Associate Director Psychological Professions - Acute Care Group

Associate Director Psychological Professions - Acute Care Group NHS AfC: Band 8d

Main area Acute Care Group Grade NHS AfC: Band 8d Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (Happy to discuss flexible working options) Job ref 868-A

Site Royal Bolton Hospital Town Bolton Salary £94,356 - £108,814 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 19/08/:59

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of psychological leadership within Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).

We are strengthening the voice of psychological professions across the organisation and this new role will play a pivotal part in that vision.

As Associate Director for Psychological Services within the Acute Care Group you will join a team of associate directors and hold collective responsibility for that group.

The Acute Care Group encompasses three key service clusters:

1) Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC)

2) Adult Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Wards and Psychiatric Intensive Care Units

3) Later Life Psychiatric Inpatient Services.

TheAcute Care Groupsits alongside three other care groups within GMMH, namely theCommunity Care Group,Specialist Care Groupand theHealth and Justice Forensic Mental Health and Recovery Care Group.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will be responsible for professional psychological practice and quality within the care group, ensuring excellence in service delivery, staff wellbeing, patient experience and outcomes.

The post holder will provide professional leadership and line management for senior psychological practitioners within the care group and act as a motivator and expert resource. They will work closely with the Care Group Leadership team and the Director for Psychological Professions (CPPO). They will be part of a collaborative and compassion focussed leadership team, taking a trauma responsive approach to delivering services. They will enable and support the pooling, development, sharing and retention of psychological knowledge and skills, strategic planning for psychological professions, professional and clinical governance and a clear identity for psychology within the care group.

The post holder will facilitate co-ordination of supervision and training placements and support recruitment, professional self-regulation and continuing professional development. It is expected that the post-holder will also provide some focused clinical input to Bolton Home Based Treatment Team and act as Lead Psychological Professional for UEC as part of their job plan.They may be asked to deputise for the CPPO as appropriate.

Working for our organisation

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7000 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 122 locations.

We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford,Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.

Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.

Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification

• Pay Enhancements - 30% additional for Evenings (8pm onwards) and Saturdays and 60% additional for Sundays and Bank holidays.
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
• Qualified to doctorate level or equivalent
• Registered professional HCPC or equivalent
• Experience of acute care services
• Professional Leadership experience
• Research experience
• Experience managing others & of related processes (e.g. HR, recruitment)
• Training and experience supervising others
• Demonstrated ability to with with clinical complexity with individuals, teams and services, in all aspects of the role of a psychologist (assessment, formulation, intervention, consultation)
• Experience leading psychological or multi-professional services at a senior, strategic level within an NHS Trust or healthcare environment.
• Experience of leading and implementing strategic change or service transformation projects
• Experience using data to develop strategy and improve services
• Experience in managing budgets, workforce planning, recruitment, and retention

Personal

• Personal experience of mental health difficulties
• Demonstrating values which are relevant for this role

Important Information about working for GMMH:
All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website

The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we'd love to hear from you.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application.The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one's achievements, success and challenges.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.

Sponsorship

We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government's website - clickhere .

If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.

The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it here .

Do you have experience outside the NHS?

We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.

We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.

Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support.