Senior Neurodevelopmental Practitioner

Integrated Care System; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust is seeking a Senior Neurodevelopmental Practitioner to join its Kirklees team. The role involves conducting assessments for Autism and ADHD in children under 18. Candidates should have substantial experience in managing assessments and providing clinical leadership. This position offers developmental opportunities and requires excellent communication skills. A relevant professional qualification is essential.

Benefits

CPD opportunities

Clinical supervision provided

Supportive multidisciplinary team environment

Qualifications

• Extensive experience working with children and young people.
• Evidenced ability to autonomously manage complex situations.
• Commitment to continuous professional development.

Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive assessments for Autism and ADHD.
• Provide clinical leadership and supervision.
• Document and communicate assessment results clearly.

Skills

Experience in conducting assessments of Autism and ADHD

Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team

Excellent communication skills

Supervision and mentorship experience

Knowledge of neurodevelopmental disorders

Education

Relevant professional qualification (e.g. nursing)

Post-graduate degree in relevant field

Job description

Go back South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Senior Neurodevelopmental Practitioner

The closing date is 26 August 2025

We are looking for a Senior Neurodevelopmental Practitionerto join Kirklees multi agency Neurodevelopmental Assessment Team. The teamoffers evidence based diagnostic assessments in line with NICE guidance tochildren and young people under 18 where there are concerns regarding Autism orAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.This post would suit those who have significant experience ofneurodevelopmental assessments , who love using their assessment andobservation skills to formulate complex presentations and enjoy working as partof a multidisciplinary team. In addition to conducting assessments, the postholder will provide clinical leadership in the team, offering supervision,advice and support to other colleagues and also support service development.

The service offers a range of development opportunities andCPD. Clinical supervision will be provided by one of the Senior clinicians.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to befully vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect patients.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be involvedin all aspects of the assessment process and will be a fully integrated memberof our friendly and welcoming multidisciplinary team, working alongside ourClinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Specialist MentalHealth Practitioners, Psychiatrist, Assistant Psychologists and Support Worker.

The role includes; using highlevel assessment, observation and formulation skills to assess for Autism andADHD, Using formal testing measures such as ADOS and QB test to betterunderstand a childs presentation, writing diagnostic assessment reports, supervisionof other clinicians and using high level experience and knowledge to contributeto multidisciplinary team meetings and complex decision making. As a seniorclinician in the team the post holder will also offer clinical leadership andsupport service development and improvements.

Atthe time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UKVisas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forwardto receiving your application.

About us

Weare a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental healthand learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale,Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and arethe lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission isto help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do thisby providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employstaff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make adifference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourageand welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we valuediversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Beinga foundation Trust means were accountable to ourmembers, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people(including staff) are members of our Trust.

Joinus and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improvingthe mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet andhelp each year.

Weare committedto safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people andvulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share thiscommitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities

For full job description, please see attached supportingdocuments.

KEYRESULT AREAS:

TheKirklees Neurodevelopmental Assessment Team offer diagnostic assessments forautism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to children and youngpeople under the age of 18.

Thepostholder will:

Provide highly specialistskills and expertise, specialist clinical assessment, diagnostic conclusions,and associated recommendations and support to children and young people whohave, or may have, neurodevelopmental differences / disorders.

Work autonomously andcollaboratively within the MDT.

Providing consultationand teaching for other agencies/professionals.

Provide supervision,mentorship, consultation and training to other staff within the team.

Provide clinical supportto the team manager.

Promote safeguarding andthe welfare of children and young people.

Provide a lead role inthe further development of the neurodevelopmental service alongside the teammanager and clinical lead.

Take a leading role inthe planning and implementation of agreed clinical audit/ research and/ orquality improvement projects, including outcome monitoring of clinicalservices.

Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post-holder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post-holderwhen necessary and in line with the service developments.

1.1Care/service/functionprovision:

The post holder willwork autonomously within their professional guidelines and exerciseresponsibility in accordance with the Trust Policies and procedures.

The post-holder willhave highly developed skills and knowledge in providing diagnostic assessmentsfor Autism and ADHD in children and young people under the age of 18.

