Location: Exeter, EX2 7FW
Salary: £62215.00 to £72292.00
Date posted: 9th April 2025
Closing date: 21st April 2025
We are looking for a Principal (8b) Clinical Psychologist colleague to join us in a fixed term / secondment opportunity (0.8wte for one year), joining our leadership group for the Mood Emotions and Relationships Pathway (MERs) within Child Family Health Devon (CFHD). This is one of three Clinical Lead roles in the pathway, alongside a Principal Family Therapist and Principal Psychotherapist, working closely with the Operational and Medical Leads. We are looking for an experienced colleague to work collaboratively in leading this multi-disciplinary pathway forwards.
Our MERs pathway provides individualised and integrated assessment and evidence-based interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health concerns and their families. It is a pathway committed to improving services for CYP. Current active projects include reducing waits, increasing access to a number of psychological therapies and improving clinical environments as well as being linked to a number of national research projects.
The pathway is county-wide with locality team bases. This enables us to take a flexible approach to the main clinical and multi-disciplinary team base for the appointed candidate, with an expectation of presence across the county to support clinical leadership alongside colleagues.
We would love to hear from colleagues who can bring advanced level clinical thinking and formulation, skills in supervision and consultation and compassionate leadership to this pathway.
Main duties of the job
As a Principal Clinical Psychologist, you will hold a Clinical Lead role within MERs, working alongside clinical lead colleagues and with Operational and Medical Leads. You will also contribute to developments across CFHD.
You will offer advanced formulation, strong supervisory and consultation skills, and high-quality psychological care to young people. You will have experience working positively with inter-agency colleagues, able to mentalize, contain and respond to multi-layered needs in struggling networks.
There will be CPD opportunities, including access to training in the pathway. Recent opportunities have included DBT, EMDR and IPT-A. You will also be supported to access training to further progress your leadership capabilities.
You will join a group of multi-disciplinary clinical leaders, your peers, your phone-a-friend network and your inspiring colleagues. As part of a collaborative leadership structure, you will be well supported as you work with colleagues to lead high-quality care.
There is a strong, friendly and connected network of Clinical Psychologists across CFHD, enjoying shared CPD and professional support. We also have excellent links with local Doctoral courses for teaching and Trainee placements.
We encourage interest from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences, both personal and professional.
The Pathway is county-wide with flexibility of base, however there will be a specific focus on the Torbay and South/North Devon localities.
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.
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.
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
* 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
* 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
* 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.
Joint Lead for Psychological Professions
#J-18808-Ljbffr