Via

Head of Psychology

The closing date is 13 October 2025

Job summary

This well-supported post is ideal for an experienced HCPC-registered practitioner psychologist seeking a leadership role.

The position includes three remote days with Vias central clinical team, focusing on supervision and development of psychological professionals, enhancing psychosocial elements of Vias Core model, ensuring psychologically informed policies, and leading quality assurance.

One day is based at our Greenwich clinic, overseeing the local psychology team, improving support for co-occurring substance use and mental health (in collaboration with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust), and holding a small caseload.

Were open to splitting responsibilities for candidates interested only in the remote aspects.

While Via is a drug and alcohol service, we welcome applicants from diverse clinical backgrounds with transferable skills. We offer opportunities to expand competencies, tailored roles, training, supervision, and hybrid working. The role is part-time (30 hours/week), with flexibility for the right candidate.

Main duties of the job

The role will provide leadership and oversight across Vias community services, playing a key role in shaping culture and processes. As part of a multi-disciplinary team, the post holder will hold clinical management responsibility for Vias psychological professionals and associated trainees. This role will work collaboratively with internal and external colleagues to drive and deliver excellent core practice, clinical modelling and innovation.

About us

Via offers community and residential services for substance use. We nurture new ideas, put co-production at the heart of what we do, and provide practitioners with the support to explore and grow.

Details

Date posted

08 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

Depending on experience Negotiable. Pay is on Via T&C's, not AfC

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

9 months

Working pattern

Part-time, Flexible working, Home or remote working

Reference number

B0427-JOB0260

Job locations

Via

821 Woolwich Road

London

SE7 8LJ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Role Purpose

To provide psychology leadership and oversight across Vias services with a specific focus on the organisations community portfolio, as part of a multi-disciplinary clinical leadership team. Reporting to the organisations Executive Medical Director, the role includes clinical management responsibility for psychological professionals and associated trainees across Vias community services.

To work collaboratively with internal and external colleagues to drive and deliver excellent core practice, clinical modelling and innovation.

Key duties and activities of the role

To provide excellent leadership, developmental and practice development support and supervision.

To support and provide leadership to enable improvement against internal and external clinical standards, including CQC KLOEs and NICE guidelines.

To support clinical and operational modelling across all adult and young people service types, supporting the development and delivery of high quality, high impact, value for money intervention and programme delivery.

Together with the People Team, to oversee psychology qualification and registration monitoring and clinical training, including the development and delivery of clinical training and the embedding of psychology trainee, assistant and student roles, developing links with relevant clinical psychology doctoral courses and/or counselling psychology courses.

To be responsible for developing and implementing a range of specialist psychological interventions for people who use our services, their carers, and groups, within and across teams, employed singly and in combination, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as practice and experience demand, and drawing upon different explanatory models to maintain a number of provisional hypotheses.

To hold a small specialist caseload.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical, developmental and cultural processes and systems which have shaped the individual, family or group.

To record, monitor and report on clinical work and communicate, in a skilled and sensitive manner, complex clinical information, including assessment, formulation, treatment plans and progress to a variety of recipients, e.g. people who use our services, carers, other professionals, formal panels, statutory and voluntary organisations, orally, in writing and electronically.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, contributing directly to formulations and treatment plans; including advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

To employ a broad theoretical knowledge of psychology and specialist clinical skills to develop and support the psychological skills of others through participation in the development and delivery of teaching, training and supervision programmes.

To provide a psychological perspective and psychologically-based framework for understanding and care for multidisciplinary team activities, including clinical care, team dynamics, team organisational systems, promotional activities, within a wide range of settings including MDT meetings, case discussions, team meetings, and group supervision.

To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision.

To develop and maintain the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with management.

To provide leadership on risk, safeguarding and quality assurance, including input identifying themes across audits and feeding into the audit framework.

To work collaboratively with service and people leads to ensure effective development and performance management of psychologists, including assistants, trainees, students and placements, and to support skills development across non clinical practitioners.

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence -based practice in own work and work with other service and team members. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research. To organise and supervise research undertaken by assistant and trainee psychologists where appropriate.

To maintain high quality dialogue and public relations with partner agencies and commissioning bodies, supporting the development of effective strategic relationships.

To undertake any other appropriate tasks that may be allocated by the Executive Team.

Responsibilities for all Via staff

To work within the Via values of Care, Be human and Do the right thing. Support and collaborate with all colleagues and engage with the wider organisation.

