Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
We are recruiting for a Psychological Workforce Lead to join our Workforce Development Team within Psychological Professions in NELFT.
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Psychologist who has a passion for ensuring the delivery of high quality, evidence based care to our service users in a timely fashion.
We are committed to parity of provision across boroughs and to a diverse range of populations. Due to a national crisis of recruitment into Psychological Professions, NELFT has taken the bold step of investing in the workforce and considering creative means of attracting candidates to join our community of Psychological Professions.
The successful post holder will work closely with the Psychological Professions’ Workforce team, including a Project Officer and Assistant Psychologist to oversee the implementation of projects to bolster the workforce, including (but not exclusively) international recruitment; new training offers for aspiring Psychologists; and apprenticeship roles in Clinical Psychology. The post holder will be managed and supervised by the Clinical Director of Psychological Professions.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will take a creative approach to considering all potential areas of recruitment and retention of Psychological Professionals within NELFT, including reviewing therapy training and delivery, ensuring parity across the Trust; liaising with universities regarding a range of offers of training for Psychological Professionals and ensuring that these posts are mapped appropriately across the Trust; reviewing the research innovations ongoing in the Trust, scoping for further training, ensuring that these offers link into the Trust values and objectives; liaising with Communications and ensuring that the profile of Psychological Professionals within NELFT is promoted internally and externally. The successful candidate will share the values and vision of the Psychological Professions’ leadership team and will be personable, open, honest, transparent and compassionate.
Working for our organisation
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,714 to a maximum of £5,941).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
NELFT Psychological Professions have a long history of pioneering research and innovation. This has evolved through close links with a number of universities and primarily with University College London.
The successful post holder will be key in co-ordinating the research agenda of the Psychological Professions in NELFT and ensuring that the profile of this work is raised externally to the Trust, thereby directing impacting on our recruitment potential as part of the vision of the Psychological Professionals’ leadership structure, we are building a Community of Psychological Professions across NELFT.
This group will be able to collaborate, innovate and influence across the Trust. The successful candidate will play a central role in the co-ordination and organisation of the new Psychological Professions’ Community.
We are building the Community on values aligned to NELFT’s five core values and with openness, honesty, transparency and compassion being key attributes.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. NVQ level 2 or equivalent standard of literacy and numeracy
2. Full qualification in psychological profession relevant to work in an NHS Trust
3. Professional registration with the appropriate body ( HCPC) as a practitioner psychologist, or equivalent professional registration body for the relevant psychological profession.
4. Completed training course in clinical supervision, or a combination of specialist trainings
5. Additional specialist trainings beyond entry-level qualification in specialised are of psychological professional practice through formal post-qualification training or specialist short courses
6. Recognised qualification in Project Management ( PRINCE2) or University-based teaching
Experience
Essential criteria
7. Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision
8. Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
9. Experience of supervising psychological professionals in training
10. Experience of providing teaching and training to psychological professionals and other professional groups
11. Post-qualification experience of working with service users from diverse ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds
12. Experience of proposing, implementing and carrying out post-qualification service-evaluation, quality improvement, audit or research
13. Experience of supporting staff with safeguarding or risk issues
14. Record of publications in either peer reviewed, academic or professional journals/books
Desirable criteria
15. Experience of working as a trainer for psychological professionals, based with an accredited course provider
Knowledge
Essential criteria
16. An awareness of NHS priorities
17. Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies and/or psychotherapies
18. Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychological disorders and the evidence base for relevant interventions
19. Knowledge of legislation and policies relevant to client care and support, staff support and workforce development
20. Doctoral level knowledge of research methodologies relevant to psychological professionals including statistical analysis
21. Good understanding of High Education courses and university-based provision of training for psychological professionals
22. Knowledge of project management tools and techniques
Skills
Essential criteria
23. Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data and proficient use of social and communication technologies
24. Strong project management skills and ability to run multiple projects simultaneously.
25. Ability to deliver psychological and/or psychotherapeutic interventions across cultures and other differences
26. Ability to work effectively in a team and to manage working in situations of conflict and with multiple sources of stress.
27. The ability to represent a psychological perspective to non-psychologists
28. Ability to communicate skilfully and effectively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues, overcoming barriers to communication including sensory and emotional difficulties, cultural differences, and hostility to or rejection of information.
29. Ability to select, administer and interpret assessment and integrate complex data that required analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several courses on which expert opinion may differ
30. Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups
31. Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and interventions and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these.
32. Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with the victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in sever self-harming or aggressive behaviour
33. Ability to work flexibly and to be responsive to the needs of the service.
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
34. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
35. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
36. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
37. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.