Specialist Practitioner Psychologist (Preceptorship opportunity Band 7 applicants),

Job details

• Branch: Southern HSC Trust area (SHSCT)
• Location: Bocombra-Bocombra Lodge
• Directorate: Mental Health & Disability Services
• Salary: Band 8a (£55,690 - £62,682 )
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Opening Date: 20/08/26
• Closes: Thu, 03 September 2026 @ 4:00 PM
• Interview Dates: TBC

Notes

. If you are submitting a manual application, please post it to: Recruitment Shared Services, Rosewood Villa, Longstone Hospital Site, 73 Loughgall Road, Armagh, BT61 7PR. Applications received after the advertised closing date/time cannot be considered, so please allow enough time for postage. A waiting list may be created for similar posts that may arise while the waiting list is live, this may include temporary or part-time posts. This will be managed in line with the updated HSC waiting list principles effective from 1 April 2026. Where a part-time waiting list is required, one part-time waiting list will be created- regardless of any specific hours advertised, this waiting list will cover all future vacancies where part-time posts arise. A part-time post is defined as any post that has less than 37.5 hours per week. Please remember to save or print a copy of the job description before submitting your application, as it will not be accessible afterwards. Flexible Working We welcome flexible working requests from day one. All HSC organisations offer a range of flexible working options. The options available for this post will depend on the requirements of the role. Find out more about flexible working options on our website.

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE Specialist Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling Specialty)

BAND 8A (Preceptorship Opportunity for Band 7

Applicants)

DEPARTMENT Children & Young People Services

INITIAL LOCATION Bocombra Lodge Portadown

REPORTS TO The post-holder will be managerially and professionally accountable to the Scaffold Lead, Consultant Psychologist, Corporate Parenting Division

ACCOUNTABLE TO Consultant Psychologist lead for looked after children, Corporate Parenting Division, SHSCT

JOB SUMMARY

The Specialist Practitioner Psychologist will work as part of a psychology-led multi-disciplinary consultation and therapy team which is known as the Scaffold service.

Scaffold has been developed within the Southern Trust to implement a therapeutic care experience model to support the emotional and psychological well-being of children looked after by the Trust. The service provides assessment, intervention, consultation, liaison and training to the Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding Workforces, to facilitate the effectiveness of therapeutic care for this group of young people who typically have complex needs.

Children in care may exhibit the impacts of complex trauma histories such as challenging behaviours, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, attachment issues etc. Research indicates that these young people and their carers benefit from wraparound support from a wide variety of services. Based on detailed assessment of need, the Scaffold service provides access to a range of consultative and therapeutic inputs across the range of settings (residential, fostering, adoptive) in which young people receive care, facilitating the integration of supports from other services and agencies.

The post-holder will provide assessment, intervention, consultation and training services to children, foster- and adoptive-carers, birth families, social workers and other staff, as a member of the Scaffold service. The post-holder will take a lead role in developing and implementing models of practice - based on knowledge of the impacts of traumatic developmental histories and best practice in the area – to deliver a range of multi-systemic supports and treatments to meet the needs of these young people, their carers, and the care-giving system.

This role will entail working in partnership with other professionals within the Health Service, Education Sector, the Adolescent and Youth Justice Sector and the Voluntary Sector to develop and co-ordinate the delivery of services.

KEY DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Core responsibilities

To provide specialist assessment of the emotional and psychological well-being needs of children and adolescents looked after by the SHSCT based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, direct and indirect observation and interviews with service users, family members and carers.

To formulate and implement plans for therapeutic/psychological intervention based on appropriate conceptual frameworks, working in home, social services, community, hospital and educational settings where appropriate, for young people, foster carers or adoptive-carers and birth parents when appropriate.

To provide training, advice and consultation to other professionals in relevant areas.

To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of services users whose behaviours are managed by therapeutic/psychological planning and provision.

To contribute specialist psychological perspectives to case-planning and multi-agency conferences and reviews as appropriate.

To communicate highly complex condition-related or contentious or sensitive information where there may be significant barriers to acceptance, and to manage ensuing difficult interpersonal situations in the interests of the child/young person’s welfare.

To work as part of the Scaffold consultation and therapeutic support service and co-ordinate all interventions with the clinical lead to ensure adherence to agreed models of practice. This will involve receiving regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice and professional guidelines.