To promote and deliver positive, inclusive and anti-discriminatory practices in line with Via policies, professional and sector requirements, and legislative frameworks.

To act on all Safeguarding concerns so that all statutory and organisational Safeguarding responsibilities are met and that all learning is shared.

To observe professional integrity and candour at all times and with all people.

To comply with all organisational policies and procedures including GDPR and all Health and Safety policy and guidance, taking responsibility for your own safety and contributing to that of colleagues and others as applicable.

To regularly participate in one-to-one, supervision sessions, objective setting and review, training, practice and learning forums.

A commitment to learning and to continuously improve everyones knowledge and skills.

To work flexibly to enable the delivery of effective services. This may include flexibility across sites or flexible hours and any other duties that may reasonably be required of you within your role.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Role Purpose

To provide psychology leadership and oversight across Vias services with a specific focus on the organisations community portfolio, as part of a multi-disciplinary clinical leadership team. Reporting to the organisations Executive Medical Director, the role includes clinical management responsibility for psychological professionals and associated trainees across Vias community services.

To work collaboratively with internal and external colleagues to drive and deliver excellent core practice, clinical modelling and innovation.

Key duties and activities of the role

To provide excellent leadership, developmental and practice development support and supervision.

To support and provide leadership to enable improvement against internal and external clinical standards, including CQC KLOEs and NICE guidelines.

To support clinical and operational modelling across all adult and young people service types, supporting the development and delivery of high quality, high impact, value for money intervention and programme delivery.

Together with the People Team, to oversee psychology qualification and registration monitoring and clinical training, including the development and delivery of clinical training and the embedding of psychology trainee, assistant and student roles, developing links with relevant clinical psychology doctoral courses and/or counselling psychology courses.

To be responsible for developing and implementing a range of specialist psychological interventions for people who use our services, their carers, and groups, within and across teams, employed singly and in combination, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as practice and experience demand, and drawing upon different explanatory models to maintain a number of provisional hypotheses.

To hold a small specialist caseload.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical, developmental and cultural processes and systems which have shaped the individual, family or group.

To record, monitor and report on clinical work and communicate, in a skilled and sensitive manner, complex clinical information, including assessment, formulation, treatment plans and progress to a variety of recipients, e.g. people who use our services, carers, other professionals, formal panels, statutory and voluntary organisations, orally, in writing and electronically.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, contributing directly to formulations and treatment plans; including advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

To employ a broad theoretical knowledge of psychology and specialist clinical skills to develop and support the psychological skills of others through participation in the development and delivery of teaching, training and supervision programmes.

To provide a psychological perspective and psychologically-based framework for understanding and care for multidisciplinary team activities, including clinical care, team dynamics, team organisational systems, promotional activities, within a wide range of settings including MDT meetings, case discussions, team meetings, and group supervision.

To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision.

To develop and maintain the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with management.

To provide leadership on risk, safeguarding and quality assurance, including input identifying themes across audits and feeding into the audit framework.

To work collaboratively with service and people leads to ensure effective development and performance management of psychologists, including assistants, trainees, students and placements, and to support skills development across non clinical practitioners.

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence -based practice in own work and work with other service and team members. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research. To organise and supervise research undertaken by assistant and trainee psychologists where appropriate.

To maintain high quality dialogue and public relations with partner agencies and commissioning bodies, supporting the development of effective strategic relationships.

To undertake any other appropriate tasks that may be allocated by the Executive Team.

Responsibilities for all Via staff

To work within the Via values of Care, Be human and Do the right thing. Support and collaborate with all colleagues and engage with the wider organisation.

To promote and deliver positive, inclusive and anti-discriminatory practices in line with Via policies, professional and sector requirements, and legislative frameworks.

To act on all Safeguarding concerns so that all statutory and organisational Safeguarding responsibilities are met and that all learning is shared.

To observe professional integrity and candour at all times and with all people.

To comply with all organisational policies and procedures including GDPR and all Health and Safety policy and guidance, taking responsibility for your own safety and contributing to that of colleagues and others as applicable.

To regularly participate in one-to-one, supervision sessions, objective setting and review, training, practice and learning forums.

A commitment to learning and to continuously improve everyones knowledge and skills.

To work flexibly to enable the delivery of effective services. This may include flexibility across sites or flexible hours and any other duties that may reasonably be required of you within your role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical, Counselling, Forensic Psychology or its equivalent as accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council - HCPC.
  • Up-to-date registration with the HCPC.

