Principal Psychologist - ASD and ADHD - Adults and CYP Services

SW Healthcare; Redditch; On-site; GBP 74,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

A community healthcare provider in the UK seeks a Principal Clinical Psychologist to lead services for ADHD and ASD. Responsibilities include clinical leadership, managing multi-disciplinary teams, and overseeing quality assurance. The ideal candidate holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and has substantial experience in neurodevelopmental services. Offering a salary between £74,290 and £85,601 per annum, this full-time role supports flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Substantial post-qualification experience in neurodevelopmental services.
• Experience in leading multidisciplinary teams.
• Competence in neurodevelopmental assessments.

Responsibilities

• Co-chair the weekly MDT and ensure decision quality.
• Line-manage non-medical clinicians and foster development.
• Oversee performance metrics and documentation.

Skills

Clinical Leadership

Data Analysis

Team Management

Communication

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)

Job description

Principal Psychologist - ASD and ADHD - Adults and CYP Services

Come and lead a service that puts outcomes before bureaucracy. As Principal Clinical Psychologist (37.5 hpw) you’ll be the senior psychological voice across our Neurodevelopmental & Mental Health directorate, partnering with the Consultant Psychiatrist and supported by a strong operations team. Your remit spans two coordinated divisions: Adult ADHD & ASD (hybrid clinics) and CYP ADHD & ASD (face-to-face, two-clinician model), delivered MondayFriday, 09:00-17:00 from our Worcester and Redditch hubs.

Your week blends leadership and expert practice. You’ll co-chair the weekly MDT, set the clinical tone, and make sure our decisions are evidence-based, timely and kind. You’ll line-manage non-medical clinicians (psychology, ADHD nurses, SALT, OT, assistants), nurture capability through supervision and PDPs, and hold the training/credentialing matrix (e.g., ADOS/ADI-R, ADHD CPD, supervision skills). You’ll also shape clinic rosters and skill-mix so every session has the right people in the room.

We protect the things that matter: NICE-aligned pathways, standardised templates, protected admin time and realistic clinic templates. You’ll use data to improve flow (referrals, waits, DNAs, report timeliness) and to close the loop on audit, incidents and QI. Above all, you’ll help children, young people and adults get earlier, clearer answers and practical plans that work at home, school and work while building a team culture that is collaborative, trauma-informed and proud of its impact.

Main duties of the job

• Clinical leadership & governance: Co-chair/attend the weekly MDT; ensure CYP ADHD decisions include a specialist paediatrician/psychiatrist; ensure CYP ASD follows the two-clinician model with senior sign-off. Maintain SOPs, templates and safety-netting; lead audit, QI, incident reviews and duty of candour.
• People & workforce: Line-manage non-medical clinicians; set supervision structures, appraisals and PDPs. Own the training/credentialing matrix (ADOS/ADI-R, ADHD CPD, supervision). Plan rotas/caseloads; secure daily prescriber cover for Adult ADHD; ensure correct skill-mix for CYP clinics. Recruit, induct and develop staff.
• Operations & performance: Agree KPIs with Ops/BI (referrals, waits, DNAs, meds safety, report timeliness). Oversee triage/prioritisation, safeguarding and reasonable adjustments. Drive documentation quality and timely correspondence to GPs/schools.
• Expert clinical practice: Lead complex assessments/formulations (ADHD/ASD), second opinions and family feedback. Provide specialist psychological supervision and reflective practice; teach tools, formulation and risk.
• Stakeholders & co-production: Liaise with schools, social care, CAMHS/Community Paediatrics, PCNs and commissioners; lead service-user feedback and embed learning. Model inclusive, trauma-informed care and use data to continually improve outcomes and experience.

About us

Vertis Health is a fast-growing provider of community-based healthcare services to NHS patients within South Worcestershire. The organisation utilises the excellent clinical expertise that already resides within the local NHS environment and harnesses it with efficient administration pathways to provide patients with more convenient and accessible services. We hope that by doing this we will not only deliver pathway improvements to patients but also relieve the growing volume pressures that are being experienced within local hospitals and GP practices.

