Job summary We are delighted to be recruiting a Principal Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead to join our Children in Care Team and wider AACEs pathway within Children and Family Health Devon. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to take a leadership role in supporting children and young people throughout the social care teams. Our children and young people are in care, care leavers, subject to child protection plans, or open to the youth justice service. Many of them have experienced significant adversity and trauma. As Clinical Lead you will jointly lead the Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences Pathway ,working closely with the Operational Manager, Consultant Psychiatrist and Named Nurse This pathway provides specialist, multi-agency support to children in care, care leavers, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. The team includes Specialist Nurses, Speech and Language Therapists, and Mental Health Professionals, working together to deliver trauma-informed, relational, and developmentally-sensitive care. As Principal Clinical Psychologist, you will provide specialist assessment and intervention, clinical supervision, and clinical leadership across the team. You will contribute to strategic planning, service development, and quality improvement, ensuring that the psychological needs of this highly vulnerable group are central to the care they receive. Main duties of the job We offer: A clinical leadership role in a well-established, innovative, and multi-disciplinary team. Access to peer support, reflective practice, and specialist CPD opportunities. A service culture that values compassion, inclusion, and co-production with children and young people. Main Duties of the Job Provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for children and young people in care, including those with complex emotional and developmental needs. Offer clinical supervision and consultation to psychologists and other clinicians working within and alongside the Children in Care Team. Lead on the psychological thinking and trauma-informed approaches within the ACEs Pathway, contributing to service planning and development. Work in partnership with social care, education, mental health teams, and voluntary sector partners to ensure joined-up, developmentally appropriate, and relationship-focused care. Support service transformation, innovation, and evaluation, using outcome measures and service user feedback to shape best practice. Contribute to the clinical leadership of psychological therapies within CFHD, supporting quality, safety, and staff wellbeing. If you are a motivated and experienced psychologist with a passion for improving outcomes for children and young people many of whom are care experienced, then we would love to hear from you. About us Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations working together to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon. CFHD provides integrated care and treatment for children and young people across physical and mental health which are provided by Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust and Devon Partnership Trust. We are working closely with other organisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide based integrated access to all of our services. CFHD works closely with our local universities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where we support students in clinical training placements and in addition support our own staff to undertake post graduate training. Our integrated care and treatment has been developed and refined in partnership with children, young people and their families/carers. Our children and young people say We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure. Our vision is to be a successful, vibrant, partnership that benefits the communities we serve. Date posted 27 March 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 8b Salary £62,215 to £72,292 a year Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time, Flexible working Reference number C9369-25-0264 Job locations Children & Family Health Devon Bittern Road Sowton Industrial Estate Exeter EX2 7FW Job description Job responsibilities Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification and ensure you evidence essential criteria in your application. Job description Job responsibilities Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification and ensure you evidence essential criteria in your application. Person Specification Experience Essential Experience of delivering effective evidence-based, outcomes-informed psychological therapy interventions with children, young people and families, including risk assessment and risk management Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including shared decision making and the use of both clinician and patient rated outcome measures Experience of working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary services and across organisational boundaries Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems Experience of obtaining service user feedback and data to improve outcomes and services Experience in teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice. Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate. Experience of using an equality and diversity framework in clinical, supervisory and leadership practice Experience of initiating, chairing, attending and contributing to multi-professional and interagency meetings. Experience of working as an autonomous individual, taking on responsibility, making decisions and seeking support as needed. Experience of providing clinical supervision, undertaking appraisals, developing job plans, recruitment, managing performance, absence and staff development. Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Essential Frequent requirement to travel across Devon Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and share this with others including service users and professionals The ability to work as an autonomous senior clinician, make decisions under pressure and seek support as appropriate. The ability to communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with children and young people, parents, carers and others as appropriate, conveying information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning assessment, clinical formulation and treatment, at times during emotionally difficult situations The ability to present complex, often sensitive information in a variety of formats, both written and verbal, in a professional, clear and organised manner, including public speaking to a range of audiences Qualifications Essential A Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent e.g. Masters level qualification in Clinical Psychology if qualified before 1996. Active registration as a Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC Post qualification training in supervision. Post qualification training or proven equivalent experience in leadership or management Post qualification specialist therapy/assessment training relevant to children and young people Person Specification Experience Essential Experience of delivering effective evidence-based, outcomes-informed psychological therapy interventions with children, young people and families, including risk assessment and risk management Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including shared decision making and the use of both clinician and patient rated outcome measures Experience of working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary services and across organisational boundaries Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems Experience of obtaining service user feedback and data to improve outcomes and services Experience in teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice. Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate. Experience of using an equality and diversity framework in clinical, supervisory and leadership practice Experience of initiating, chairing, attending and contributing to multi-professional and interagency meetings. Experience of working as an autonomous individual, taking on responsibility, making decisions and seeking support as needed. Experience of providing clinical supervision, undertaking appraisals, developing job plans, recruitment, managing performance, absence and staff development. Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Essential Frequent requirement to travel across Devon Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and share this with others including service users and professionals The ability to work as an autonomous senior clinician, make decisions under pressure and seek support as appropriate. The ability to communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with children and young people, parents, carers and others as appropriate, conveying information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning assessment, clinical formulation and treatment, at times during emotionally difficult situations The ability to present complex, often sensitive information in a variety of formats, both written and verbal, in a professional, clear and organised manner, including public speaking to a range of audiences Qualifications Essential A Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent e.g. Masters level qualification in Clinical Psychology if qualified before 1996. Active registration as a Practitioner Psychologist with the HCPC Post qualification training in supervision. Post qualification training or proven equivalent experience in leadership or management Post qualification specialist therapy/assessment training relevant to children and young people 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Additional information 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Employer details Employer name Devon Partnership NHS Trust Address Children & Family Health Devon Bittern Road Sowton Industrial Estate Exeter EX2 7FW Employer's website https://www.dpt.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)