Job summary

22 Month Fixed Term Contract

An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit a Senior Practitioner Psychologist on Fixed term/ Secondment contract to join our community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (FCAMHS). The FCAMHS community team base is in Peterborough and there is also a second base in Cambridge. The service is regional covering the East of England region (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire).

This dynamic service will work in partnership with wider agencies to ensure integrated care provision across health, social care, education and youth justice to optimise the outcomes for children/young people who present with high risk and/or concerning behaviours and where mental health and/or neurodevelopmental concerns are suspected. The job will involve a mixture of advice and consultation and direct assessment work.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for the everyday delivery of our Mentalization-Based Therapy research pathway. Working closely with a research assistant, the postholder will insure the delivery of the research is in-line with Good Clinical Practice standards and adherent to the research protocol. They will responsible for supervising the assistant and reporting to the service Clinical Lead, and National team.

The post holder will be part of a multi-disciplinary team and will have the support of a Senior Leadership Team that includes a Consultant Psychologist and Consultant Psychiatrist. The postholder will have the opportunity to be part of psychology networks across the Trust and a specialist forensic peer supervision group. The post holder can offer Trainee Psychologist placements.

The post holder will provide a highly specialist psychology service to children/young people and their families/carers. The post holder will provide specialist psychological assessments for children/young people with highly complex presentations and psychological consultation to other professionals involved in their care. The postholder will also be expected to undertake service development projects and research as agreed with the Psychological Therapies Lead and Senior Leadership Team.

About us

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted
23 September 2026

Pay scheme
Agenda for change

Band
Band 8a

Salary
£57,528 to £64,750 a year
per annum pro rata

Contract
Fixed term

Duration
22 months

Working pattern
Part-time

Reference number
310-MCYPF-8185778

Job locations
City Care Centre
Thorpe Road
Peterborough
PE3 6DB
United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

• To develop the local engagement with a large-scale RCT MBT trial.
• To support the recruitment of participants to be involved in the RCT.
• To train in and deliver MBT as part of the RCT therapies delivery team.
• To monitor, document and adhere to the research trial protocol, alongside supporting others to do so.
• To provide specialist psychological assessments of children who are referred to the service, based on appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources, including psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, structured observations and semi-structured interviews, with children/young people, family members/carers and others involved.
• To provide appropriate bio-psycho-social formulations, consultation and advice based upon analyses of the range of available complex psychological information concerning children/young people who are referred to the service and their particular risks.
• To exercise autonomous clinical responsibility on occasion for implementing a range of psychological interventions with children/young people, their families/carers, adjusting, interpreting and reformulating the psychological models as appropriate on the basis of feedback, monitoring and follow up.
• To complete specialist structured risk assessments, drawing on highly specialist knowledge of forensic factors.
• To supervise, on occasion where appropriate, the delivery of highly complex psychological interventions as part of multi-disciplinary care planning.
• To communicate highly confidential and personal information obtained through assessment, formulation, therapy and interventions, to the child themselves, other involved professionals, their relatives/carers, and referring agents. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, making judgements concerning what information to report and how and when to convey it, in the best interests of the child.

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence\* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

\*DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• Postgraduate/Doctorate level qualification, qualifying the postholder to work as a clinical, forensic or counselling psychologist.
• Current HCPC registration as a clinical, forensic or counselling psychologist
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

Desirable

• Training in forensic risk assessment.
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of trainees.

Experience

Essential

• Relevant post-qualification clinical experience of working as a HCPC registered psychologist.
• Experience of specialist, highly complex assessment, formulation and treatment of patients with mental health difficulties and their families/carers across settings including community, outpatient and other settings.
• Must be able to assertively engage with vulnerable people with complex needs, and manage uncertainty and risk situations.
• Experience of working with cases where there are significant safeguarding concerns.
• Experience of training/clinical supervision of assistant psychologists and trainee psychologists.

Desirable

• Experience of working with children and adolescents.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Have skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and management in work with patients and their families.
• Be able to integrate psychological theories and outcome data with clinical practice.
• Be able to positively advocate for patients and professionally represent the underlying issues and needs of the patient group.
• Be able to cope with stressful interpersonal situations including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems including challenging behaviour, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Desirable

• Have a high level of ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex highly technical and clinically sensitive information to children/young people, their carers/families and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
• To complete forensic risk assessments, formulations and management plans.

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

• Knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of clinical caseload management within a team setting.
• Knowledge of the impact of trauma and neglect.
• Evidence-based practice relevant to the role.

Desirable

• Working knowledge of professional systems involved in working with adolescents both in health and criminal justice settings.
• Knowledge of relevant mental health, criminal justice and welfare legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the patient group and their care.

Other

Essential

• Ability to travel independently around the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area meeting required timescales. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.

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
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Address
City Care Centre
Thorpe Road
Peterborough
PE3 6DB
United Kingdom

Employer's website
https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:
Service Manager
Simon Bramford
simon.bramford@cpft.nhs.uk

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