Senior Educational Psychologist

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; Hybrid; GBP 66,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Local pay scales above Soulbury

Up to 3 SPA points

29 days annual leave + bank holidays

HCPC registration fees covered

Hybrid working arrangements

LGPS

Employee Assistance Programme

Employee discounts

Leadership development opportunities

Job summary

West Northamptonshire Council is seeking a Senior Educational Psychologist to lead a team of educational psychologists and trainees. The role offers hybrid working and strategic involvement in county-wide initiatives, with a salary stepping up to £74,199 with SPA points.

You will manage professional support to a diverse team, oversee both early intervention and statutory duties, and shape service delivery in collaboration with senior leaders within the Educational Psychology Service.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration as an Educational Psychologist (or eligibility if currently in training).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of professionals.
• Demonstrated leadership and staff development capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional support to a team of Educational Psychologists and trainees.
• Lead and contribute to service developments and strategic initiatives across the county.
• Balance early intervention work with statutory duties for children and families.

Skills

HCPC registration

Interpersonal skills

Collaborative working

Leadership

Job description

Permanent | Full Time or Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE)

Salary: £65,929 - £69,957 rising to £74,199 with up to 3 SPA points

Previously awarded SPA points will be honoured.

West Northamptonshire Educational Psychology Service is looking for a creative and innovative Senior Educational Psychologist to join our skilled, supportive and friendly team.

Our service operates across two locality teams and is highly regarded both locally and within the Council. We place a strong emphasis on values based practice, staff wellbeing and distributed leadership, creating opportunities for staff at all levels to lead and contribute to service developments and strategic initiatives.

We offer a wide range of support to schools and settings across the county through our well established traded offer and county wide early intervention services. Our direct work is underpinned by consultation, collaboration and joint problem solving.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Children and Adults Barred List check. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Our Benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council

What will you be doing?

As a Senior Educational Psychologist, you will play a key role in managing and providing professional support to a team which includes specialist senior educational psychologists, educational psychologists, assistant educational psychologists and trainee educational psychologists.

You will support the team to deliver a balance of early intervention and statutory work while maintaining your own links with schools and service initiatives. The role protects 0.6 FTE for senior leadership responsibilities and 0.4 FTE for direct work with children, young people, families and schools.

You will also have exciting opportunities to lead and develop strategic initiatives across the county, supported by an established leadership team. Over the coming years, Senior Educational Psychologists will play a significant role in co-designing and implementing our developing Experts at Hand model, helping to shape future service delivery across West Northamptonshire.

Senior EPs work closely with, and act as representatives of, the Principal Educational Psychologist.

About The Service

The Educational Psychology Service is committed to developing services in response to community needs and provides a broad programme of training, supervision and early intervention support.

Current Initiatives Include

• Northamptonshire Baby Room Project
• Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme
• Mediating Learning Support Approach (MeLSA)
• SENCO Supervision
• Assistant EP training offer
• Parent information sessions
• Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TAMHS)

Alongside our Experts at Hand development, we are currently progressing several strategic projects focused on:

• Whole school belonging
• Support for young people at risk of disengagement
• Improving attendance through collaborative local partnerships

About you

We would love to hear from you if you have:

• A passion for applying psychology to make a meaningful difference and improve life chances, particularly for vulnerable and marginalised children and young people
• A commitment to innovative and creative practice
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• The ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of professionals
• HCPC registration as an Educational Psychologist (or eligibility if currently in training)

What we offer

• Local pay scales that exceed Soulbury terms
• Up to 3 SPA points
• 29 days annual leave rising to 34 days after five years' service (FTE), plus bank holidays
• Payment of HCPC registration fees
• Comprehensive induction, supervision and CPD programme
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee discounts and benefits
• Ongoing training and leadership development opportunities

For more information, please contact [e-mail] / 07785102075 for an informal and confidential discussion about the role and working with us here at West Northants Council.

About Us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email [e-mail] for support.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.