Senior Clinical Psychologist

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; Sunderland; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

CNTW in Sunderland is seeking a confident, experienced clinical psychologist to join our busy neurodevelopmental assessment team. You will work with a multidisciplinary group alongside Principal Clinical Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists to assess children and young people.

The post offers opportunities to develop leadership, contribute to service development and engage in teaching, training, and research while pursuing CPD.

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology accredited by the HCPC and British Psychological Society.
• HCPC registered practitioner psychologist.
• Experience in specialist psychological assessment and treatment across care settings.
• Formal training in clinical supervision of trainees and staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead assessment and formulation of complex neurodevelopmental presentations.
• Provide supervision to assistant psychologists and team members.
• Contribute to teaching, training, service evaluation and research as needed.
• Collaborate within multidisciplinary teams to support young people and families.

Skills

Communication skills

Clinical supervision

Evidence-based therapy

Teamwork

Education

Doctoral level training in psychology

HCPC registered practitioner psychologist

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

We are looking for a confident, enthusiastic and dynamic psychologist to join our busy multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment team working in Sunderland. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary team members alongside the Principal Clinical Psychologists, and Assistant Psychologist assessing children and young people. Professionally there are links with the wider network of psychologists who deliver psychology into our mental health and learning disability teams.

The successful candidate will be supported to develop their leadership skills and to contribute to service development and innovative practice. There will also be opportunities to engage in delivering teaching, training, service evaluation and research according to interests and service need. We will expect the post holder to actively pursue continuous professional development and will support them to identify needs and to develop. There will also be opportunity to work into the mental health pathway to support maintaining therapeutic skills and interests.

Main duties of the job

You will be working in an environment where there is strong emphasis on teamwork and quality of clinical care. You will be responsible for leading assessment and formulation of complex presentations, exploring possible neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and/or disorder as well as thoroughly considering wider factors and comorbidity. Our assessments provide thorough profiling of young people's strengths, needs and difficulties helping to ensure that they have access to the most appropriate understanding and supports as they develop and grow. We are looking for a clinician who has significant experience, knowledge and training in neurodevelopmental assessment skills and who is able to put the young person and their family at the centre of every assessment.

As a service, we value the role of robust, supportive and effective supervision and you will have access to separate clinical and management supervision. The post-holder will contribute to the supervision of assistant psychologists, and also team members from wider professions. We have close links with our local clinical training courses and there is opportunity to supervise trainee clinical psychologists on both core and elective placements.

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.

NHS Employees identified as at risk of compulsory redundancy and those eligible for the NENC Re-Deployment careers hub will receive prior consideration.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached job description for full details.

Advertising date : 2nd October 2026

Closing date : 16th October 2026

We welcome your application.

Person specification

Education and Qualification

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level training in clinical 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.
• HCPC registered practitioner psychologist

Desirable criteria

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
• Additional qualification in at least one therapeutic model, evidence-based for use with this client group

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups relevant to the client group
• 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.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariable data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
• Formal training in clinical supervision of trainee clinical psychologists and other staff.
• 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 Associate Psychological Services Director.
• Experience of providing clinical supervision.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

Skills and Competencies

Essential criteria

• Skills in managing emotional impact of dealing with highly emotive and distressing situations through self-management and use of the clinical supervision process.
• Specialist skills in evidence based psychological interventions.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
• Skills in providing clinical supervision and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

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.