Lead Psychologist | Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in Milton Keynes is seeking an experienced Clinical Psychologist to lead the autism assessment and community paediatrics service. The role offers the opportunity to shape a multidisciplinary pathway, providing high-quality assessments and support for children and young people. Responsibilities include managing a team of psychologists, driving service development, and ensuring compliance with clinical governance. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership skills and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. This position offers a dynamic environment focused on transformative care and innovation.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in clinical psychology, especially in autism assessment.
• Proven abilities in team leadership and management.
• Strong understanding of clinical governance and safeguarding practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary autism assessments and provide expert consultations.
• Manage psychologists' roles, including recruitment and performance evaluations.
• Drive quality improvement initiatives and ensure compliance with Trust policies.

Skills

Leadership

Expert psychological assessment

Team management

Quality improvement

Autonomous work

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Job description

About the Role

Join Us at a Time of Exciting Change. Are you an experienced Clinical Psychologist ready to lead and innovate? We are seeking a highly motivated Professional Lead to join our Milton Keynes Autism Assessment and Community Paediatrics Service. This senior role offers the opportunity to shape a multidisciplinary autism pathway, ensuring timely, high-quality assessments and post-diagnostic support for children and young people.

Main Duties

• Lead autism/ASD assessments and neurodevelopmental formulations within a multidisciplinary framework.
• Provide expert psychological input and consultation across the team.
• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, job planning, and performance management.
• Deliver teaching, training, and supervision to psychology staff and wider professionals.
• Drive service development, quality improvement, and co-production initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with clinical governance, safeguarding, and Trust policies.

Leadership & Governance

• Act as the professional lead for clinical psychology within the service.
• Oversee psychological governance and ensure compliance with Trust policies, clinical governance, and safeguarding standards.
• Lead service planning and development for neurodevelopmental pathways across the county.

Clinical Responsibilities

• Provide expert, highly specialist assessments for neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly autism.
• Ensure timely access to assessments, post-diagnostic support and interventions.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines, maintaining the highest standards of clinical care.

Team Management

• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, appraisal, and training.
• Coordinate workload and support staff development to maintain service quality.

Collaboration & Consultation

• Work closely with the Specialist Children’s Service Manager, Service Manager and Clinical Director.
• Participate in CNWL networks related to ASD and Community Paediatrics.
• Provide consultation, training and teaching within and beyond the team.

Quality & Evaluation

• Lead quality improvement initiatives, service evaluation, research and audit.
• Monitor service effectiveness against key deliverables such as patient safety and care quality.
• Report regularly to the Service Manager and Clinical Director.

Equality & Inclusion

• Promote inclusive practices and foster good relations across diverse communities.
• Encourage applications from all sectors of the community to ensure the workforce reflects the populations served.

CNWL Neurodevelopmental Pathway Transformation

This is an exciting time to join CNWL. We are implementing a new Neurodevelopmental (ND) pathway transformation programme, designed to improve access, consistency and quality of care for children and young people with neurodevelopmental needs. As part of this initiative, the autism assessment service is adopting innovative digital tools and platforms to streamline processes, enhance multidisciplinary collaboration and improve patient experience. The postholder will play a key role in embedding these digital solutions and contributing to the ongoing development and evaluation of the ND pathway transformation.

This advert closes on Tuesday 6 Jan 2026.