Job summary
Band 4 Assistant Psychologist (Family Safeguarding Team) - 2 full time posts .

The Family Safeguarding Team is an innovative partnership model between Swindon Borough Council and a network of other statutory and voluntary sector organisations. The wider Family Safeguarding Team is comprised of substance misuse, domestic abuse, adult mental health workers and children's social workers. Workers from specialist organisations join together to form one team working with families. The Family Safeguarding Team focuses on working to develop parents' strengths to positively change their behaviour and relationships in order to improve their children's lives. By assisting parents to make positive changes more children can stay at home with their birth family and thrive, not just survive.

We are recruiting to two Assistant Psychologist roles, both of which are available with full time hours. These roles are positioned within the aspect of the service that focuses on the mental health of parents. The postholders will contribute to the creation of psychologically and trauma informed environments and will practice in the context of family safeguarding, under the supervision of the Principal Practitioner Psychologist.

Right to Work in the UK: This position is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants must already hold the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application, as the organisation is unable to support sponsorship for this post.

Main duties of the job
Working closely with other practitioners within the Family Safeguarding Team the postholders will provide advice and signposting around access to appropriate sources of support for parents with mental health needs. This might include access to third sector provision or to statutory mental health services. The postholders will also provide direct psychological interventions, either on an individual or group basis, under the supervision of the Principal Practitioner Psychologist. There is also scope to contribute to the ongoing development and evaluation of the service.

This is a challenging but rewarding context in which to work so a good level of emotional resilience is a core requirement.

About us
We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provide High Quality, Compassionate Care everywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people.At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Details
Date posted
14 August 2026

Pay scheme
Agenda for change

Band
Band 4

Salary
£28,392 to £31,157 a year

Contract
Permanent

Working pattern
Full-time

Reference number
342-SWN050-0826

Job locations
Wat Tyler West Building
Beckhampton Street,
Swindon
SN1 2JG
United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Full details of the job description and main responsibilities for the job can be found in the attached Job Description and Person Specification

Person Specification
Education and Qualification
Essential

• An honours degree in Psychology (2:1 or 1st) or appropriate conversion qualification.
• Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS

Desirable

• Introductory training in a psychological therapy

Experience and Knowledge
Essential

• Experience of person-facing work, either paid or voluntary.
• Understanding of common mental health problems
• Knowledge of safeguarding practice

Desirable

• Audit or research experience.
• Experience of working in a health or care role.
• Experience of working with a range of client groups
• Experience of working with diversity
• Familiarity with mental health resources within the Locality in the voluntary and statutory sectors.

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Word processing and other IT skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with other staff from different backgrounds
• Good written and verbal presentation skills
• Flexibility and capacity to embrace change
• Ability to use supervision well
• Good organisational skills
• Ability to use own initiative and work independently
• Ability to plan and prioritise own workload
• Ability to overcome barriers to communication
• Self-awareness and emotional resilience

Desirable

• Group work skills

Other Requirements
Essential

• Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems and ability to cope with behaviour which may be challenging at times.
• Ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout the locality

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.

Employer details
Employer name
Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address
Wat Tyler West Building
Beckhampton Street,
Swindon
SN1 2JG
United Kingdom

Employer's website
http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Principal Counselling Psychologist FST
Dr Martina Halmagyi
m.halmagyi1@nhs.net
07889953069

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.