Senior Clinical/Forensic Psychologist and Clinical Lead
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Job Summary: We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Clinical or Forensic Psychologist to lead and clinically manage a Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE) within the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway. As the Clinical Lead, you will shape a safe, enabling, and psychologically centred environment for individuals with complex personality needs who have recently been released from prison. The service is based within a Probation Approved Premises in Peterborough, supporting rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.
Main duties of the job:
* The post holder will be a strategic Clinical Lead for the PIPE service.
* The post holder will manage a wide range of complex dynamics within the environment and host organisation, taking a leadership role within the organisation and working effectively alongside operational and strategic leads.
* The post holder will have a key role in maintaining a healthy psychosocial environment, ensuring that the unit adheres to the theoretical principles of the PIPE model, including design, delivery and oversight of the core components of the PIPE model such as group work and the management of group dynamics.
* The post holder will manage the development of a positive and enabling milieu, ensuring compliance with policy and delivery arrangements and maintaining the standards set out for the Enabling Environment award.
* The post holder will contribute to staff development through training, support and clinical supervision, including participation in individual and group (peer) supervision and attendance at the Clinical Leads Business Meeting.
About Us:
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, and to supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services across community and hospital settings including children’s, adult and older people’s mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care, liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.
We recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from all community sectors, particularly from under-represented groups.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk.
Details:
Date posted: 21 October 2025
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £55,690 to £62,682 a year Pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 310-MASMH-7426410-A
Job locations: Peterborough Approved Premises, 5 Wesleyan Road, Peterborough, PE1 3RW
Job responsibilities (see attached job description and person specification for full details):
* To manage the delivery of the PIPE model in line with the PIPE service specification and national guidance; developing operational structures and approaches so that they are appropriately psychologically and psychosocially informed.
* To develop necessary psychosocial conditions required to support progression through the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway, ensuring the service has a focus on the lived experience of service users.
* To develop and implement socially‑creative, semi‑structured activities within the PIPE in order to contribute to a healthy psychosocial environment, ensuring sessions are responsive and adhere to principles of service user involvement and engagement.
* To develop a culture that promotes planned and psychologically informed responses from staff in relation to the host environment, including consideration of institutional dynamics and processes.
* To support and manage the referral and assessment process for those applying to the PIPE, ensuring any relevant population and criteria considerations are taken into account, and all decisions are documented. Liaise with the national Clinical Development Lead for PIPEs where appropriate.
* To ensure consistency and equity in approach from frontline members of the PIPE team, managing and mitigating the clinical impact of staffing structures, such as shift patterns or long absences.
* In conjunction with the Operational Lead to ensure the weekly programme of activities in the PIPE meet both clinical and operational requirements.
* To oversee the delivery of the structured and socially‑creative groups and to develop further groups as the need arises.
* To ensure the unit maintains the recognised Enabling Environment award status, in conjunction with the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
* To promote and support a culture of innovation and creativity in the approach to working within the PIPE framework.
Person Specification – Education/Qualifications:
Essential
* Doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (D.ClinPsych) or Forensic Psychologist Chartership; including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
* Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with HCPC.
Desirable
* Undertaken Post‑Doctoral Specialised training related to Personality Disorders (e.g. Assessment and/or Intervention).
* Psychological training relevant to the advertised post (e.g. Personality Disorder training, Risk Assessment training).
* Undertaken accredited training in the supervision of Trainee Psychologists.
Experience – Essential:
* Substantial experience of working as a Qualified Psychologist, at a specialist level, within a Forensic/ Personality Disorder/ Mental Health Setting.
* Experience of completing specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions.
* Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course.
* Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
* Experience of working within a Multi‑Disciplinary Team.
* Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for the delivery of psychological care and treatment.
* Experience of delivering teaching, training and clinical supervision to others.
* Able to demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision.
Desirable Experience:
* Experience of assessing and treating clients across a range of forensic/community personality disorder and/or prison settings.
* Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
* Lived experience of mental health.
Knowledge & Experience – Essential:
* Knowledge of Psychological Theories and Models relevant to this client group.
* Specialist knowledge of working with this client group.
* Knowledge of risk assessments related to this client group.
* Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and implications for clinical practice.
* Well‑developed knowledge of Psychological theories of Personality Disorder development.
* Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC.
* Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
* Skills in providing consultation and supervision to other professional and non‑professional groups.
* Advanced IT and keyboard skills.
Desirable Knowledge:
* High level of knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies related to this client group.
* Specialised risk assessment skills related to this client group.
* Skills to impart psychological knowledge and approaches to non‑psychology colleagues.
Personal Qualities – Essential:
* Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
* Able to tolerate ambiguity and to make decisions in situations of incomplete information.
* Ability to exercise appropriate levels of self‑care and monitor own state.
* Good organisational skills.
* Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record.
Other Essential:
* Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex multimedia materials.
* Ability to organise and implement self‑directed travel between working offices across the region and to attend national meetings.
* Excellent interpersonal and communication skills for effective working within the Multi‑Disciplinary Team.
* Ability to contain and manage high levels of distress from clients.
* Ability to manage organisational stress.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires submission for Disclosure and Barring Service.
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.
Employer details: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust – Peterborough Approved Premises, 5 Wesleyan Road, Peterborough, PE1 3RW – https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/
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