Professional Lead (Psychologist/Psychotherapist)

NHS; Exeter; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A public health service provider is seeking a Professional Lead Psychologist/Psychotherapist in Exeter. This role provides clinical and operational leadership to support Psychological Professionals. Responsibilities include developing community-based services for older people and ensuring high clinical standards. Candidates should be qualified and have experience in psychological therapy and assessment. The position offers a salary range of £64,455 to £74,896 pro rata.

Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist, eligible for Chartered status.
• Experience of working with older populations across various care settings.
• Leadership experience in clinical psychology services.

Responsibilities

• Improve the psychological wellbeing of older patients in the community.
• Coordinate service development within Older People's Mental Health services.
• Manage Applied Psychologists and ensure they follow clinical guidelines.

Skills

Psychological assessment

Psychological interventions

Leadership

Diversity awareness

Education

Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Further training in psychological therapy

Job description

Professional Lead (Psychologist/Psychotherapist)

Due to the current postholder securing a promotion, we are looking to appoint a Professional Lead Psychologist/Psychotherapist to start in January 2026.

This is an established role, providing clinical leadership and operational management to Psychological Professionals across the Southern and Western Localities of Devon.

The successful candidate would be joining passionate, dedicated and supportive colleagues. Managed by the OPMH Strategic Lead for Psychological Professionals, they would work closely with a small team of other Professional Leads, to work on a range of development projects and ensure the smooth running of the service. Clinically, the post would be based in one of the Locality OPMH Community Teams, providing a range of MDT and therapeutic work.

Join our supportive, friendly Directorate. We are happy to be approached for informal discussions about the role, so do get in touch.

Main duties of the job

You would be contributing to developing responsive community based therapy and assessment services for older people in Devon. This includes service development in response to national guidance and best practice. The successful candidate, alongside their Professional Lead colleagues would be aiming for the service to provide an integrated offer of psychological care, including the direct delivery of psychotherapy and supporting others in their provision of psychologically informed practice.

There would be opportunities to inform training and develop strategy in the Directorate to advance in our vision of high quality, responsive, trauma informed care.

We are committed to providing placements for Trainee Practitioner Psychologists and Psychotherapists and the candidate would be expected to contribute to these.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of older people with mental health difficulties who are using community Older Peoples Mental Health services.

A key responsibility of this role will be coordinating specific service areas of development and delivery within OPMH services. Working at an operational level this will ensure improved access to psychological therapies, is an integrated part of all relevant clinical pathways, delivers high clinical standards, makes best use of its scarce resources and develops evidence based practice that meets needs and choices of people using the service.

This will be achieved in this post through undertaking the following areas of responsibility:

• To be one of a team of Professional Leads with responsibility for day to day management of PPT staff primarily based in South and West Devon and coordinating smooth running of the local older adult psychology services.
• To support the Head of Psychology and Practice, OPMH Senior Leadership Team and the Practice and Strategic Lead by undertaking service development and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team, proposing and implementing policy changes within this domain and taking a lead in locality service redesign.
• To be responsible for the management of Applied Psychologists and Psychological Professionals working within Older Peoples Mental Health teams. Ensure that staff work within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within these services.
• Provide input to the local multidisciplinary community teams, developing new ways of working across services and auditing the impact of team working.
• Carry a specialist caseload of clients as well as offering advice and consultation on clients psychological care to MH colleagues and carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
• The post holder with receive regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance with Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the British Psychological Society or appropriate designated Professional Body.
• Take a broad psychological approach to developing capacity of the workforce, inputting to planning and coordinating delivery of a range of activities that build capacity for psychological interventions in community settings including consultation, reflective practice, supervision and training.
• As directed by the Strategic Lead, embed practice-based evidence and evidence based practice across service area. This will include working with people using the service to ensure their involvement in service design and evaluation.
• The post holder will work collaboratively to ensure a whole systems integrated approach to service delivery and development. All Psychological Professionals will be responsible for ensuring involvement and experience, social inclusion and race equality agendas inform and support their work.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist (D.Clin.Psychol. or equivalent), eligible for Chartered Clinical/Counselling Psychologist Status in the British Psychological Society Or Professional Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology as accredited by the HCPC (or equivalent qualifications as assessed by the HCPC) Or Equivalent Qualification and Experience in another area of therapy. ie- Psychotherapy, Arts Therapies with accreditation/registration with HCPC/UKCP/Other or other relevant Professional Standards Authority accredited professional register.
• Further training in at least one psychological therapy.

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, including neuropsychological assessment (if relevant) and psychological interventions for older people with mental health problems across the full range of care settings, including memory service, community and in patient settings. Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity. Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision. Experience in undertaking leadership roles within clinical psychology/psychological therapy services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi disciplinary, multi agency contexts. Experience, and/or training in diversity awareness and social inequality.

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.

Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Strategic Lead

£64,455 to £74,896 a yearpro rata (30 hours over 4 days per week)