Job summary
The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) programme is a jointly commissioned initiative by NHS England and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, that aims to provide a pathway of psychologically informed services for a highly complex and challenging offender group who are likely to have severe personality difficulties and who pose a high risk of harm or a high risk of reoffending in a harmful way.
Our OPD Pathways service offers a consultation and formulation service to offender managers across 9 Surrey and Sussex probation offices. The Intensive Intervention & Risk Management Services (IIRMS) forms part of the wider Offender Personality Disorder Pathway.
You will lead a cross-county service covering Sussex and Surrey. You will provide professional and clinical leadership to a dedicated and skilled multi-disciplinary and multiagency team.
You will also be required to work closely and collaboratively with regional senior probation officers, and Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) provider collaborative colleagues in similar posts.
The role will also provide supervision to the Clinical Leads for Brighton and Crawley Primary Care Mental Health Treatment Requirement team (Reflect Service), based at Brighton and Crawley Probation offices.
Main duties of the job
Provide professional and clinical leadership to OPD and IIRMS teams providing consultations to offender managers and (in IIRMS) direct clinical support to a high-risk group with offending histories.
Ensure contractual KPI performance and reporting, and clinical governance.
Take a lead on representing the Forensic CDS and SPFT in negotiations, collaborations and strategy development with the general manager and Probation Service senior colleagues.
Deliver comprehensive, accessible and evidence-based training plans.
Continually develop and support a competent, skilled and psychologically informed offender manager workforce working with people with offending backgrounds, presenting with high risk/challenging behaviours and complex personality difficulties.
About us
At Sussex Partnership we are committed to providing opportunities for flexible working. If you would like to work differently or different hours to as advertised, please get in touch to discuss this in more detail.
If you haven't thought about living in Sussex before then you should consider the following:
* Journey from the coast to the countryside in minutes
* Enjoy a lifestyle where there are renowned cycle routes and picturesque walks, including the famous South Downs Way in the South Downs National Park!
* Embrace taking time to discover all the miles of scenic coastline, including Hastings, Bexhill on Sea and Eastbourne
* Easy access to airports - Gatwick and Heathrow are both within 90 minutes of the county, providing links to Europe and beyond
* Brighton and Hove or London are within easy reach via local and national bus routes and national mainline stations
Details Date posted
30 December 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 8c
Salary
£76,965 to £88,682 a year pro rata
Contract
Fixed term
Duration
12 months
Working pattern
Part-time, Flexible working
Reference number
354-FH-20558-A
Job locations
Brighton Probation
Lancaster House, 47 Grand Parade
Brighton
BN2 9QA
Job responsibilities
You will be an applied psychologist with a core professional qualification recognised by the HCPC, and significant experience of working at a Principal or Consultant Level or similar, preferably in a service working with people with offending histories and / or high risk / challenging behaviours and presentations and complex personality challenges.
You will be able to demonstrate excellent consultation, communication and collaboration skills, and a successful / effective approach when working with a range of stakeholders / agencies within Health and Criminal Justice contexts. You will also be able to demonstrate experience in leadership roles, and will be an effective teacher, trainer and mentor to the staff you lead and support.
Person Specification – Essential Qualifications
* Post‑graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology (or its equivalent for those trained before 1996 or outside the UK*), including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
* For forensic psychologists working in forensic settings: Masters degree (with the award of the British Psychological Society qualification in forensic psychology or equivalent).
* Post‑doctoral / post‑qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice relevant to the specific Care Group/Service.
* HCPC Registered as a practitioner Psychologist.
Knowledge / Experience – Essential
* Doctoral level knowledge of applied psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct models of psychological therapy.
* Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology.
* Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological practice.
* Extensive experience of providing successful clinical leadership within a multidisciplinary mental health provider context.
* High level knowledge of national policy frameworks and initiatives and the mental health economy within which the Trust services are provided.
* Experience of the successful professional management of qualified and pre‑qualified applied psychologists.
* Experience of successfully representing the profession and/or services in local or regional policy forums, across services or at equivalent level.
* Experience of the application of applied psychology in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework.
* Experience of multi‑professional management of teams or services within the designated care group.
* Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of severity, across the full range of care settings including out‑patient, community, primary‑care, in‑patient and residential care settings, including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
* Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for service users' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co‑ordinator and also within the context of a multi‑disciplinary care plan.
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.
Employer details
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Brighton Probation
Lancaster House, 47 Grand Parade
Brighton
BN2 9QA
Employer's website
https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
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