Principal Applied Psychologist

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; Selby; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension scheme

Professional development opportunities

Secondment opportunity

Job summary

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Principal Applied Psychologist to lead the Neurodevelopmental Pathway for children and young people. The role involves specialist assessment, clinical leadership and service development within a complex, multidisciplinary environment.

You will oversee neurodevelopmental assessments, contribute to diagnostic decision making and work with education, health and partner organisations to ensure high-quality care.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in neurodevelopmental assessment and diagnosis in children/young people.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and clinical pathways.
• Ability to contribute to service development, evaluation and Quality Improvement.

Responsibilities

• Provide highly specialist psychological leadership within the Neurodevelopmental Pathways.
• Lead diagnostic discussions relating to Autism, ADHD and related conditions.
• Support delivery, development, evaluation and transformation initiatives within the pathway.

Skills

Neurodevelopmental assessment

Leadership

Clinical supervision

Communication with families

Education

Doctoral level equivalent in clinical/counselling/forensic psychology

HCPC registration

Clinical supervision course

Tools

ADOS-2

ADI-R

Job description

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Principal Applied Psychologist

The closing date is 17 November 2026

Are you an experienced Applied Psychologist with specialist expertise in neurodevelopmental assessment and a passion for service development?

We are seeking an enthusiastic and innovative Principal Applied Psychologist to join our Neurodevelopmental Pathway on a 9-month secondment opportunity. This is an exciting time to join a developing service and play a key role in supporting high-quality assessment and diagnostic pathways for children and young people.

The successful candidate will provide highly specialist psychological leadership within the pathway, contributing to clinical decision making, service development, workforce development and quality improvement. Alongside leadership responsibilities, the role requires a strong understanding of neurodevelopmental assessment and diagnosis, including experience of complex presentations and differential diagnosis.

We are looking for an individual with significant experience of autism and/or ADHD assessment in children and young people, including the use of recognised assessment tools such as ADOS-2 and ADI-R. You will work closely with multidisciplinary colleagues and system partners to ensure children, young people and families receive high-quality, evidence-based assessment and care.

Main duties of the job

As Principal Applied Psychologist, you will provide highly specialist psychological expertise and leadership within the Neurodevelopmental Pathways, supporting the ongoing development of high-quality services for children, young people and families.

You will offer clinical leadership across multidisciplinary teams, supporting formulation, diagnostic decision making and the management of complex presentations. The role includes providing consultation, supervision and specialist advice to colleagues, while contributing to workforce development and service improvement initiatives.

You will maintain an active contribution to neurodevelopmental assessments where appropriate and support diagnostic pathways relating to Autism and ADHD. This includes applying specialist knowledge of neurodevelopmental presentations, differential diagnosis and evidence-based assessment approaches.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with families, educational settings and partner agencies, ensuring that assessment and intervention pathways are child-centred, trauma-informed and responsive to individual needs. You will also contribute to service evaluation, quality improvement and strategic developments across the pathway.

About us

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care --our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.

Job responsibilities

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. However, sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements, therefore, we recommend that you assess your eligibility before applying for this position. Visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Psychologists & Psychological Therapists provide key leadership roles within the Trust. To support this we have developed leadership profiles for each psychology band and the profile card associated with this post is attached on NHS Jobs. You can find more information about the NHS Leadership Academys Healthcare Leadership Model and the profiles at their website. We encourage you to look at these resources as they will play a part in the interview process.

The Principal Applied Psychologist will provide professional, clinical and operational leadership within the Neurodevelopmental Pathways and will support the delivery and development of specialist assessment services for children and young people.

Key responsibilities include:

Providing highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and consultation for children and young people presenting with complex neurodevelopmental needs.

Leading and contributing to multidisciplinary diagnostic discussions relating to Autism, ADHD and associated neurodevelopmental presentations.

Providing clinical leadership, consultation and supervision to multidisciplinary colleagues across the pathway.

Supporting the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based neurodevelopmental assessment pathways.

Contributing specialist expertise in autism and ADHD assessment, including the use and interpretation of standardised tools such as ADOS-2 and ADI-R.

Applying advanced knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions and differential diagnosis to support robust clinical decision making.

Maintaining strong links with education, health and wider partner organisations to support collaborative working.

Leading and contributing to service evaluation, audit, quality improvement and transformation initiatives.

Applicants should demonstrate substantial experience of neurodevelopmental assessment and diagnosis in children and young people, including:

A minimum of one year's experience conducting diagnostic assessments for Autism and/or ADHD.

Strong knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions and differential diagnosis.

In-depth understanding of current diagnostic criteria and evidence-based assessment approaches.

Training and experience in the use of recognised assessment tools including ADOS-2, ADI-R or equivalent specialist measures.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Post-graduate training (doctoral level equivalent) in clinical / counselling / forensic psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS
• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Completion of a BPS approved Clinical Supervision course for eligibility to provide supervision of applied psychology trainees.
• Postdoctoral training in one or more additional specialised are of clinical practice (e.g. and evidence based Governed Psychological Therapy, Neuropsychology, Approved Clinician)
• Training in diagnostic assessment tools such as ADOS-2, ADI-R
• Evidence of continued professional development

Skills/Knowledge/Experience

• Must have substantial experience of: Working as a qualified applied psychologist within the designated service including a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and a range of clinical severity across a range of care settings
• Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care within the context of a multidisciplinary team
• Teaching, training and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses
• Research and development within practice
• Active participation in quality and service improvement and evaluation across the service/ speciality
• Providing clinical and professional leadership to other qualified and non-qualified members of the profession
• Leadership development commensurate with the banding as outlined on the NHS Leadership Academy Leadership Cards
• Substantial experience of recruitment of assistant, trainee or qualified psychologists or other professional staff groups including advising multi disciplinary colleagues regarding recruitment. Completion of NHS trust recruitment training (or within 6 months of commencing in post)
• Evidence of positive influence regarding culture, power and privilege within direct clinical work, indirect clinical work and service development projects
• Awareness of own leadership qualities, behaviours and approaches taking into account the importance of equality diversity and inclusion and demonstrating considerable professional maturity through development over time
• Demonstrates a track record of centralising the needs of people who use clinical services and challenging self and others to broaden the influence of people with lived experience of trauma, adversity, mental ill health, learning disability and/ or autism on all aspects of the services
• Leads effectively with complex clinical presentations including both individual work and with multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals, as appropriate for speciality and service
• Demonstrates ability to provide containment and therapeutic progress for service users who require long term and complex interventions and the staff group/ family and carers as appropriate and where there are high levels of conflict and distress
• Contributes to quality assurance and governance within own service remit
• Demonstrates knowledge of governance structures and organisational structure and an understanding of the need to engage with quality and safety assurance processes within the trust
• Able to demonstrate the application of psychological skills and knowledge to leadership within the organisation
• Contributes to service developments in team, speciality and across service areas
• Teaching and training for staff and trainees
• To undertake formal research, audit and service evaluations as an integral part of the job and act as field supervisor to doctorate trainees. Promoting a culture of research and service improvement within the speciality and service area
• Contributes to service developments in the team and service area as agreed with operational and psychological professional managers
• Proficiency in digital technologies to take account of new developments and technologies in order to work efficiently, confidentially and with appropriate informed consent
• Understand the importance of own mental and physical health and well-being strategies in maintaining fitness to practice, adopting clear strategies for self‑awareness and self‑care to maintain a high standard of professional effectiveness and a safe working environment

Other Requirements

• Evidence of positive influence regarding culture, power and privilege within direct clinical work, indirect clinical work and service development projects.
• Demonstrates ability to provide containment and therapeutic progress for service users who require long term and complex interventions and the staff group/ family and carers as appropriate and where there are high levels of conflict and distress.
• Contributes to service developments in team, speciality and across service areas.

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.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust