Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Learning Disability Nurse

The closing date is 27 October 2025

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Specialist Learning Disability Nurse to join our Community Learning Disability and Autism Team within CAMHS. We are a friendly, innovative team comprised of Specialist Learning Disability Nurses, Clinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Clinical Support Workers.

The postholder will provide individual and group-based interventions around emotional well-being, distress and distress-related behaviours, and other behaviours of concern. Working from a neuro-affirmative perspective, they will support children, young people and families to improve quality of life and mental health outcomes. The postholder will be trained in Riding the Rapids, a group-based intervention for parents, and will be supported to implement Positive Support Plans with families.

Interventions take place in a variety of settings, including CAMHS bases, family homes, schools and the community. The postholder will work collaboratively with families and other agencies, during assessment and intervention, and in attendance at multi-agency meetings. There are opportunities to deliver training and contribute to service improvement at a team, locality and organisational level.

There is a robust nurse-led supervision structure in place, and we offer regular training placements for nurses and trainee psychologists and speech and language therapists.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist assessments, formulations and intervention plans relating to behaviour and mental health of young people with severe learning disabilities and/or a diagnosis of autism.

To provide training, advice and consultation to staff from health and other agencies .

Management and service development:

To contribute to the continuing development of the Specialist Community Service for Learning Disabilities and Autism

To contribute to the continuing development of the Positive Behaviour Support pathways in MFT

Teaching, training and supervision:

To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinician

To provide case-based supervision to junior staff and nursing students

To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with children and adolescents with severe learning disabilities and/ or autistic young people. across a range of agencies and settings where appropriate.

To adhere to national and local Professional and Clinical Guidelines

Clinical governance and research:

To utilise evidence-based literature, evaluation and research to support effective practice.

To represent a professional view point in relation to nationally accepted good practice and to ensure a high level of ethical standards and professional conduct.

About us

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of over £3bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Details

Date posted

13 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

349-MCH-7315669-RL4

Job locations

The Bridge, North Manchester CAMHS

Unit C Madison Pl, Manchester M40 5BP

Manchester

M40 5BP


Job description

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.

Were looking forward to hearing from you!

Job description

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.

Were looking forward to hearing from you!

Person Specification

Registration and Qualifications

Essential

  • Eligible for registration with Nursing and Midwifery Council
  • Registered Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD)
  • Positive Behaviour Support training

Desirable

  • Additional training and qualifications in behavioural analysis/intervention/Positive Behaviour Support eg to coaches level
  • Additional qualifications in supervision
  • Dual trained LD and Social work qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Considerable experience of working with children with severe and complex disabilities; including Autistic children; and their families
  • Knowledge and understanding of nursing process/models; particularly around analysing and understanding behaviours of concern, and applying these to intervention using a neuroaffirmative approach in the field of community learning disability work with children and families
  • Experience of designing and developing PBS support plans with children with learning disabilities and their families/carers
  • Experience of embedding PBS plans into wider multiagency network
  • Considerable experience managing risk in children with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and working with complex multiagency cases
  • Experience of facilitating therapeutic groups
  • Knowledge and experience of working within a Safeguarding Children framework
  • Knowledge and implementation of paediatric health promotion
  • Experience of liaison and consultation in relation to a wide range of other relevant agencies
  • Experience of effective multiagency working
  • Experience of service representation and ability to represent learning disability nursing

Desirable

  • Supervisory experience of junior learning disability nurses including clinical supervision
  • Experience of representing a service in a range of clinical and strategic fora
  • Training in Riding the Rapids
  • Experience of clinical consultation

Skills and abilities

Essential

  • Ability to contribute to inhouse service development
  • Ability to lead groups and contribute to multiagency forum
  • Excellent verbal and written communication, time management and organisational skills
  • Risk assessment and management skills
  • Experience of developing and delivering training in approaches to distressed behaviour
  • Ability to work as a member of a multi disciplinary team and take a role in that team on individual projects as directed (eg development of new intervention/way of working for team)
  • Commitment to undertake further relevant training and self directed study
  • Ability to work independently and manage complex caseload with the support of clinical and management supervision
  • Ability and skills to supervise junior staff and support wellbeing of staff
  • Current driving licence and car driver - this post has a community focus and there will be regular travel

Desirable

  • Experience of devising and delivering training around PBS, learning disability , neuro-affirmative practice
Person Specification

Registration and Qualifications

Essential

  • Eligible for registration with Nursing and Midwifery Council
  • Registered Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD)
  • Positive Behaviour Support training

Desirable

  • Additional training and qualifications in behavioural analysis/intervention/Positive Behaviour Support eg to coaches level
  • Additional qualifications in supervision
  • Dual trained LD and Social work qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Considerable experience of working with children with severe and complex disabilities; including Autistic children; and their families
  • Knowledge and understanding of nursing process/models; particularly around analysing and understanding behaviours of concern, and applying these to intervention using a neuroaffirmative approach in the field of community learning disability work with children and families
  • Experience of designing and developing PBS support plans with children with learning disabilities and their families/carers
  • Experience of embedding PBS plans into wider multiagency network
  • Considerable experience managing risk in children with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and working with complex multiagency cases
  • Experience of facilitating therapeutic groups
  • Knowledge and experience of working within a Safeguarding Children framework
  • Knowledge and implementation of paediatric health promotion
  • Experience of liaison and consultation in relation to a wide range of other relevant agencies
  • Experience of effective multiagency working
  • Experience of service representation and ability to represent learning disability nursing

Desirable

  • Supervisory experience of junior learning disability nurses including clinical supervision
  • Experience of representing a service in a range of clinical and strategic fora
  • Training in Riding the Rapids
  • Experience of clinical consultation

Skills and abilities

Essential

  • Ability to contribute to inhouse service development
  • Ability to lead groups and contribute to multiagency forum
  • Excellent verbal and written communication, time management and organisational skills
  • Risk assessment and management skills
  • Experience of developing and delivering training in approaches to distressed behaviour
  • Ability to work as a member of a multi disciplinary team and take a role in that team on individual projects as directed (eg development of new intervention/way of working for team)
  • Commitment to undertake further relevant training and self directed study
  • Ability to work independently and manage complex caseload with the support of clinical and management supervision
  • Ability and skills to supervise junior staff and support wellbeing of staff
  • Current driving licence and car driver - this post has a community focus and there will be regular travel

Desirable

  • Experience of devising and delivering training around PBS, learning disability , neuro-affirmative practice

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

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Bridge, North Manchester CAMHS

Unit C Madison Pl, Manchester M40 5BP

Manchester

M40 5BP


Employer's website

https://mft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Bridge, North Manchester CAMHS

Unit C Madison Pl, Manchester M40 5BP

Manchester

M40 5BP


Employer's website

https://mft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lead Learning Disability Nurse

Sarah Tickle

sarah.tickle@mft.nhs.uk

01615296062

Details

Date posted

13 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

349-MCH-7315669-RL4

Job locations

The Bridge, North Manchester CAMHS

Unit C Madison Pl, Manchester M40 5BP

Manchester

M40 5BP


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)