Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.
Nearly 3,800 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 1,400+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, catering, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.
We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we'd love you to join us!
We will consider flexible working arrangements for our roles, please indicate in your application if this is something you require.
Job overview
Are you an experienced practitioner psychologist or psychotherapist ready to lead and shape the future of psychological services? We are seeking an exceptional Associate Director of Psychology to join our team, focusing primarily on community adult services, ranging from primary care networks to secondary mental health care. A smaller proportion of this role includes leadership responsibilities within adult acute services.
Reporting to the Locality Director of Psychology, you will provide strategic and clinical leadership to ensure psychological approaches are embedded within multidisciplinary teams, delivering safe, effective, and compassionate care. This pivotal role supports the transformation of services aligned with the Trust's objectives, driving innovation, collaboration, and excellence in psychological care.
This is a unique opportunity to lead the development and implementation of psychological pathways for adults with severe mental illness while contributing to workforce development, supervision, and training.
You will be supported in this role and CPD relevant to the role will be available and encouraged.
Main duties of the job
* Strategic Leadership:
o Lead the development and implementation of psychological pathways across community services, from primary care networks to secondary mental health services.
o Provide leadership for the emotional complex needs pathway, ensuring psychologically informed practices are integral to care delivery.
* Clinical Practice:
o Maintain a clinical caseload, offering specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and evidence-based interventions.
o Ensure psychological approaches are embedded in multidisciplinary team (MDT) work and care pathways.
* Supervision and Workforce Development:
o Supervise and/or line manage psychological professionals and trainees within community services.
o Develop and implement training strategies to equip MDTs with psychological skills, promoting a stepped care model.
* Operational and Recruitment Responsibilities:
o Take delegated responsibility for recruitment, selection, and retention of psychological professionals.
o Participate in investigations, complaints, and workforce-related processes as required by the Locality Director of Psychology.
* Collaborative Leadership:
o Work closely with locality teams and other senior leaders to implement consistent, high-quality psychological care pathways.
o Provide leadership support for adult acute services to align with community care objectives.
Working for our organisation
At the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, we are proud of our commitment to innovation, diversity, and excellence in psychological services. With strong partnerships with local universities, we support teaching, supervision of doctoral trainees, and research initiatives.
Joining us means being part of a Trust that champions the TALK values: Teamwork, Accountability, Learning, and Kindness. Together, we aim to provide safer, kinder, and better care, with service users at the heart of everything we do.
Benefits
Benefits included with this role are:
* NHS pension
* a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
* career progression
* starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
* staff physio service
* NHS discounts and many more.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for a detailed breakdown of responsibilities and key requirements.
If you're ready to take the next step in your career and lead with impact, click APPLY today!
Person specification
Essential criteria
* Resilient and self-motivated with drive and vision, able to work on own initiative and manage a range of priorities across competing agendas.
Qualifications
Essential criteria
* Professional Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology or equivalent post graduate qualification Or Training to Masters Level Degree in a Psychological Therapy and Core Mental Health Profession
* Full registration to relevant professional body
Desirable criteria
* Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
Experience
Essential criteria
* Assessed experience of working as a qualified practitioner psychologist/psychotherapist for a significant period, including post qualification experience within the designated specialty where the post is located.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of implementing clinical governance procedures.
Skills
Essential criteria
* Expertise in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment formulations intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
Desirable criteria
* Skills and experience of using leadership models and the application of models of change at a service level.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
* Doctoral level knowledge of applied psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
* Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group and mental health.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
As a part of the Disability Confident Employer Guaranteed Interview Scheme we interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job vacancy (outlined in the Person Specification). We encourage you to indicate your eligibility through TRAC jobs when applying.
DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK
FOR POSTS WITH DIRECT SERVICE USER CONTACT - Please be advised that due to recent changes in the DBS Service, organisations no longer receive copies of DBS Disclosures - these are sent directly to candidates only. Therefore, it will be your responsibility, if successful, to ensure that this is taken to the appointing officer as soon as you receive it.
Alternatively, if you have subscribed to the update service, we will be able to check your status once we have your authority to do so.
The Trust has now introduced a DBS Update Service which is a contractual requirement. You need to subscribe when you have applied for your DBS clearance and there is a time limit to subscribe of 19 days after receipt of your DBS disclosure. Please ensure that this is completed within the set time scale.
This update service is an annual subscription at a cost of £13 to you. This will enable the Trust to have instant online access to your DBS record, with your consent, and so will remove the need for you to have to apply for this repeat check again.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
* Associate Director of Psychology / Consultant Practitioner Psychologist (PDF, 504.3KB)
* Organisational structure (PNG, 54.9KB)
* Values Based Recruitment - Candidates Guide (PDF, 360.6KB)
* Reasonable Adjustments - NSFT (PDF, 197.5KB)
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