The post holder willassess the needs of children and their carers based on the analysis of highlycomplex facts and situations and where situations may be highly emotive. The clinical assessment will include gatheringappropriate historical and developmental information from the family, conductinghighly specialist clinical observations of the child or young person andobtaining relevant information from other agencies.

The post holder willcomplete diagnostic assessment reports and ensure clear documentation in allappropriate case notes, sharing assessments and information with the family andall relevant professionals.

The post holder willundertake highly specialised risk assessments regarding a young personsbehaviours or mental health where necessary.

The post holder willprovide families with recommendations following the assessment appropriate tothe child/young persons needs and will signpost or refer on as necessary

The post-holder willcommunicate highly complex information regarding the diagnostic assessment inan empathic and supportive way using the highest level of interpersonal skillsin situations which can be highly emotional and contentious Service users andfamilies may have difficulty or be reluctant to understand what is communicatedto them.

The post holder willprovide clinical supervision, consultation, mentoring and training to otherclinicians within the team.

The post holder willtake into account issues of confidentiality and the consent.

The post holder willliaise with external agencies, e.g. Education, Social Services and PaediatricServices as required.

The post holder willactively promote user/carer involvement in all aspects of careplanning/delivery whilst respecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of theindividuals concerned.

The post holder willapply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinicalwork.

The post-holder willidentify and undertake R and D activity, where appropriate, and be responsiblefor regular audit projects/service evaluations and for the development ofresearch projects in line with evidence based practice.

The post-holder willdeliver and supervise others to participate in audit pertaining to theirspecialist area ensuring agreed results are implemented.

The post holder willprovide clinical teaching, training and supervision to students on placementwhilst maintaining close links with higher education institutions.

The post holder willprovide teaching and training tomulti-agency services both statutory and voluntary on highly specialistsubjects if required.

The post holder willbe committed to a quality approach for patient care.

The post-holder will demonstrate the ability to deal with very highemotional demands when dealing with traumatic information.

The post holder will demonstrate the ability to deal with very highlevels of emotional distress from young people and their families/carers.

The post-holder will demonstrate high levels of concentration andprovide sustained effort when completing complex neurodevelopmental assessmentsand subsequent report writing.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicantsare using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job applicationforms.Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms isstrongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process beforeselecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI toenhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs applicationform.

Person Specification

Experience

• Extensive experience in conducting assessment of autism and/or ADHD.
• Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting.
• Experience of delivering training to others.
• Experience of working in different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.
• Multidisciplinary team working.
• Inter-agency liaison and consultation.
• Experience of providing highly specialist advice and supervision to other professionals.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance for working with children, young people, mental health and safeguarding.
• Extensive experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence-based practice.
• Advanced experience of safeguarding children and young people.
• Experience of conducting service evaluations, research or audit.

Personal Attributes

• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team.
• Commitment to multi-agency approach/working.
• Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
• Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive.
• Ability to make and lead decisions under pressure/crisis situations.
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
• Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
• Ability to cope calmly in a crisis.
• To demonstrate good self-care and encourage the same in team members.
• A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability).
• To have integrity, be honest, open, transparent and respectful.

Special Knowledge & Skills

• Highly specialised, comprehensive knowledge of child development, attachment theories and a broad knowledge regarding the range of mental health and developmental difficulties children can experience that may be co-morbid to neurodevelopmental conditions.
• Extensive knowledge of neurodevelopmental assessment and diagnostic procedures and relevant NICE guidelines.
• Excellent verbal and communication skills.
• Ability to manage own caseload and to be a self-reliant and autonomous practitioner.
• Excellent negotiation skills, and problem solving skills.
• Excellent record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.

Training

• Training in specific neurodevelopmental assessments (e.g., ADOS, QB, ADI-R, DISCO).
• Post qualification training in identified portfolio i.e neurodevelopmental conditions.

Physical Attributes

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine, Dip SW or equivalent.
• Membership of professional body.
• Post graduate Masters level degree qualification or working towards this level of qualification in a relevant field
• or
• evidence of professional knowledge acquired through degree, supplemented by experience, specialist training and short courses equivalent to a Masters degree level.
• Leadership, improvement or change management training.

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.

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust