myself… I’ve got to give myself a chance.” Current service user

Working for our organisation

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children’s, adult and older people’s mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

To develop psychological formulations of presenting problems; emotional, cognitive and behavioural. In particular to use specialist knowledge in relation to offending behaviour, to develop psychological formulations of the connection between a person’s personality psychopathology and the dangerous offences they have committed. This will require the integration of information from assessments within a coherent framework that draws upon psychological theory and evidence and which incorporates interpersonal, societal, cultural and biological factors.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, carers or group.

To incorporate the results of individual assessments into the formulations and treatment and care plans for the patient(s). To be able to articulate these formulations to other members of the multidisciplinary team including non-clinical staff using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills at a level which is accessible to all.

Within a cognitive interpersonal framework to develop plans for the formal psychological individual treatment and/or management of a patient’s mental health and behavioural problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of these problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To formulate, develop and implement plans for neuropsychological assessment informing the psychological treatment and/or management of a patient’s neurocognitive deficits within an appropriate conceptual framework of the patient’s problems. Ensuring methods are efficacious meeting the patient’s needs within the Fens service or in support of appropriate referral to another specialist service.

Within a cognitive interpersonal framework to develop plans for the formal psychological individual treatment and/or management of a patient’s mental health and behavioural problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of these problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To provide management, coordination and delivery in conjunction with the clinical director, on the application of virtual reality methods both within assessment and treatment provisions within the Fens service, developing appropriate evaluation methodologies and research protocols for this provision.

To provide neurofeedback services to individual patients working within an approved research protocol and delivering key assessments as designated to support the evaluation of this wellbeing intervention with high risk patients who have a history of acute developmental trauma. Training will be provided if needed.

To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory, including specialist neurological assessment.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, 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 a BPS Statement of Equivalence.
• Or chartered forensic psychologist
• Valid HCPC registration
• Recognised training in specialist assessment tools (e.g.PCL-R, HCR-20, WAIS-IV or other clinical assessments)

Experience

• Working experience as a trainee/qualified psychologist within a locked/secure environment
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across a range of care settings.
• 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 Skills at maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of the application of psychological interventions in different contexts
• Lived experience of mental health
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework
• Experience of interagency working

Skills & Abilities

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management.
• Skills in developing and/or delivering individual and group work.
• Skills in planning and organising caseload management.
• Skills in self-management, including time-management.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS/HMPPS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.).
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of the OPDP services, and what working within an OPD service might entail.
• Knowledge or experience of using neurofeedback as a wellbeing tool.
• Knowledge or experience of using VR as a tool to support wellbeing or psychological interventions.
• Good understanding of other professionals’ theoretical perspectives of this client group.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.

Physical Requirements

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enabling formation of networks with professionals within the Trust and from other agencies (HMPPS) to promote effective team working with clients
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients.
• Emotionally robust.
• Able to contain and work with organisational stress.
• Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
• Ability to exercise appropriate levels of self-care and to monitor own state, recognising when it is necessary to take active steps to maintain fitness to practice.
• Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record.
• Able to tolerate ambiguity and to take decisions in situations of incomplete information.

Other

• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Able to tolerate prolonged periods of sitting.

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

• Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
• Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
• Children’s community services in Peterborough;
• Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity .

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a ‘Red List’ country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

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.