Band 8b Principal Clinical Psychologist


Location
Salary
£66,582 - £77,368 gross per annum
Profession
Psychologist
Grade
Band 8
Deadline
11 Oct 2026
Contract Type
Permanent
Posted Date
14 Sep 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job requirements

Essential

16 listed

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

  • Other

    Commitment to continuing professional development, to partnership working and to reflective clinical practice.

  • Other

    Able to identify, and employ appropriate clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice.

  • Other

    Ability to travel Independently

  • Other

    Undertake physical intervention training and remain trained in techniques, as required by role

  • Skills

    Use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.

  • Skills

    Assessment, evaluation and management of risk associated with mental ill health and related psychopathology.

  • Skills

    Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively complex, highly technical and clinically highly sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS

  • Knowledge

    Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.)

  • Knowledge

    Practitioner level knowledge of at least two models of psychological therapy.

  • Knowledge

    Legislation and its implication for clinical practice and the appropriate management of people presenting with mental health problems

  • Experience

    Specialist complex psychological assessment and treatment of people with a wide range of mental health problems, of varying severity and complexity.

  • Experience

    Extensive experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist and evidence of specialist knowledge gained through practice and ongoing training.

  • Experience

    Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups and presenting problems including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.

  • Qualifications

    Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology, or its equivalent, including eligibility for chartered status with the BPS

  • Qualifications

    Further post-qualification, post-graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice

  • Qualifications

    Registered as a practitioner psychologist with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Desirable

7 listed

Additional qualities the employer would prefer.

  • Other

    Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

  • Other

    Experience of providing specific support intervention and strategy for staff.

  • Skills

    Production of reports suitable for public presentations and presentation in medico-legal setting.

  • Skills

    High level knowledge in the assessment and evaluation of psychological therapies.

  • Experience

    Representing psychology within MDT setting (clinical and organisational contexts).

  • Experience

    Experience of clinical work in a setting relevant to the post

  • Qualifications

    Evidence of CPD in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice

Job overview

Are you ready to lead transformation at the front door of mental health care?

We are seeking an experienced and innovative 8b clinical psychologist to play a key leadership role in our Initial Response Service (IRS) – a 24/7 single point of access service. The role focuses on psychologically informed triage; formulation; risk management; staff support and service transformation, to ensure people receive the right help at the first point of contact. The postholder will need to have the ability to work flexibly, as IRS is 24/7, where peak demand is expected to be outside of normal working hours.

Main duties of the job

  • Provide psychological leadership within IRS, CRHT and NHS 111 mental health option services.
  • Lead psychologically informed triage, formulation, risk assessment and risk management for complex, urgent and crisis presentations.
  • Deliver expert clinical consultation regarding managing crisis presentations.
  • Provide structured consultation and supervision to IRS staff.
  • Support NHS 111 clinicians with formulation, risk assessment and psychologically informed decision-making.
  • Develop and align psychological practice across IRS, CRHT and NHS 111 to evidence-based and best-practice standards.
  • Provide training, reflective practice sessions and post-incident reflections to multidisciplinary teams.
  • Support the delivery of trauma-informed, autism-informed and psychologically informed care.
  • Contribute to patient safety processes, after-action reviews and the production of reports.
  • Provide one day a week of direct clinical work.
  • Develop integrated pathways with system partners including NHS 111, primary care, crisis services and acute care pathways.
  • Lead and support urgent care service transformation, pathway development and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
  • Promote a standardized approach to safety planning, clinical decision-making and risk formulation across services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are seeking an experienced and innovative principal clinical psychologist to play a key leadership role in our Initial Response Service (IRS) – a 24/7 single point of access service. The role focuses on psychologically informed triage; formulation; risk management; staff support and service transformation, to ensure people receive the right help at the first point of contact. The postholder will need to have the ability to work flexibly, as IRS is 24/7, where peak demand is expected to be outside of normal working hours.

Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!

Some of the benefits you can expect:

  • NHS pension
  • a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
  • career progression
  • starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
  • staff physio service
  • NHS discounts and many more.

Interview dates are yet to be set; you will be contacted via email and invited to book a time. These emails may go to your SPAM, so please keep checking all your emails if applying.

Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Band 8b Principal Clinical Psychologist with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in Norwich, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £66,582 - £77,368 gross per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 11 Oct 2026.

Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (14 Sep 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.

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