Principal Clinical Psychologist

NHS; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Birmingham seeks a Principal Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist to join their Integrated Residential Outreach Care team. The role involves providing high-quality psychological assessments and interventions, supporting service development, and managing teams. Candidates must be qualified psychologists with experience in trauma treatment and strong leadership skills. The position offers flexible working arrangements, making it an excellent opportunity for those looking to grow in a supportive environment.

Benefits

Flexible working

Opportunity for professional development

Inclusive workplace

Qualifications

• Expert in assessment and treatment of complex trauma and attachment.
• Skills in managing teams and experience with budgets.
• Enthusiastic about working with children and young people.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological assessments and interventions.
• Support the development of the IROC service.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.

Skills

Team working

Analytical and judgement skills

Excellent organisational and time management

Excellent communication skills

Education

Qualified Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist

Post qualification training in psychological therapies

Leadership and management training

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job summary

Are you looking for a new role that offers you a challenge, the space to think differently and an opportunity to grow? We are looking for a Principal clinical/forensic/counselling psychologist to join the Integrated Residential Outreach Care (IROC) team on a fixed term contract for maternity cover. We also welcome applications from experienced senior psychologists who would like to develop their leadership and management skills. Secondments to this role can also be considered.

Main duties of the job

• Provide highly specialist psychological assessments and interventions to clients and their families as well as offering indirect clinical services such as advice and consultation to colleagues and other professionals ensuring a high-quality clinical provision across the service.
• Support the clinical lead in the planning, development and implementation of the IROC service across the phases which will include identifying need and participating in development planning.
• Be responsible for identified key service development issues in keeping with the strategic plans for the service.
• Propose and implement policy and service development changes within the service.
• Liaise with key stakeholders within and across neighbouring trusts/local authorities to meet the need of the service user population.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary and non-clinical leaders to deliver effective, evidence-based psychological service provision to children, young people and their families.
• Support staff supervision, and facilitation of client related work undertaken by other team members.
• Be involved in the development and delivery of a range of training to staff and other stakeholders/professionals as required.
• Support the development of research and evaluation processes attached to the IROC service.
• Work autonomously as lead within professional guidelines and exercise delegated responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service.

About us

Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust is the first of its type in the UK. Our Trust was formed in February 2017 to drive forward our commitment to provide the highest quality, world-class physical and mental health care for our women, children and families. Uniting our hospitals means more seamless care; more investment to make greater advances in our specialist treatment and world-leading neonatal and fetal work. Importantly, it also gives us a greater voice in shaping the future of family-centred care.

Birmingham Children's Hospital is a UK leading specialist paediatric centre with an international reputation in several areas.

Birmingham Women's Hospital is one of two dedicated women's hospitals in the UK, with the busiest single site maternity unit, delivering more than 8,200 babies a year offering a full range of gynaecological, maternity and neonatal care.

Our Trust is committed to creating the best place to work. We believe in promoting and enhancing inclusion, diversity and equality and encourage applications from all areas of the community, who meet the criteria for the role, regardless of age, gender identity, disability, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Details

Date posted: 17 December 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8b

Salary: £64,455 to £74,896 a year per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working, Home or remote working

Reference number: 284-25-7667414-MHSCM

Job location

1 Printing House Street

Printing House Street

Birmingham

B4 6DR

Job description - responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification to view the full details for this opportunity at Birmingham Womens and Childrens NHS Foundation Trust.

When completing your application, please ensure you have evidenced how you meet the job description and person specification to include transferable experience, qualifications, skills along with professional registration details (if applicable).

Occasionally we receive a large number of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

Person Specification

Analytical and Judgement Skills Essential

• Expert in assessment and treatment of complex trauma and attachment

Professional/Managerial/Specialist Knowledge Essential

• Skills in managing teams, professional groups and can demonstrate experience and knowledge of being responsible for budgets.
• Interest in developing services for children and young people in care.
• Well-motivated to be part of a 0-25 mental health service. Enthusiasm for working with this client group and their families
• Skills and knowledge of using Microsoft office for use with audits, research, and presentations

Personal Skills/Abilities and Attributes Essential

• Team working
• Excellent organisational and time management skills, ability to plan and prioritise own workload.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written)

Other Requirements Essential

• Ability to travel across the region for work purposes.
• Valid Driver's License and Car owner (or have daily access to a car) for work purposes
• Demonstrate an understanding of the practices of equality and inclusion in the delivery of this role.

Qualifications Essential

• Qualified Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist eligible for chartered status. Skills in meeting the needs of children, adolescents, and young adults with mental health needs.
• Post qualification training in specific psychological therapies and interventions with children, young people and young adults with mental health difficulties or a combination of specialist short courses or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice assessed by an experiences clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma.
• Leadership and management training and experience.
• Registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist and evidence of CPD as required by the HCPC.

Desirable

• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees
• Significant experience and understanding of children in care processes and protocols
• Previous experience of working therapeutically with children in care within residential/community settings.
• Registration with BPS

Knowledge & Nature of Experience Essential

• Significant experience and training in team management, leadership, and supervision of staff within therapeutic contexts.
• Experience of contributing to planning and evaluation of services
• Significant knowledge and experience of working with children, adolescents, and their families with mental health needs across a range of services and settings
• Experience of providing specialist psychological assessment and treatment for clients across the full range of mental health settings to include outpatient, community, day services and in-patient settings.
• Significant experience and skills working and consulting with professionals from children's social care, youth offending, education, police services, residential care units
• Previous experience and understanding of children in care safeguarding and statutory processes and protocols
• Significant experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity including 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 exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
• Highly developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers, and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Skilled to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Skilled to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.

Desirable

• Previous experience of working therapeutically with children in care within residential/community settings
• Significant experience of teaching, training, staff support and research.
• Significant experience of administrating and interpreting a range of structured professional judgement tools, actuarial and psychometric measures specific to children and young people.
• Experience of assessing, treating, and managing the risk of children, young people and/or young adults in the community.
• Experience of working in a CAMHS tier 4 or inpatient setting

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust

Employer address

1 Printing House Street

Printing House Street

Birmingham

B4 6DR

Employer's website

https://bwc.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)