Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Assistant Psychologist

The closing date is 28 December 2025

Job summary

We are seeking a compassionate, motivated, and enthusiastic Assistant Psychologist to join our Perinatal Loss Service based in Suffolk, on a 12 month fixed term contract. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a specialist service that offers specialist assessment and psychological interventions to women and birthing people who are experiencing mental health difficulties following perinatal loss.

You will have theopportunity to gain experience working in perinatal mental health and also to continue to support the development of a relatively new service.

We are a small, dedicated team comprising of a Clinical Psychologist, a Peer Support Worker and two specialist Maternity Bereavement Support Workers. As a team we offer specialist assessment and psychological interventions to women and birthing people who are experiencing mental health difficulties following perinatal loss. The team offers support across the county with bases in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds and works closely with the Suffolk Community Perinatal Team.

Main duties of the job

The role will involve the successful candidate working with their team to deliver psychologically informed assessments and interventions, with a focus on short term individual work. The service draws on a range of psychological models including CBT, EMDR, CFT and also offers some Couples therapy. There may be some opportunity for group work as the service continues to develop. The post holder would also be responsible for supporting the team to complete routine outcome measures, updating databases and be involved in auditing psychological therapies within the service. There would be opportunities for service-related research and audit.

You will receive weekly supervision from a qualified psychologist.

As a service we have close links to the clinical psychology doctoral training programme at the UEA and have supported previous assistant psychologists onto clinical training. Applicants must have excellent literacy and numeracy skills, a psychology degree with 2.1 or above and be eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.

Travel is part of the role and being a car driver is essential.

About us

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.

Details

Date posted

16 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year gross per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

246-CEN7644583

Job locations

Grange Lodge

Kesgrave

IP5 1JF


Job description

Job responsibilities

Applicants must have excellent literacy and numeracy skills, a psychology degree with 2.1 or above and be eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. Travel is part of the role and being a car driver is essential.

Included in your supporting statement, please could you tell us in up to 200 words, what draws you to working as an assistant psychologist in a specialist perinatal loss team.

For further information on main responsibilities and job description please see the job description attached or please contact us.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Applicants must have excellent literacy and numeracy skills, a psychology degree with 2.1 or above and be eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. Travel is part of the role and being a car driver is essential.

Included in your supporting statement, please could you tell us in up to 200 words, what draws you to working as an assistant psychologist in a specialist perinatal loss team.

For further information on main responsibilities and job description please see the job description attached or please contact us.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A BPS accredited degree in Psychology at 2.1 or above

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of quantitative research

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering trauma stabilisation

Skills

Essential

  • Skills using software for statistical analysis

Desirable

  • Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users and colleagues

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of mental health

Desirable

  • An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities

Other

Essential

  • An ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals
  • An ability to engage in and use supervision appropriately and effectively
  • An ability to travel independently
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A BPS accredited degree in Psychology at 2.1 or above

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of quantitative research

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering trauma stabilisation

Skills

Essential

  • Skills using software for statistical analysis

Desirable

  • Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users and colleagues

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of mental health

Desirable

  • An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities

Other

Essential

  • An ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals
  • An ability to engage in and use supervision appropriately and effectively
  • An ability to travel independently

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

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Grange Lodge

Kesgrave

IP5 1JF


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Grange Lodge

Kesgrave

IP5 1JF


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Principal Clinical Psychologist

Lauren Staples

lauren.staples@nsft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

16 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year gross per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

246-CEN7644583

Job locations

Grange Lodge

Kesgrave

IP5 1JF


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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