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, and Essex. 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 five 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 seeking and experienced and visionary psychological professional to join NELFT as Deputy Director of Psychological Professions for Havering. This senior leadership role offers the chance to shape and oversee psychological services across Havering, working as part of NELFT’s most senior psychological leadership team.
Main duties of the job
You will report to the Director of Psychological Professions and work alongside peers covering Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Essex, Talking Therapies, and our Acute & Rehabilitation Directorate.
The role includes strategic oversight of all psychological provision in Havering, with strategic responsibility across the Trust for Community Psychology and Eating Disorder services – these responsibilities are subject to change dependent on specialist skills.
You will also be a core member of the directorate’s multidisciplinary senior leadership team.
About You
We are looking for a senior psychological professional who can provide strategic leadership and drive innovation. You will have:
1. Professional registration (, HCPC, BABCP)
2. Significant experience in senior leadership within psychological services including neuro developmental services
3. A track record of service development and transformation
4. Strong commitment to inclusion, coproduction, and trauma-informed care
5. Proven ability to lead and inspire multidisciplinary team
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have coproduced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind.
We are respectful.
We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
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 – Outer London
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 per annum (pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
6. Provide strategic leadership for psychological services across Havering
7. Oversee Trust provision of Community Psychology and Eating Disorders from a strategic perspective - the Trust wide portfolio will be subject to candidates clinical specialism and may change
8. Contribute to organisational transformation and integration of care
9. Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary senior leadership team
Why Join NELFT?
Now is an important time to join us. NELFT is a patient and clinically led organisation, operationally enabled, and committed to delivering high-quality, inclusive care. Our vision for Psychological Professions focuses on:
10. Coproduction and partnership working
11. Trauma-informed care for service users and staff
12. Building a community of psychological professionals
13. Promoting inclusion and parity of access
14. Reducing health inequalities and addressing social injustice
We strive to provide individualised, timely care and work with integrity, authenticity, and courage to deliver the best possible psychological support.
Our Transformation Journey
In recent years, NELFT has invested significantly in Psychological Professions and clinical leadership, resulting in a major transformation. This includes:
15. Creation of an Executive Director of Psychological Professions, Allied Health Professionals and Social work ensuring that psychological professions voice is heard at the highest level in the organisation
16. Creating parity in banding for psychological professionals across services
17. Embedding trauma-informed approaches for service users and staff
18. Integrating previously siloed psychological care into multidisciplinary teams
19. Developing an accountability framework through coproduction with clinical and operational colleagues
This is an exciting time to contribute to shaping the future of psychological care within NELFT.
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 to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
20. Post-graduate qualification in psychology or a psychological therapy ( clinical or counselling psychology, child and adolescent psychotherapy, family therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy) and appropriate professional registration
Knowledge
Essential criteria
21. Detailed and advanced knowledge of a range of evidence based therapeutic interventions and their practical application in a range of adult mental health therapeutic settings
22. A robust and broad understanding of national health and social care strategy and policy, in relation to developing services for secondary care
Desirable criteria
23. Knowledge of strategic planning process
24. Comprehensive knowledge of mental health policy
Skills
Essential criteria
25. Evidence of leading groups of psychological professionals working in NHS services
26. Open, participative, dynamic and supportive leadership and management style
27. Ability to build alliances and secure ownership of proposals across organisational boundaries
28. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, featuring: breadth of outlook and political skill necessary to establish effective working relationships with staff at all levels within and outside the organisation
29. Ability to identify, define, promote, communicate and achieve clear organisational values and goals, effective management processes and rational and timely decision making
30. Ability to work in partnership with other key professionals within and outside the organisation and a partnership approach to work across agencies
31. Ability to analyse complex issues, to think and plan to achieve both tactical and strategic objectives and to exercise sound judgement in the face of conflicting pressures
32. Effective in conflict resolution and management
33. Ability to present complex information to a diverse audience
Desirable criteria
34. positive outcomes of 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:
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. 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.