Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT

Band 8a Senior Clinical Psychologist

The closing date is 15 August 2025

Job summary

***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***

The post holder will provide a high quality, specialist psychology service to children presenting with neurodevelopmental needs across all sectors of care within the Birmingham catchment area. The post holder will be part of the multidisciplinary team in the Neurodevelopmental Hubs and liaise closely with colleagues in education.

They will also supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other psychologists and others who provide psychologically based care and treatment.

They will support a culture of research and utilise research skills for audit, policy and service developments and propose and implement policy changes within the Service and the broader multidisciplinary team. They will also be highly visible and, accessible and a figure to whom staff, patients and their families, can turn to for assistance, advice and support.

Main duties of the job

1. To provide specialist psychological assessment of children based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological assessment, self-reported measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children, family members and others involved in the child's care.

2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a child's psychological problems. This is to be based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems, and employing methods of proven efficiency, across the full range of care settings.

3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for children, carers, families and groups within and across teams. This would involve adjusting and refining psychological formulations and drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

see attached JD for further details

About us

Be Part of Our Team...

Birmingham is a vibrant, rich, ethnically diverse city, with a large population of young people. Join Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) where more than 5000 members of staff work across Birmingham and the West Midlands to deliver a wide range of community and specialist healthcare services. BCHC delivers over a hundred clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. This includes services for children, young people, parents and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre and one of Europe's leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.

Our range of healthcare service provision within the C&F Division also offers opportunities to develop clinical leadership skills and be involved with clinical projects and pathway development. The Psychology Service offers support and close links with other psychologists through facilitated reflective practice groups, CPD events and team meetings. There are good links with the local DClinPsy training courses and the MSCi pathway at Birmingham and Coventry Universities.

Details

Date posted

01 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

820-7347318-CF

Job locations

City wide

Birmingham

B13 8JL


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for information on the main duties of the post.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for information on the main duties of the post.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Post graduate Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
  • HCPC Registration as a Practitioner Psychologist

Desirable

  • Post-doctoral qualification, training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
  • Training in the supervision of doctoral level trainee psychologists.
  • Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and individual and group-based treatment of children, including children with neurodevelopmental differences.
  • Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
  • Experience of liaison work with other professionals and agencies.

Desirable

  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity
  • Experience of teaching, training and supervision.
  • Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
  • Relevant R&D or clinical audit work post-qualification

Skills/Knowledge

Essential

  • Highly specialist skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, including psychometrics such as ADOS-2 and, or, ADI-R, intervention and management including specialist clinical interviewing, behavioural observation, complex psychometric testing and specialist neuropsychological testing.
  • Knowledge of the presentation, assessment of and intervention with people with complex neurodevelopmental and mental health difficulties.
  • Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to children, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
  • Skills and experience in providing consultation to other professional and non professional groups, across agencies
  • Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
  • Knowledge of typical and atypical child development including neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD/ASD
  • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. dual diagnoses, children with additional learning disabilities or difficulties etc).
  • Knowledge of legislation in relation to children

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Self-motivated
  • Positive, energetic, enthusiastic in outlook and able to set a good example
  • Ability to manage under pressure; work to tight deadlines, evidencing excellent time management
  • Able to work independently or as part of a team.

Desirable

  • Evidence of strong leadership skills, the ability to negotiate, persuade and influence at a senior level with a supportive style whilst also able to take difficult decisions and act assertively
  • Keen to develop services in line with service, educational and research priorities with the service.
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Post graduate Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
  • HCPC Registration as a Practitioner Psychologist

Desirable

  • Post-doctoral qualification, training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
  • Training in the supervision of doctoral level trainee psychologists.
  • Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and individual and group-based treatment of children, including children with neurodevelopmental differences.
  • Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
  • Experience of liaison work with other professionals and agencies.

Desirable

  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity
  • Experience of teaching, training and supervision.
  • Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
  • Relevant R&D or clinical audit work post-qualification

Skills/Knowledge

Essential

  • Highly specialist skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, including psychometrics such as ADOS-2 and, or, ADI-R, intervention and management including specialist clinical interviewing, behavioural observation, complex psychometric testing and specialist neuropsychological testing.
  • Knowledge of the presentation, assessment of and intervention with people with complex neurodevelopmental and mental health difficulties.
  • Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to children, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
  • Skills and experience in providing consultation to other professional and non professional groups, across agencies
  • Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
  • Knowledge of typical and atypical child development including neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD/ASD
  • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. dual diagnoses, children with additional learning disabilities or difficulties etc).
  • Knowledge of legislation in relation to children

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Self-motivated
  • Positive, energetic, enthusiastic in outlook and able to set a good example
  • Ability to manage under pressure; work to tight deadlines, evidencing excellent time management
  • Able to work independently or as part of a team.

Desirable

  • Evidence of strong leadership skills, the ability to negotiate, persuade and influence at a senior level with a supportive style whilst also able to take difficult decisions and act assertively
  • Keen to develop services in line with service, educational and research priorities with the service.

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

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT

Address

City wide

Birmingham

B13 8JL


Employer's website

https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT

Address

City wide

Birmingham

B13 8JL


Employer's website

https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

C&F Divisional Lead for Psychology

Hena Syed-Sabir

hena.syed-sabir1@nhs.net

07709721355

Details

Date posted

01 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

820-7347318-CF

Job locations

City wide

Birmingham

B13 8JL


Supporting documents

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