Job summary
Join The Hive, NHFT's new Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) service atHMP Ranby, and step into a role where psychological insight becomes powerful, practical action. As a Band 5 Assistant Psychologist, you'll work at the heart of a complex, high-energy environment--supporting assessments, shaping formulations, co-running therapeutic groups and helping embed trauma-informed, relational practice across the prison. Every day brings new moments of challenge, connection and genuine impact as you help individuals make meaningful steps toward change.
We're looking for someone who brings curiosity, compassion and confidence to a dynamic, evolving service. You'll haveand the drive to understand complex behaviour in real-world conditions.
In return, you'll join anOutstanding-rated Trust that invests in your development with expert supervision, rich CPD opportunities and a strongly supportive culture.
If you want a role that energises you, grows you and lets you make a difference that really matters, we'd love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
As an Assistant Psychologist within The Hive at HMP Ranby, you'll step into a role where every interaction carries weight. From your first day, you become part of a psychologically informed service designed to help individuals with complex personality and behavioural difficulties understand themselves in new ways. Much of your work will happen in the rhythm of prison life in The Hive -- in structured sessions, group rooms, in MDT meetings -- where moments of insight can appear suddenly and unexpectedly.
About us
NHFT is an NHS Community and Mental Health Foundation Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in hospital settings and in the community. We provide over 200 services across the county - as well as some specialist services in bordering and nearby counties. We work together with our partners to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors receives compassionate, person-centred care, regardless of their background or circumstances.
NHFT promotes a culture of learning, to improve the care and safety of our patients and colleagues. We have achieved our 'outstanding' rating by encouraging opportunity, innovation, development and growth across our workforce.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Your core responsibility is to support the delivery of high-quality psychological care under the supervision of a qualified psychologist. This means carrying out structured psychological assessments, gathering information through interviews, observations and standardised tools, and helping transform this into meaningful formulations. These formulations guide how the team understands an individuals needs, risks, and relational patterns. You will also be involved in cofacilitating therapeutic groups, supporting men as they explore emotional regulation, trauma histories, interpersonal challenges and coping strategies within a psychologically informed environment noticing interactions, modelling healthy communication, and reinforcing traumasensitive, relational approaches.
Beyond direct client work, an important part of your role involves using your analytical and organisational skills. Youll assist with service audits, data collection, research activities and evaluation projects that help the team learn, reflect and continually improve. Youll prepare reports, contribute to case discussions, and work collaboratively with prison officers as part of a dynamic multi-disciplinary team.
For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading. The full person specification can be accessed under the About You Section of the document.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Your core responsibility is to support the delivery of high-quality psychological care under the supervision of a qualified psychologist. This means carrying out structured psychological assessments, gathering information through interviews, observations and standardised tools, and helping transform this into meaningful formulations. These formulations guide how the team understands an individuals needs, risks, and relational patterns. You will also be involved in cofacilitating therapeutic groups, supporting men as they explore emotional regulation, trauma histories, interpersonal challenges and coping strategies within a psychologically informed environment noticing interactions, modelling healthy communication, and reinforcing traumasensitive, relational approaches.
Beyond direct client work, an important part of your role involves using your analytical and organisational skills. Youll assist with service audits, data collection, research activities and evaluation projects that help the team learn, reflect and continually improve. Youll prepare reports, contribute to case discussions, and work collaboratively with prison officers as part of a dynamic multi-disciplinary team.
For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading. The full person specification can be accessed under the About You Section of the document.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
- An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
- Experience of using psychological assessments, formulations, risk assessments and care planning.
Desirable
- Experience of working with people with offending histories.
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Behaviours and values
Essential
- Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team as well as independently reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
- Ability to work with individuals with a history of violence and sexual offending.
- Ability to cope with and maintain professional boundaries.
Desirable
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
- An ability to work as part of a team and maintain good relationships with colleagues
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- An understanding of complex needs of a person who presents with personality difficulties /mental illness/neurodiversity.
- High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
Desirable
- Has training and experience of audit, evaluation and research.
- An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to this offender personality disorder pathway
Person Specification
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
- An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
- Experience of using psychological assessments, formulations, risk assessments and care planning.
Desirable
- Experience of working with people with offending histories.
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Behaviours and values
Essential
- Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team as well as independently reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
- Ability to work with individuals with a history of violence and sexual offending.
- Ability to cope with and maintain professional boundaries.
Desirable
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
- An ability to work as part of a team and maintain good relationships with colleagues
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- An understanding of complex needs of a person who presents with personality difficulties /mental illness/neurodiversity.
- High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
Desirable
- Has training and experience of audit, evaluation and research.
- An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to this offender personality disorder pathway
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.
