Job overview
Clinical Psychologist/ Psychological Therapist - Maternity cover
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Step 3+ therapy provision within Wigan Talking Therapies on a 9 month fixed term contract to cover maternity leave.
They will be providing highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy for people with complex, co-morbid, chronic common mental health problems as well as ensuring the appropriate provision of high-quality, individual and group, clinical supervision to psychological therapists as appropriate.
Main duties of the job
Providing highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy for people with complex, co-morbid, chronic common mental health problems as well as ensuring the appropriate provision of high-quality, individual and group, clinical supervision to psychological therapists as appropriate. They will provide expert advice and consultation outside the service to members of the primary health care team and, as appropriate, to secondary care services. Where required they will be expected to undertake appropriate audit, research, and service development activities pertinent to the evaluation and development of the service. The postholder will adhere to the service standards for clinical activity and work within the procedures, protocols and guidelines for the service. The post holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary, and should be committed to equal opportunities.
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 6,400 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 160 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
See attached detailed job description and person specification:
Staff benefits
1. Pay Enhancements – 30% additional for Evenings (8pm onwards) and Saturdays and 60% additional for Sundays and Bank holidays.
2. 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
3. Excellent pension
4. Cycle to work scheme
5. Salary sacrifice car scheme
6. Wellbeing programme
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria
7. Doctoral or Masters Degree or equivalent experience/qualification in clinical psychology or any other relevant psychological therapy. Further post-qualification specialist training research or study, conferring advanced theoretical and practical knowledge within a specialist field of psychological therapy.
Desirable criteria
8. Accredited membership of an appropriate psychological therapy professional body. Additional further training and qualifications in a range of therapeutic models ( CBT, IPT, CAT) and in the use of specific psychometric and/or neuro-psychological assessment tools. Completion of appropriate supervision training.
Experience
Essential criteria
9. Proven post-qualification experience as a psychological therapist within the NHS Experience working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and full range of settings including primary care, community, inpatients and acute care settings, and with expert knowledge in common mental health difficulties. Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for psychological assessment and intervention and evaluation with a range of common, acute and complex mental health needs. Proven ability to supervise others within the domain of service area.
Desirable criteria
10. Experience of representing psychological services in local policy forums. Development and delivery of group therapy for complex presentations. Undergraduate and post graduate research experience. Experience of audit and service evaluation within psychological therapy services Experience in teaching and training and qualified psychological therapist and of non-psychology staff. Experience of the application of psychological therapy in diverse cultural and ethnic contexts
Knowledge
Essential criteria
11. Thorough understanding of phenomenology and theoretical models of complex co-morbid common mental health disorders. Understanding of the national guidance and policy directives in relation to the development and delivery of psychological therapies for common mental health disorders.
Desirable criteria
12. Awareness of similarities and differences between schools of psychological therapy. Skills and Abilities - to be able to complete the duties as laid out on the Job Description
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
13. Ability to formulate presenting problems using range of evidence based psychological models. Ability to formulate presenting problems from first principles drawing from appropriate knowledge base. Strategic planning, development and delivery of psychological services within and across organisations.
Desirable criteria
14. Training in more than one modality / intervention
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 – click .
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.
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.