Management and Service Development

To take responsibility for junior psychology staff and psychological resources within the Trust in consultation with the Lead Clinical Psychologist in the specialism.

To review the performance of reporting staff and to provide guidance on personal and professional development requirements.

To delegate appropriate responsibility and authority to junior Psychology staff within the Directorate as agreed with the Lead Clinical Psychologist in the specialism.

To contribute to the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service at the clinical and operational levels in consultation with the Lead Clinical Psychologist in the specialism.

As required and as appropriate, to provide supervision to other members of the Scaffold Service or other colleagues who are engaged in therapeutic working with Looked After Children.

To develop systems for assessment of young people and families, and for the development, delivery and monitoring of treatment plans, integrating care and treatment across service and agency boundaries.

To develop and be responsible for systems for auditing team practices and evaluating outcomes to assure service quality.

To assist in determining priorities for the Scaffold consultation and therapy service.

To attend team meetings for both the Scaffold service, and residential/field social work teams as appropriate.

Teaching, Training, Supervision

To receive regular professional/clinical supervision where appropriate.

To take responsibility for own continuing professional development and continue to gain wider post-qualification experience of theoretical and practise issues in service-related areas.

To contribute to the supervision of individual cases for trainee therapists/psychologists as and when appropriate.

To provide advice, consultation and training to foster carers, social care workers and other colleagues as and when appropriate.

Clinical Governance and Research

To utilise evidence-based literature and research to support effective practice.

To undertake project management including audit and service evaluation with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

To participate in evaluation of all therapeutic/clinical activity within the post and provide such information as required for the purpose of service monitoring and evaluation.

To contribute to the research and development activities of the Scaffold service, undertaking research and providing research advice as appropriate.

To publish research outcomes in professional recognised journals and share information on outcomes at professional conferences where appropriate.

To represent a professional view point in relation to nationally accepted good practice and to ensure a high level of ethical standards and professional conduct.

Administration

31. To maintain proper clinical records and provide statistical returns, as required.

This job description is not exhaustive. The tasks described are representative of the duties it is expected the post holder will undertake within the grade-range of the post. Job content will be reviewed as necessary in consultation with the post-holder to reflect the changing nature of the post.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The Organisation supports and promotes a culture of collective leadership where those who have responsibility for managing other staff:

Establish and promote a supportive, fair and open culture that encourages and enables all parts of the team to have clearly aligned goals and objectives, to meet the required performance standards and to achieve continuous improvement in the services they deliver.

Ensure access to skills and personal development through appropriate training and support.

Promote a culture of openness and honesty to enable shared learning.

Encourage and empower others in their team to achieve their goals and reach their full potential through regular supportive conversation and shared decision making.

Adhere to and promote Organisational policy and procedure in all staffing matters, participating as appropriate in a way which underpins The Organisation’s values.

RAISING CONCERNS - RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder will promote and support effective team working, fostering a culture of openness and transparency.

The post holder will ensure that they take all concerns raised with them seriously and act in accordance with the Trust’s ‘Your Right to Raise a Concern (Whistleblowing)’ policy and their professional code of conduct, where applicable.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The post holder will be required to

Ensure the Organisation’s policy on equality of opportunity is promoted through his/her own actions and those of any staff for whom he/she has responsibility.

Co-operate fully with the implementation of The Organisation's Health and Safety arrangements, reporting any accidents/incidents/equipment defects to his/her manager, and maintaining a clean, uncluttered and safe environment for patients/clients, members of the public and staff.

Adhere at all times to all Trust policies/codes of conduct, including for example

Smoke Free policy

IT Security Policy and Code of Conduct

standards of attendance, appearance and behaviour

Contribute to ensuring the highest standards of environmental cleanliness within your designated area of work.

Co-operate fully with regard to Trust policies and procedures relating to infection prevention and control.

All employees of the Organisation are legally responsible for all records held, created or used as part of their business within the [org name] including patients/clients, corporate and administrative records whether paper-based or electronic and also including emails. All such records are public records and are accessible to the general public, with limited exceptions, under the Freedom of Information act 2000 the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Employees are required to be conversant with the [org name] policy and procedures on records management and to seek advice if in doubt.

Take responsibility for his/her own ongoing learning and development, in order to maximise his/her potential and continue to meet the demands of the post.

Represent The Organisation’s commitment to providing the highest possible standard of service to patients/clients and members of the public, by treating all those with whom he/she comes into contact in the course of work, in a pleasant, courteous and respectful manner.

This Job Description will be subject to review in the light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

It is a standard condition that all Trust staff may be required to serve at any location within The Organisation's area, as needs of the service demand.

<Insert Date of Development>

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION

JOB TITLE Specialist Practitioner Psychologist

(Clinical/Counselling Specialty)

DIRECTORATE Children and Young Peoples Services

BAND 8A (or B7 preceptorship)

BASE Child and Family Care Office, Portadown

HOURS 37.5 per week

March 2020

Notes to applicants

You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria.

Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note The Organisation reserves the right to use any desirable criteria outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet the desirable criteria.

Proof of qualifications and/or professional registration will be required if an offer of employment is made – if you are unable to provide this, the offer may be withdrawn.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

SECTION 1: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will initially be measured at shortlisting stage although may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form whether or not you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is stated below.

Factor

Criteria

Ideally no more than 6-8 criteria in this section

Method of Assessment

Experience

Applicants for 8A post must have a minimum of 2 years post qualifying experience of therapeutic working within a child-related specialism.

Experience of working within a CAMHS and/or Children in Care setting

Applicants for 8A post must show evidence of post-qualification continuing professional development.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Qualifications/ Registration

Post graduate degree accepted by the British Psychological Society as qualifying the person to work as a clinical or counselling psychologist. Must be HCPC registered or demonstrate eligibility for HCPC registration1.

Other

Hold a current full driving licence which is valid for use in the UK and have access to a car on appointment. This criteria will be waived in the case of applicants whose disability prohibits driving but who have access to a form of transport approved by The Organisation which will permit them to carry out the duties of the post.

SECTION 2: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will be measured during the interview/ selection stage:

Skills / Abilities

Ability to plan and deliver evidence-based interventions with young people and carers/parents.

Flexible approach to meet the needs of the post.

Effective communication skills to meet the needs of the post in full.

Ability to integrate psychological theories and theories of child development

and therapy with clinical practice and service provision.

Ability to access and utilise evidence in respect of best practice.

Ability to work with people from different backgrounds, cultures and of different

ages.

Ability to cope with stressful interpersonal situations including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Interview / Test

Knowledge

Have an excellent understanding in the use of complex methods of psychological / therapeutic assessment, formulation, intervention and management in work with young people and families.

Knowledge of complex trauma and attachment theories, and implications for

multi-systemic service provision.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

SECTION 3: these will ONLY be used where it is necessary to introduce additional job related criteria to ensure files are manageable. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted

More than two years post-qualifying experience.

Experience in working in developing services and/or experience of managing

professionals/services.

Experience of therapeutic practice in different cultural contexts.

Experience of work with Looked after children and their families.

Experience of teaching, training and supervision of assistant psychologists and trainee clinical psychologists.

Experience in designing, planning and undertaking clinical research and

service evaluation.

Experience in teaching and training staff from other professional groups in therapeutic/psychological skills and concepts.

Qualifications

Working knowledge of professional systems involved in work with children, in both health and social care contexts and in specialist hospital and community settings.

Skills in adapting psychological interventions for hard to reach families.

Positive approach to own continuing professional development.

INCLUDE FOR SENIOR POSTS (Band 8a or above) IF RELEVANT

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will need to demonstrate at interview that they have the required competencies to be effective in this demanding leadership role. The competencies concerned are set out in the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model, details of which can be found at http://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/resources/healthcare-leadership-model. Particular attention will be given to the following dimensions:

Inspiring shared purpose

Leading with care

Evaluating information

Connecting our service

Sharing the vision

Engaging the team

Holding to account

Developing capability

Influencing for results.

If this is a Temporary Post add the following statement

If this post is being sought on secondment then the individual MUST have the permission of their line manager IN ADVANCE of making application.

As part of the Recruitment & Selection process it may be necessary for The Organisation to carry out an Enhanced Disclosure Check through Access NI before any appointment to this post can be confirmed.

THE ORGANISATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER

Successful applicants

may be required to attend for a Health Assessment

can expect to be placed at the minimum point of the pay scale, although a higher starting salary, within the range of the pay band may be available if the person appointed has experience relevant & equivalent to the post. If the successful candidate is an existing HSC employee moving to a higher band, AfC Pay on Promotion will apply.

All staff are expected to display the HSC Values at all times