Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHSFT
Job summary
The Principal Clinical Psychologist provides senior clinical leadership within CAMHS, supporting the delivery of Getting Advice and Getting Help pathways in line with the THRIVE model. The post holder is responsible for developing and implementing a range of evidence-based group and individual interventions, guided by NICE recommendations and service priorities.
The role includes the provision of highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention for children and young people presenting with complex needs. A key focus is improving access and reducing barriers to timely, effective support, ensuring interventions are clinically appropriate and responsive.
The post holder plays a central role in workforce development through training, supervision, and consultation to multidisciplinary team members, promoting psychologically informed practice across pathways. They also contribute to service development and quality assurance, ensuring the effective use of psychological approaches within CAMHS.
Working collaboratively with families, professionals, and partner agencies, the Principal Clinical Psychologist supports early intervention, system working, and continuous service improvement to enhance outcomes for children and young people.
Main duties of the job
Provides highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and evidence-based interventions for children and young people with complex needs, drawing on multiple sources of information. Leads on risk assessment and management, including safeguarding responsibilities, ensuring early identification and appropriate reporting of concerns.
Develops and delivers tailored individual, family, and group therapies, adapting approaches as needed and making informed decisions about treatment options. Works collaboratively with children, families, and multidisciplinary teams to plan and implement care.
Offers expert psychological consultation, guidance, and supervision to colleagues, supporting clinical decision-making and promoting psychologically informed practice. Facilitates team-based planning to identify the most appropriate pathways and interventions for service users.
Provides leadership within multidisciplinary teams, contributing to the development, coordination, and review of care plans, and monitoring progress to ensure safe, effective, and high-quality outcomes.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- o Post-graduate training (doctoral level or equivalent) in Clinical, Counselling or Forensic
- o HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
- o Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees
- o Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).
Desirable
- o Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
Experience
Essential
- o Significant experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment across the full range of care settings.
- o Experience of working in multi-agency teams and with a wide variety of client groups reflecting the full range of clinical severity.
- o Ability to maintain professionalism in the face of highly emotive, distressing situations and potential physical abuse.
- o Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care within a multidisciplinary team.
- o Providing clinical leadership within multidisciplinary teams.
- o Liaison and joint working with statutory, voluntary, and private sector agencies.
- o Teaching, training and clinical supervision, including supervision of doctoral trainees and field supervision for doctoral theses.
- o Research and development experience
- o Active participation in quality and service improvement initiatives.
Knowledge
Essential
- o Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
- o Skills in evidence-based psychological interventions.
- o Knowledge and experience of working within child protection settings.
- o Ability to communicate complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information effectively, both orally and in writing, to clients, families, carers and professional colleagues.
- o Knowledge of specialised psychological assessments and therapies.
- o Leadership skills.
- o Skills in providing consultation to professional and non-professional groups.
- o Doctoral-level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariable data analysis.
- o Evidence of CPD.
- o Ability to work effectively within a team setting.
- o Ability to articulate the value of psychological provision within multidisciplinary mental health services.
- o Ability to undertake complex multi-agency working and liaise with multiple systems.
- o Competence in the use of psychometric assessments.
- o Ability to provide effective teaching, training and clinical supervision.
- o Ability to identify, provide and promote interventions/support for carers and staff exposed to distressing situations and challenging behaviours.
- o Ability to utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own practice.
Skills
Essential
- o Demonstrable leadership and management skills.
- o Capacity to tolerate exposure to unpredictable working conditions, including demanding, verbally and physically aggressive clients.
- o Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and maintain high-quality clinical practice when exposed to highly emotive material.
- o Ability to care for oneself and others in a pressured environment with minimal supervision.
- o Ability to work in accordance with the Staff Compact and Trust Values and Behaviours.
- o Ability to engage effectively with vulnerable people in highly distressing and challenging circumstances.
- o Ability to work flexibly and cooperatively as part of a team.
- o Ability to use initiative and make independent decisions.
- o Commitment to continuous quality and service improvement.
- o Self-awareness and commitment to professional and personal development.
- o Ability to accept and respond positively to feedback.
Closing Date: 21 July 2026
To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.