Experience

Essential

  • Specific expertise in psychological interventions e.g. CBT, DBT, neuropsychology.
  • Demonstratable skills and competencies required for consultant psychologist title, as confirmed by a National Assessor - please note, where a candidate has not been assessed by a National Assessor previously, this can be arranged in interviewing for this role.
  • Experience of post-doctoral post qualification supervised clinical practice with people experiencing problems related to substance misuse , including group based psychological interventions.
  • Experience of teaching, training and direct supervision.
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management including the use of theoretical models to analyse information and to develop formulations upon which to base choice of treatment.
  • Skills in the effective communication of highly technical and or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
  • Willingness to contribute to high quality research to support the developing evidence base for effective interventions in the substance misuse sector.
  • Demonstrable clinical leadership skills, team working, communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to evidence a highly cooperative approach to leading and supporting colleagues and multi-disciplinary teams to deliver objectives.
  • A demonstrable understanding of the Health and Social Care regulatory requirements of the Care Quality Commission - CQC, National Institute for Clinical Excellence standards for Health and Social Care and any other relevant bodies. An in-depth knowledge of clinical interventions that are recommended within NICE guidelines, Ofsted and CQC Key Lines of Enquiry.
  • A strong understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best practice.
  • An understanding of information governance processes and a commitment to follow and apply all necessary safeguards.
  • Good IT skills including use of Microsoft Office programs, digital meeting platforms and Case Management Systems like Nebula, System One or Theseus.
  • Demonstrable commitment to leading and supporting strategic, operational and clinical partnerships, internally and externally, to achieve excellent outcomes for people who use our services.
  • A commitment to seek learning opportunities to keep up-to-date, improve and broaden your own professional knowledge and skills and to contribute to and where relevant oversee and facilitate the learning of others.
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical, Counselling, Forensic Psychology or its equivalent as accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council - HCPC.
  • Up-to-date registration with the HCPC.

Experience

Essential

  • Specific expertise in psychological interventions e.g. CBT, DBT, neuropsychology.
  • Demonstratable skills and competencies required for consultant psychologist title, as confirmed by a National Assessor - please note, where a candidate has not been assessed by a National Assessor previously, this can be arranged in interviewing for this role.
  • Experience of post-doctoral post qualification supervised clinical practice with people experiencing problems related to substance misuse , including group based psychological interventions.
  • Experience of teaching, training and direct supervision.
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management including the use of theoretical models to analyse information and to develop formulations upon which to base choice of treatment.
  • Skills in the effective communication of highly technical and or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
  • Willingness to contribute to high quality research to support the developing evidence base for effective interventions in the substance misuse sector.
  • Demonstrable clinical leadership skills, team working, communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to evidence a highly cooperative approach to leading and supporting colleagues and multi-disciplinary teams to deliver objectives.
  • A demonstrable understanding of the Health and Social Care regulatory requirements of the Care Quality Commission - CQC, National Institute for Clinical Excellence standards for Health and Social Care and any other relevant bodies. An in-depth knowledge of clinical interventions that are recommended within NICE guidelines, Ofsted and CQC Key Lines of Enquiry.
  • A strong understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best practice.
  • An understanding of information governance processes and a commitment to follow and apply all necessary safeguards.
  • Good IT skills including use of Microsoft Office programs, digital meeting platforms and Case Management Systems like Nebula, System One or Theseus.
  • Demonstrable commitment to leading and supporting strategic, operational and clinical partnerships, internally and externally, to achieve excellent outcomes for people who use our services.
  • A commitment to seek learning opportunities to keep up-to-date, improve and broaden your own professional knowledge and skills and to contribute to and where relevant oversee and facilitate the learning of others.

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.

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.

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

Via

Address

Via

821 Woolwich Road

London

SE7 8LJ


Employer's website

https://via.ciphr-irecruit.com/Applicants/vacancy (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Via

Address

Via

821 Woolwich Road

London

SE7 8LJ


Employer's website

https://via.ciphr-irecruit.com/Applicants/vacancy (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Head of Psychology

Dr Michelle O'Sullivan

michelle.osullivan@viaorg.uk

Details

Date posted

08 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

Depending on experience Negotiable. Pay is on Via T&C's, not AfC

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

9 months

Working pattern

Part-time, Flexible working, Home or remote working

Reference number

B0427-JOB0260

Job locations

Via

821 Woolwich Road

London

SE7 8LJ


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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