Head of Psychological Workforce and Training
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Consultant Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to shape the future psychological workforce across Berkshire Healthcare.

As Head of Psychological Workforce and Training, you will provide Trust-wide leadership for workforce governance, education, training and professional standards across the psychological professions.

You will work at the interface of professional leadership, strategic workforce planning, education and training, using workforce intelligence and partnership working to support safe, effective and sustainable psychological practice.

Working closely with the Director of Psychology and Psychological Therapies, professional and operational leads, corporate services, NHS England, training providers and professional bodies, you will help ensure that the Trust has the right psychological workforce, skills and training infrastructure to meet current and future needs.

The role includes leadership of the Trust's psychological education and training offer, including placements, recruit-to-train initiatives, funded development opportunities, relationships with training providers and assurance on quality and professional standards. You will also have direct responsibility for clinical psychology doctoral training arrangements, including placement coordination and contractual monitoring with course providers.

Main duties of the job
In this senior Trust-wide role, you will lead the development of systems that support safe, effective and high-quality psychological practice across services.

You will provide assurance on professional, statutory and regulatory requirements; use workforce intelligence to inform capacity, skills and risk analysis; and advise senior leaders on workforce priorities, education, development and investment.

You will lead the Trust's psychological education and training offer, working with education providers and services to support placement quality, training governance, funded development opportunities and alignment with service needs.

You will directly coordinate and monitor clinical psychology doctoral placements with course providers, while providing oversight, advice and assurance for other psychological professions training arrangements managed within services.

You will promote inclusive workforce development, widening participation and equitable access to training and career pathways that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

Please be advised that the interview will be held on the 28th of September. Unfortunately, this date cannot be amended due to service availability. Interviews will be conducted face-to-face.

About us
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

Job responsibilities
The must haves for this role:

• Postgraduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology, or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or completed their training overseas
• Registered as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Eligibility for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Clinical supervision training for doctoral psychology trainees and other qualified clinicians
• Extensive experience as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist, including senior-level leadership in complex healthcare settings
• Significant experience supervising and supporting clinical psychology doctoral trainees and other psychological professions trainees
• Experience of working collaboratively with education and training providers to support placement quality, training governance and learning environments
• Experience of workforce governance, professional standards, data systems, reporting, assurance and improvement
• Experience of leading workforce or service improvement programmes and delivering change in complex multi-stakeholder environments
• Experience of managing or overseeing budgets, funded training allocations, contracts, tariff arrangements, procurement or financial initiatives
• Ability to provide senior professional leadership and governance with direct responsibility for doctoral clinical psychology training arrangements and for collaboration with NHSE and other internal and external commissioners of education and training courses.
• Excellent communication, influencing and partnership-working skills
• Ability to travel to multiple sites and work effectively with stakeholders online

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, its important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

Were committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Stonewall Proud Employer, Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and Other Ethnic Groups.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dr Alison Pocock, current Head of Psychological Workforce and Training: Alison.Pocock@berkshire.nhs.uk.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Person Specification
Education/Qualifications/Training
Essential

• Postgraduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology, or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or completed their training overseas
• Registered as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• (Eligibility for) Chartered Membership of British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Clinical supervision training (BPS-registered course or equivalent) for supervision of doctoral psychology trainees and qualified clinicians
• Professional leadership qualification or equivalent level of substantial leadership experience
• Training and/or proven ability in providing effective education, training, consultation and coaching to develop and support others

Previous Experience
Essential

• Extensive experience as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist, including senior-level practice in complex healthcare settings
• Significant experience supervising and supporting clinical psychology doctoral trainees and other psychological professions trainees in clinical settings and academic work
• Experience of working collaboratively with education and training providers to support placement quality, training governance and learning environments
• Experience of developing and maintaining workforce or governance data systems, including reporting for compliance, assurance and improvement
• Experience of coordinating, monitoring or providing governance for clinical psychology doctoral or other psychological professions training placements in partnership with course providers
• Experience of developing strategic plans, leading workforce or service improvement programmes and delivering change in complex multi-stakeholder environments
• Experience of managing complex professional governance issues, including professional capability, clinical governance, complaints, investigations and related assurance processes
• Experience of managing or overseeing budgets, funded training allocations, contracts, tariff arrangements, procurement or financial initiatives
• Experience of developing or contributing to business cases, bids or investment proposals for workforce, training or service development
• Experience of advising on recruitment, role requirements, qualification standards or professional registration requirements for psychological professions roles
• Experience of building productive relationships across professional groups, clinical services and multi-agency partnerships
• Experience of managing resources in NHS settings, including staff, financial and material resources

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
Essential

• Thorough knowledge of the psychological professions, including professional standards, guidance, governance, education routes and CPD requirements
• Knowledge of systems and processes that support professional registration, accreditation, CPD, supervision and compliance across psychological professions
• Ability to provide senior professional leadership and governance for psychological education and training, with direct responsibility for doctoral clinical psychology training arrangements, including placement coordination with education providers and assurance on supervision, competence and standards
• Ability to manage, analyse and interpret complex workforce, financial and governance data to inform workforce planning, quality improvement, business planning and strategic decision-making
• Ability to work strategically and operationally, prioritising complex workloads and competing demands
• Knowledge of safeguarding, information governance, confidentiality and data protection requirements relevant to workforce, training and professional governance information
• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence across disciplines and staff groups, manage complex or contentious information and operate effectively in challenging or emotionally demanding situations
• Ability to lead, engage and motivate others with a compassionate and enabling approach
• Project management, policy and strategy writing skills
• Ability to prepare, deliver and evaluate evidence, reports and presentations for senior audiences
• Excellent IT skills and the ability to navigate a range of systems and software packages
• Ability to travel to multiple sites and work effectively with stakeholders online
• Evaluation and audit skills, with a good understanding of clinical governance and the ability to gather, analyse, interpret and present complex data effectively
• Demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, with experience of promoting inclusive workforce development, widening participation or equitable access to training and career development opportunities

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.

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
Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Address
London House, London Road, Bracknell RG12 2UT
London Road
Bracknell
RG12 2UT
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Consultant Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
Alison Pocock
alison.pocock@berkshire.nhs.uk
01189046500

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.