Principal Psychologist – South Beds CMHT | East London NHS Foundation Trust

East London NHS Foundation Trust; Dunstable; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

East London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Principal Psychologist for the South Beds CMHT in South Bedfordshire. The role includes senior clinical and strategic input, leadership across a multidisciplinary team, and supervision of psychologists and therapists.

Applicants should have NHS experience, a track record in service development, and a commitment to trauma-informed care, co-production, and innovation to improve access for diverse communities.

Qualifications

• Experience in supervision, consultation, leadership and service development is essential.
• Experience with trauma-informed care and co-production approaches.
• Ability to provide senior clinical and strategic input within a multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior clinical and strategic input into South Beds CMHT services; lead on clinical direction and service development.
• Supervise and support psychologists and therapists; contribute to demand and flow management within the service.

Job description

Principal Psychologist – South Beds CMHT | East London NHS Foundation Trust

Looking for the next step in your career? Look no further! We have an opportunity for aPrincipal Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to work in our South Bedfordshire Adult Community Mental Health Services network in a post which has leadership elements alongside clinical and supervision responsibilities. You will provide senior clinical and strategic input into these two local services which provide care and support for people (and their families) who experience serious mental health difficulties, such as psychosis and complex emotional needs. Whilst we are seeking full time hours for this post, we could consider an applicant who can offer part-time hours of 0.8wte or more, or applicants who can offer a job-share at 1.0wte hours.

The main duties involve ensuring the systematic provision of a high-quality comprehensive specialist psychological service to the service users of the Community Mental Health Teams. You will work closely with the team managers and senior clinicians in leadership roles, and be part of a thriving multi-disciplinary network of mental health professionals, Peer Support Workers, VCSE partners and administrators. There is a dedicated group of psychologists (including assistant psychologists and Clinical Associates in Psychology) and therapists for whom you would provide supervision and leadership.

The candidate will be experienced in working with this client group and be familiar with NHS services, have a track record of working to develop and support multidisciplinary approaches and pathways, and have experience in the management of demand and flow through services. Experience in supervision, consultation, leadership, and service development is essential, along with highly developed clinical skills in assessment, formulation and evidence-based interventions for people presenting in secondary care mental health services. The psychologists and services in our area place high value on trauma-informed care and on co-production, quality improvement and innovation, and on improving access for people in our diverse and rural communities - so we are very interested in hearing from people whose core values align with those.

The post requires people to be able to travel to locations around rural South Bedfordshire.

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations

Please read the attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the vacancy.

This advert closes on Sunday 29 Nov 2026