Principal Clinical Psychologist

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

CNTW NHS Foundation Trust in the North East is recruiting a senior psychologist to provide clinical leadership for the ARMS for psychosis service and to work as an active clinician across Northumberland and North Tyneside Localities. You will lead multidisciplinary assessments, provide supervision and training, and develop evidence-based interventions for people at risk of psychosis, while collaborating with Early Intervention in Psychosis teams.

DBS clearance is required before starting.

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology, HCPC/BPS accredited.
• Excellent communication of complex clinical information to clients and colleagues.
• Experience supervising trainees and other professionals.
• Substantial post-qualification experience with psychosis or at-risk mental states.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical leadership for the ARMS service and act as an active clinician.
• Lead specialist psychological assessment and treatment for ARMS patients.
• Provide supervision, consultation and training to other staff.
• Develop and implement evidence-based bio-psychosocial interventions.

Skills

Communication skills

Teaching & training

Clinical supervision

Self-management

Emotional resilience

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology

Job description

Hello!

We are so delighted you are considering coming to work with us at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW).

We know the power of looking into an organisation, one you might want to work in, or one where you are going to get help, and being able to say, 'I've seen somewhere I can fit in and be myself.' We're on a journey to make the Trust an inclusive employer, representative of the community we serve and we want more of our community to consider applying for jobs with us.

Opportunities for you

Spanning east to west coasts from Northumberland to Cumbria and from the Scottish Borders down to Middlesbrough we've got exciting new opportunities available at every level and in every area.

We offer flexible working, helping work fit around family and caring responsibilities, or training and development needs and there's lots on offer in the way of benefits, such as, lease cars, childcare schemes, staff discounts, season tickets for travel and a cycle to work scheme. All this in a vibrant workplace supported by the following staff networks.

• Cultural diversity staff network
• Disabled staff network
• LGBT+ staff network

We also have a number of staff support groups which are open to any staff to attend. These Include:

• Armed Forces and Veterans Staff Network
• Mind, Health and Wellbeing Community
• Menopause toolkit and cafes and staff carer support group

We offer fantastic personal development opportunities through our Collective Leadership Programme and other Organisational Development initiatives. Whatever you are looking for, you will be joining a supportive, friendly team, offering varied and interesting roles, with opportunities for career progression.

We're always seeking to improve as an organisation. Do you want to be part of that?

Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all external applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay

Job overview

The post advertised is for a psychological therapist or clinical psychologist to provide clinical leadership in the At-Risk Mental State for psychosis service, alongside being an active clinician. The service will offer the systematic provision of multidisciplinary, and evidence-based bio-psychosocial interventions to those people who are at risk of developing psychosis. The postholder will be the key clinical decision maker on acceptance to the service, provide clinical supervision to the service and other psychological therapists in EIP and manage audit and training requirements.

The ARMS service is an exciting and important service development that aims to provide interventions as early as possible to people who are help seeking and reporting symptoms that indicate a risk of transition to psychosis. Working alongside an experienced and highly motivated early intervention in psychosis team, you will lead the ARMS service delivering the best possible practice in contemporary mental health care. Your job purpose will be to provide specialist psychological assessment and treatment to service users and their families, while working closely with other professionals. You will also support the team by providing supervision, consultation and training. You will be an accredited practitioner in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis and have skills in other emerging interventions, including working with Trauma.

Main duties of the job

The post covers the Northumberland and North Tyneside Localities and you would be based at Benton View/Greenacre Ctr, working alongside the Early Intervention in Psychosis teams. You will be required to provide care across a large geographical area. The selection process involves formal interview and you will require Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced clearance before commencement of duties.

We are seeking someone motivated, and excited by the prospect of developing a service. You will have excellent skills in assessing for symptoms of psychosis and of risk of transition to psychosis, enabling you to act as a resource to the ARMS service in complex assessments. You will be familiar with the CAARMS measure and will have shown an interest in service development.

Working for our organisation

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached job description for full details.

Advertising date : 23rd October 2026

Closing date : 6th November 2026

We welcome your application.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level training in clinical/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 HCPC and British Psychological Society.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Well-developed teaching & training skills
• Well-developed skills in providing clinical supervision and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Formal training in clinical supervision of trainee clinical psychologists and other staff.
• Skills in managing emotional impact of dealing with highly emotive and distressing situations through self-management and use of the clinical supervision process

Experience

Essential criteria

• Substantial post qualification experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, and inpatient settings.
• Demonstrate further specialist training and experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a clinical psychologist over a minimum of 18 months or an alternative agreed by the Psychological Services Professional Lead.
• Substantial post qualification experience of delivering evidence based psychological therapy training to a range of professional groups
• Substantial experience of providing clinical supervision
• Substantial experience in working with psychosis or those who are at-risk of developing psychosis

Additional requirements

Essential criteria

• Able to meet mobility requirements of the post

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

Please ensure to check out all of the supporting documents linked to this advert, for useful information about working for us, information from our Chief Executive and much more.

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