South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust
Clinical Lead

Job summary
We have exciting opportunities for 3 experienced Clinical/Counselling Psychologists or CBT Therapists to join Sutton / Merton and Wandsworth Talking Therapies teams as Clinical Lead. These are 3 new posts in our services which have been created due to additional funding. The WTE for each post is as follows: Sutton Talking Therapies 1.0 WTE, Merton Talking Therapies 0.8 WTE and Wandsworth Talking Therapies 0.8 WTE - please specify in your application if you are applying for a specific borough or are happy to be considered for all 3 positions. Interviews will be held on 19th & 20th August 2026.

The services provide evidenced based treatment in line with NHS TT guidance and have well established and dedicated staff teams with a strong focus on improving health inequalities and staff wellbeing.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:
We are committed to getting the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. You will receive regular clinical supervision from an experienced and senior clinician (based on the modality of your clinical work) and have regular line management and professional supervision from the Head of Psychology and Psychotherapy for Talking Therapies. You will have the opportunity to attend regular clinical training sessions through the Bespoke Mental Health CPD offer.

Main duties of the job
The postholder will:

• deliver strong clinical and strategic leadership within Sutton / Merton / Wandsworth Talking Therapies, ensuring provision of a high-quality, safe and effective NHS Talking Therapies Service
• exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological therapy practice within Sutton / Merton / Wandsworth Talking Therapies, ensuring adequate supervision and other governance structures are in place and adhered to
• work collaboratively with clinical, operational and administrative colleagues to ensure provision of effective, evidence-based therapies
• ensure ongoing achievement of key performance metrics, such as completed treatment, reliable recovery and improvement and waiting times standards.

Flexible working:
We are proud to offer agile and flexible working opportunities as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work Monday to Thursday in the time frames from 8am to 8pm and Fridays 8am to 5pm (Merton and Wandsworth) 9am-8pm/5pm (Sutton), giving you the very best of good work life balance. Your working pattern can be negotiated, and you will be required to work at least one evening per week. The services operate with a hybrid working model with a minimum of 2 days per week on site, with an expectation that this is flexible according to service need.

About us
We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety ofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

About our locations:
Sutton Talking Therapies: Jubilee Health Centre East
Wandsworth Talking Therapies: Tooting High Street, Tooting Broadway
Merton Talking Therapies: The Wilson Hospital

Job responsibilities

• Oversee clinical caseload of all clinical staff in NHS Sutton / Wandsworth / Merton Talking Therapies and ensure safe and clinically effective case management of all patients. Oversee clinical outcomes and adjust delivery of clinical services to ensure that patients needs are met by the least intrusive intervention necessary to alleviate their conditions according to stepped care model of service delivery in line with NHS Talking Therapies guidance.
• To provide highly developed specialist psychological assessments of clients based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, and where appropriate, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
• To diagnose, formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of highly specialist psychological interventions for depression and anxiety for individuals, carers, families and groups, reflecting the current evidence base for the treatment and management of mental health needs, and as outlined by NICE and NHS Talking Therapies manual guidance, employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To exercise full responsibility and autonomy for providing interventions and/or treating and discharging clients, according to service guidelines and agreed care pathways, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation and interventions are communicated with the patient, the referral agent and others involved with the care on a regular basis.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications
If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist or accredited CBT therapist for a minimum of six years, including at least 3 years post qualification experience within the designated specialty where the post is located
• Experience of working with a wide variety of clinical presentations. This will include a wide variety of severity across different care settings including outpatient, community and primary care.
• Experience of working in an effective time-limited manner with adults, including the use of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and/or other evidence based therapies.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both including within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.

Desirable

• Experience of representing psychological therapies within the context of multi-disciplinary care
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across a range of care settings, including primary care.
• Experience of training others in CBT and/or other NHS Talking Therapies approved modalities
• Experience of managing psychological therapy and other support staff

Training and Qualifications
Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and (for Clinical Psychologists) neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology; or alternative training outside of the UK that is recognised by the Health & Care Professions Council leading to registration in the UK as a Clinical or Counselling psychologist
• or Post-graduate level training in an evidence based psychological therapy from a formally accredited course recognised by NHS Talking Therapies
• Accredited as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist by the British Association of Cognitive & Behavioural Psychotherapies (BABCP) for a minimum period of 5 years.

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialized areas of psychological practice
• Training and/or Accredited in another NHS Talking Therapies approved evidence based psychological therapy
• BABCP Supervisor's accreditation
• Formal qualification as a clinical supervisor in an NHS Talking Therapies approved evidence based therapy (i.e. EMDR, BCT, IPT, DIT, PCE-CfD, NET)

Knowledge & Skills
Essential

• Knowledge and skills of the application of CBT within adult populations.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• The ability to demonstrate leadership and management skills including knowledge and skills gained in managing qualified and unqualified psychological therapists
• Ability to manage, supervise and co-ordinate the work of psychological therapists and other staff within the service.

Desirable

• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialized psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of psychological therapy.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.

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: South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust
Address: Sutton/Wandsworth/Merton/Talking Therapies, London, SW17 7DJ, United Kingdom

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

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Clinical Lead IAPT and Primary Care Lucy Wilson-Shaw, Lucy.WilsonShaw@swlstg.nhs.uk, 02035134002