Job responsibilities

Job title

Principal Clinical Psychologist (37.5 hours per week)

Salary & grade

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job title

Principal Clinical Psychologist (37.5 hours per week)

Salary & grade

£74,290-£85,601 per annum + NHS-aligned pension, CPD & study leave. No on-call.

Contract & working pattern

Substantive, full-time | Monday-Friday, 09:00-17:00

Base / location

Worcestershire hubs: Worcester (WR5) & Redditch (B98). Some hybrid working for adult pathways.

Reporting lines

Accountable to: Head of Services & Associate Medical Director; Professional/clinical partner: Consultant Psychiatrist (senior medical oversight); Line management: Non-medical clinical staff across ND services (psychology, ADHD nurses, assessors, assistant psychologists)

Pre-employment checks

Enhanced DBS (with barred lists), Safeguarding Level 3, Proof of Right to Work (UK)

Job overview

Come and lead a service that puts patient outcomes before bureaucracy. As Principal Clinical Psychologist, you’ll be the senior psychological voice across our Neurodevelopmental & Mental Health directorate, partnering with the Consultant Psychiatrist and supported by strong operations and BI teams. Your remit spans two coordinated divisions: Adult ADHD & ASD (hybrid clinics) and CYP ADHD & ASD (face-to-face, two-clinician model). You’ll co-chair the weekly MDT, set the clinical tone, and ensure decisions are evidence-based, timely and kind.

Day-to-day, you’ll line-manage non-medical clinicians, nurture capability through supervision/PDPs, and own the training/credentialing matrix (e.g., ADOS/ADI-R, ADHD CPD, supervision skills). You’ll shape rotas/skill-mix so every clinic has the right people in the room, protect NICE-aligned practice with standardised templates and realistic clinic timings, and use data to improve flow (referrals, waits, DNAs, report timeliness) and safety. Above all, you’ll help children, young people and adults get earlier, clearer answers and practical plans that work at home, school and work while building a collaborative, trauma-informed culture we’re proud of.

Indicative job plan

(37.5 hpw):

• Clinical assessments/feedback: 14-16 h
• Supervision/line-management: 8-10 h
• MDT/governance/QI: 6-8 h
• Service development/BI/stakeholders: 4-6 h

Values & behaviours

Essential

• Child- and family-centred; respectful, fair, trauma-informed.
• Improvement-minded and data-literate; collaborative with primary care and schools.
• Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion; team-oriented and values-led.

Additional information

• Travel between hubs required; mileage reimbursed per policy.
• We welcome requests for reasonable adjustments in recruitment and employment.
• We reserve the right to amend duties to align with business needs.

How to apply: Please submit your CV and a brief statement outlining your ND leadership experience, supervision capability and earliest start date. Shortlisted candidates will complete a structured interview and case exercise.

Person Specification

Experience

• Substantial post-qualification practice across CYP and Adult neurodevelopmental services.
• Leading MDTs and providing senior clinical oversight in ADHD/ASD pathways.
• Delivering and supervising ADHD/ASD assessments; confident with complex co-morbidity and risk.
• Line management of multi-professional staff with supervision/PDPs.
• Running clinical governance: audit cycles, incident reviews, duty of candour, SOPs.
• Producing high-quality reports (GP/school summaries) and service documentation.
• Working with operations/BI to track KPIs (referrals, waits, DNAs, report timeliness).
• Start-up/scale-up of services in community/primary-care settings.
• Experience with rota/skill-mix design and capacity modelling.
• Delivering teaching/training programmes; research or publications.

Qualifications

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) (or equivalent) and HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical). (Dealbreaker)
• Formal training & supervised competence in CYP neurodevelopmental assessment (ADHD/ASD).
• Clinical supervision training (or commitment to complete within 6 months).
• Safeguarding Level 3 (Children/Young People) current or willingness to refresh before start.
• Enhanced DBS (barred lists) and Right to Work (UK). (Dealbreakers)
• ADOS-2 and/or ADI-R accreditation.
• QiCN / Paediatric Neuropsychology modules, or equivalent postgraduate training.
• Leadership/Improvement qualification (e.g., ILM, Edward Jenner, MSK/Quality Improvement certificates).
• Training in trauma-informed care, co-production, or coaching.

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.

£74,290 to £85,601 a year DOE. Pro-rata for part time employees

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours