Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to lead psychological therapies across Oxleas' forensic inpatient and community services, including medium and low secure wards, community forensic multidisciplinary teams, and a dedicated community forensic psychological therapies service.

We are looking for a senior psychologist to join the directorate's management team and who is experienced in multi-disciplinary forensic healthcare services and passionate about delivering psychologically informed care at scale.

This post will suit highly visible leaders who seek a blend of leadership and direct clinical work. As Consultant Psychologist, you will maintain a strong clinical presence through providing psychological input to an inpatient ward and a small outpatient caseload. Alongside, working with the psychological therapies Head of Specialty and directorate's management team, you will influence the service's culture, practice, and service developments. You will embed psychological thinking at every level of care, strengthening relational security and delivering meaningful outcomes for patients.

Main duties of the job
Key responsibilities include:

• Leading and managing Psychological Therapies Services across inpatient and community forensic pathways, to deliver high-quality psychological assessments and interventions to address mental health needs and risks to others.
• Providing clinical and operational oversight of a specialist community psychological therapies service for people with complex emotional and interpersonal difficulties who harm others.
• Maintaining a clinical caseload.
• To be or to work towards qualification as an AC / RC approved under the Mental Health Act (2007)
• Ensuring the delivery of reflective practice to support compassionate, psychologically informed teams.
• Supporting and supervising principal psychologists and other psychological therapies staff, ensuring their professional development.
• Promoting trauma-informed approaches across multidisciplinary teams and services.
• Ensuring high standards of clinical governance and quality improvement.
• Contributing as a senior member of the directorate leadership team.
• Leading service evaluation, outcome monitoring, research activity and service development initiatives.

About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We're Kind
• We're Fair
• We Listen
• We Care

Details
Date posted: 20 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8c
Salary: £85,641 to £97,746 a year pa inc
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 277-8234699-FOR
Job locations: Bracton Centre, Dartford, DA27AF, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
This role involves providing strategic, clinical and operational leadership for psychological therapies across inpatient and community forensic services, ensuring the delivery of high-quality assessments and interventions that address both mental health needs and risks to others. The postholder oversees a specialist community psychological therapies service for individuals with complex emotional and interpersonal difficulties associated with harmful behaviour, while maintaining their own clinical caseload. They are expected to be, or work towards becoming, an Approved Clinician/Responsible Clinician under the Mental Health Act (2007). A key aspect of the role is fostering reflective practice and psychologically informed, compassionate teams through supervision, support and professional development of principal psychologists and other psychological therapies staff. The postholder promotes trauma-informed approaches across multidisciplinary services, maintains robust standards of clinical governance and quality improvement, contributes to directorate leadership, and leads service evaluation, outcome monitoring, research and service development activity to enhance the effectiveness and quality of care.

Person Specification
Professional registration
Essential

• HCPC registration

Qualifications
Essential

• Professional Doctorate or equivalent
• Post-qualification training in a specific psychological therapy

Desirable

• Supervision Training
• Leadership Training

Experience
Essential

• 6 years post-qualification whole time or equivalent part time experience in clinical / forensic settings
• At least 3 years management and / or leadership experience

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: Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Bracton Centre, Dartford, DA27AF, United Kingdom
Employer's website: http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Directorate Psychological Therapies Lead
Peter Stevens
peter.stevens1@nhs.net
01322297175

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.
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).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).