Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

The closing date is 28 January 2026

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated, committed, and compassionate Clinical Psychologist to join our Community Learning Disability Team in North Tyneside. The newly appointed clinician will join our multi disciplinary team, consisting of Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapist, Community Learning Disability Nurses and Support Workers.

We are a lifespan service and provide a wide range of services to both adults and children with learning disabilities and physical health needs, mental health needs, forensic histories, behavioural expressions of need, and dementia.

The ideal candidate will be passionate about working in collaboration with individuals, their carers, family, systems and professional colleagues to enhance health and well being, improve quality of life for our clients and their systems, address health inequalities, and promote positive health outcomes.

A candidate must have substantial post qualification experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and treatment of clients in a Learning Disability or closely aligned setting; substantial experience of clinical supervision, preferably with formal training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists and other staff; demonstrate evidence of further specialist training/CPD as required by HCPC post qualification; and have received a minimum of 50 hours of clinical supervision, whilst working as a Clinical Psychologist post qualification.

Main duties of the job

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to work with both children and adults and will be involved in a range of clinical activities, including assessments, interventions and management of significant risk in the community; forensic experience will therefore be highly valued. The post holder will play a key role in helping those around an individual to make sense of their difficulties including the contribution of neurodevelopmental factors, mental health, systemic factors and trauma.

About us

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality - opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England?

Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn't, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read 'applicant guidance notes' before submitting your application.

Job responsibilities

To provide a highly specialist clinical psychology assessment, therapy, and consultation therapy service to individuals with learning disabilities, their families, carers, and other professionals within the North Tyneside area.

To undertake research and audit for policy and service development within the area served by the team.

To be responsible for the supervision of junior psychologists, assistant psychologists and trainees on placement from doctoral courses in clinical psychology.

To role model compassionate and inclusive leadership to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the trust. This means demonstrating a consistent leadership style which (a) engages, enables and empowers others (b) uses coaching to promote ownership of learning and quality improvement and (c) facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.

Person Specification Experience & Skills

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation and intervention with a wide variety of client groups presenting with a wide range of clinical severity.
• Knowledge, theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies
• Experience of non-aversive behavioural assessments and interventions e.g. La Vigna model.

Other Requirements

• It is an essential requirement of the role that the post holder has a valid driving licence and is either a car owner and able to use the car for work purposes, or has a Trust personal lease vehicle which may be used for the role. However, the Trust would consider making reasonable adjustments to the role, if necessary, to enable a disabled person to undertake the role

Qualifications/Professional Registration

• Doctoral degree or equivalent qualification as accredited by the BPS as qualification for the independent practice of applied psychology in the NHS
• Eligible for Chartered Clinical Psychology status
• Clinical Supervision
• Clinical Training
• Post doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychology practice

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.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust