Principal Psychological Professional – CFHD: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

We are excited to be advertising for a fixed term 0.6WTE Principal
Psychological Professional (Clinical Psychologist / Child and Adolescent
Psychotherapist / Systemic Psychotherapist) Clinical Lead in our Urgent
Care Pathway. We are looking for an experienced colleague to work
collaboratively with the Operational and Medical Leads in leading this
multi-disciplinary pathway forwards.

Our Urgent Care Pathway is a community pathway for
children and young people who require responsive and/or intensive support with
risk and mental health presentations. The Pathway has strong links with
other CFHD pathways of care as well as the regular interface with acute care
systems.

The Pathway is guided by Adaptive Mentalisation Based
Integrative Therapy (AMBIT), a model that emphasises the importance of
the well-connected team supporting practitioners working with higher risk
needs.

We would love to hear from experienced colleagues who can
bring advanced level clinical thinking and formulation, skills in supervision
and consultation and compassionate leadership to this progressive, responsive
pathway.

Main duties of the job

As a Principal Psychological Professional, you will hold a
Clinical Lead role within Urgent Care, working jointly with Operational and
Medical Leads, as well as providing lead contributions to service developments
across CFHD.

You will offer advanced formulation, strong supervisory and
consultation skills as well as high-quality psychological care to young people.
You will have proven experience in working positively with inter-agency
colleagues, able to mentalize, contain and respond to multi-layered needs in
struggling networks.

You will join a group of multi-disciplinary clinical leaders
across CFHD who will be your peers, your phone a friend network and your
inspiring colleagues. As part of a collaborative structure of leadership, you
will be well supported as you work together with colleagues to lead forward
high-quality care.

There is a strong, friendly and connected network of Psychological
Professionals working across CFHD, enjoying shared CPD and professional
support.

We encourage interest from candidates with diverse
backgrounds and experiences, both personal and professional.

The Pathway is county-wide with flexibility of base
possible.

Person Specification

Knowledge, skills and abilities

Essential

• Willingness and ability to travel across Devon
• Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and share this with others including service users and professionals
• The ability to work as an autonomous senior clinician, make decisions under pressure and seek support as appropriate.
• The ability to communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with children and young people, parents, carers and others as appropriate, conveying information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning assessment, clinical formulation and treatment, at times during emotionally difficult situations
• The ability to present complex, often sensitive information in a variety of formats, both written and verbal, in a professional, clear and organised manner, including public speaking to a range of audiences

Qualifications

Essential

• A Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy or Masters Level training in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent.
• Active registration with the HCPC, or Association of Child Psychotherapists, or with the UKCP as a Systemic and Family Therapist
• Post qualification training or equivalent experience in supervision.
• Post qualification training or proven equivalent experience in leadership or management
• Post qualification specialist therapy/assessment training relevant to children and young people

Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering effective evidence-based, outcomes-informed psychological therapy interventions with children, young people and families, including risk assessment and risk management
• Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including shared decision making and the use of both clinician and patient rated outcome measures
• Experience of working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary services and across organisational boundaries
• Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
• Experience of obtaining service user feedback and data to improve outcomes and services
• Experience in teaching, training and assessing in clinical practice.
• Experience of safeguarding children and ensuring the safety of young people in partnership with other agencies as appropriate.
• Experience of using an equality and diversity framework in clinical, supervisory and leadership practice
• Experience of initiating, chairing, attending and contributing to multi-professional and interagency meetings.
• Experience of working as an autonomous individual, taking on responsibility, making decisions and seeking support as needed.
• Experience of providing clinical supervision, undertaking appraisals, developing job plans, recruitment, managing performance, absence and staff development.

Closing Date: 6 September 2026