Highly Specialist - Research Clinical Psychologist

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Clinical Psychologist to deliver specialist psychological therapy for young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis. This is a 12 month fixed-term contract where you will join a centre of excellence in the development and delivery of psychological interventions for psychosis: the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis  clinical research group. It is a thriving and supportive clinical research group, based at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS, that aims to carry out work to the highest standards for patients.

You'll deliver specialist psychological therapy as part of the Sleeping Better project – a large multi-site randomised controlled trial testing the team’s 12-week treatment for sleep and circadian rhythm difficulties. You will work clinically across a number of NHS trusts facilitating a specialist remote clinic treating sleep and circadian problems in young people at risk of psychosis. There will be supervision, teaching, and publication opportunities.

We're looking for candidates with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) and an in-depth understanding of the theoretical and empirical foundations of cognitive approaches to mental health difficulties and excellent cognitive therapy skills.  If this sounds like you,  please apply to join our team!

Main duties of the job

You'll be working as a clinical psychologist to deliver specialist psychological therapy to young people at risk of psychosis. The interventions will be provided in the context of randomised controlled clinical trials - including an evaluation of the team’s sleep intervention.

There will also be work with patients at first episode of psychosis. You'll work clinically across a number of NHS trusts, delivering the sleep intervention remotely to patients. You'll also help facilitate this specialist remote clinic for young people at risk of psychosis.

The post-holder will deliver the intervention, supervise assistant psychologists, and work with local services at each of the collaborating NHS trusts. There will also be teaching, research supervision, and publication opportunities. The primary base will be in the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) team in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.

Waite, F., Černis, E., Kabir, T., Iredale, E., Johns, L., Maughan, D., ... & Freeman, D. (2023). A targeted psychological treatment for sleep problems in young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis in England (SleepWell). The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(9), 706-718.

Freeman, D., & Waite, F. (2025). Sleep and circadian difficulties in schizophrenia: presentations, understanding, and treatment. Psychological Medicine, 55, e47.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You'll be joining the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) clinical research group based in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. We are a large clinical research team working to understand why mental health problems happen and how they can be best treated psychologically. The O-CAP team comprises approximately 40 people, including clinical psychologists, project coordinators, peer support workers, VR computer scientists, research assistants, DPhil students, and administrators. It is a thriving and supportive clinical research group that aims to carry out work to the highest standards for patients.

The focus of this post is delivering specialist psychological therapy for young people at risk of psychosis in the context of a major new clinical trial for early psychosis. There are also supervision, teaching, and publication opportunities.

The position will suit a clinical psychologist keen to apply cognitive theory and therapeutic techniques to improve treatment outcomes. This is a fixed term 12month post in the first instance, but there are likely to be opportunities to extend. We are keen to develop the post-holder in a clinical academic career. The post-holder will be supervised by Dr Felicity Waite and Prof Daniel Freeman, and we welcome discussions with potential candidates.

• To lead the delivery of a specialist, remote psychological therapies clinic for young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis, building on the SleepWell clinical trial.
• To deliver highly specialist psychological therapy to treat sleep problems in young people at risk of psychosis as part of a large clinical trial: Sleeping Better. The postholder will maintain a caseload of approximately 15 patients seen remotely.
• To help support the day-to-day management of the project at the local site, ensuring milestones are achieved and the work is carried out to the highest standards.
• To contribute to the supervision of assistant psychologists and graduate mental health workers in the delivery of psychological interventions.
• To contribute to the supervision of research assistants in the recruitment and assessment of trial participants.
• To work closely with the clinical teams in the collaborating NHS mental health trusts. This will include delivering new treatments to patients in these trusts as part of the clinical research and supervising and training others in the delivery of treatments.
• To provide regular reports on the progress of the study. This will include providing information needed by the funder.
• To work closely with other members of the O-CAP research group, helping to ensure the success of studies conducted within the group.
• To ensure excellent working relationships with collaborators across the project.
• To conduct good record-keeping and report writing.
• To work to standard operational procedures for the projects.
• To attend supervision and research team meetings.
• Administrative duties related to the projects.
• To undertake research supervision, teaching, and contribute to publications.
• Treatment is provided in a number of NHS trusts. This means there will be travel across the large geographical area both to clinical teams and patient homes, which would be facilitated by having a valid driving licence and access to own or other independent means of transport.
• The projects include large multi-site clinical trials across the UK and therefore occasional travel between sites will be necessary.
• To work within the guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act, the Code of Ethics, Trust policies and procedures, and with full understanding of confidentiality issues
• Other duties appropriate to the grade as directed.

Please see the job description and person specification attached to this advert for more information on the job role.