Head of Psychology, Hillingdon
The closing date is 12 November 2025
We want the people of Hillingdon to experience a fully integrated and coordinated mental health system that focuses on individuals' strengths and supports their overall health and wellbeing.
This role is clinical, operational, and strategic in nature, with a strong emphasis on continuous improvement and the transformation of service design across the Adult Mental Health system in Hillingdon.
The post holder will lead, coordinate, and actively contribute to the delivery of high‑quality support and services for adults experiencing mental health difficulties within the borough. We are committed to providing the right care, at the right time, to help people thrive, contribute to their communities, and live healthy, fulfilling lives.
We are seeking an exceptional leader who will inspire and empower our teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and professional growth to ensure that we continue to meet the diverse needs of the people of Hillingdon.
Candidates will be a Consultant Clinical / Counselling Psychologist with leadership experience to take on a professional leadership role as the Head of Psychology for CNWL's dynamic, successful and well‑regarded integrated Psychology and Psychotherapy services based in the boroughs of Hillingdon.
The successful candidate will hold a small complex clinical caseload and be responsible for supervision of the clinical team.
It would be important that you have an interest in familiarity with and respect for psychoanalytic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, DBT, MBT, as well as our full range of trauma‑focused interventions and approaches for people with complex emotional needs, as we are a fully integrated psychological therapy service.
Main duties of the job
* Provide strategic and professional leadership for psychological services across the Hillingdon Community Mental Health Hubs (CMHHs).
* Ensure the delivery of high‑quality, evidence‑based psychological care aligned with NICE guidelines and Trust standards.
* Lead on service transformation, design, and evaluation of psychological interventions to improve outcomes for adults with complex needs.
* Oversee clinical governance, risk management, and continuous quality improvement through audit, research, and outcome measurement.
* Provide professional supervision, leadership, and development for psychologists and psychological therapists.
* Support workforce planning, recruitment, appraisal, and wellbeing initiatives to build a skilled and resilient psychology workforce.
* Promote a whole‑system approach to care, ensuring coordinated support for individuals accessing multiple services.
* Collaborate with other professional leads (e.g., Psychotherapy, Arts Therapies, Occupational Therapy) to deliver integrated, person‑centred care.
* Build strong partnerships with multidisciplinary teams, primary care, voluntary sector, and service users to enhance community mental health provision.
* Contribute psychological expertise to senior management discussions and strategic decision‑making within the borough leadership team.
* Champion research, innovation, and the translation of evidence into effective practice to improve service quality and outcomes.
About us
Hillingdon is an Outer London area with a mixed, diverse population with some of the wealthiest and most deprived areas of London. There is a high mental health morbidity and local commissioners are committed to a high spend on mental health services. Hillingdon adult mental health service provides a range of mental health services for adults across the age range within the community and in hospital settings.
The service includes Riverside Hospital with 4 inpatient wards; one adult PICU, 2 adult acute wards and one older adult ward. Community Mental Health Hubs, Health Psychology, Talking Therapies, Psychology and Psychotherapy Services including Clinical Psychologists which are fully embedded in the CMHHs and inpatient unit, Arts Psychotherapy, and other specialist family and individual psychotherapies including Early Intervention Service, Learning Disability, Home Treatment Team (HTT), Liaison Psychiatry, Memory Service.
As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and the patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Job responsibilities
Please review the attached job description for more details about the role.
To provide and be accountable for a highly specialist integrated psychology service to people using Hillingdon Adult Mental Health Services utilising a range of interventions based on sound theoretical principles and research evidence. This would be based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological (and neuropsychological) tests, self‑report measures, rating scales direct and indirect structured observations and semi‑structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To be the lead psychologist for the North Community Mental Health Hub, offering leadership and expert advice to the MDT and taking responsibility for psychological therapy referrals within the North Hub. To work as a senior member of the North team.
To take a lead in the effective working of the services and ensure a psychologically informed framework for the service area that is culturally competent, anti‑discriminatory and challenges health & social inequalities.
To lead and develop the borough Adult Mental Health Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) Pathway.
To be expert in the skilled administration of psychometric tests, including skilled manipulation of test materials; and to be able to supervise others in administration of psychometric tests.
To provide expert psychological reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing & challenging situations and to support others involved in such situations.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Entry‑level qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology as detailed below (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
* Additional training beyond entry‑level qualification in more than one specialised area of psychological practice relevant to local services through formal post‑qualification training such as CBT, DBT, MBT, SFT, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy or similar therapeutic approach for patients with complex emotional needs (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice‑based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by a BPS National Assessor and an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
* Completed training course in clinical supervision.
* Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
* Post‑qualification and / or accreditation / registration in a specialist area of psychological practice.
* Qualification in supervision.
* Qualification in research.
* Other relevant professional qualification.
Experience
* Established experience of leading / managing a psychological therapy service at Consultant level or equivalent.
* Experience in leading change and transformation programmes in mental health services.
* Experience of undertaking leadership roles.
* Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for the psychological care and treatment with clients with complex needs and acting as a senior clinician across a service.
* Experience in leading clinical services that are anti‑discriminatory, accessible and acceptable to diverse socio‑economic groups.
* Experience of professional and clinical management of qualified and pre‑qualified applied psychologists.
* Experience of providing teaching and training to psychologists or other professional groups.
* Evidence of contribution to the promotion of equality and diversity across the service.
* Post‑qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
* Experience of carrying out post‑doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects.
* Experience of proposing and implementing QI and service development projects that impact beyond own service area.
* Experience of representing the profession in local directorate/divisional fora.
* Experience of being a lead for psychology in a directorate or division.
* Record of publications in either peer‑reviewed, academic or professional journals/books.
Knowledge
* Knowledge of the theory and practice of management and leadership.
* Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.
* Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
* Advanced level knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group, mental health issues and child protection.
* Knowledge of factors affecting health inequalities, acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
* Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC.
* Evidence of continuing training in a specialised area of psychological practice through formal post‑doctoral training (diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses, OR an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice‑based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a postgraduate diploma.
Skills and Abilities
* To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
* Skills in negotiating with management on strategic policies.
* Ability to hold a leadership role within a multi‑disciplinary service/services.
* Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention in a specialist area.
* Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups.
* Advanced practitioner skills in at least one model of psychological therapy.
* Highly developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, highly technical and sensitive information to clients, families and colleagues.
* Highly developed consultation skills to work with the multi‑professional team or other professional groups.
* Demonstrated ability in leadership and management skills.
* Ability to work as an autonomous practitioner with appropriate level of clinical and managerial supervision.
* Ability to take the lead in developing, identifying and employing mechanisms of clinical governance for the support and maintenance of clinical 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.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Hillingdon Community Mental Health Service, Mill House.
Salary: £97,283 to £111,278 a year pro rata P/T inc HCAS.
Contract
Permanent.
Working pattern
Part‑time.
Reference number
333‑G‑HM‑0740.
Job locations
Hillingdon Community Mental Health Service, Mill House.
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