Job summary
- Main area
- Secure Care and Offender Health
- Grade
- Band 8b
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 436-7495640
- Employer
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Tamarind Centre
- Town
- Birmingham
- Salary
- £64,455 - £74,896 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/10/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 04/11/2025
Employer heading
Band 8b Principal Practitioner Psychologist - Tamarind Centre
Band 8b
Please note that this post may close earlier than the indicated closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Job overview
The Tamarind Centre is seeking a fixed term maternity cover for an 8B Practitioner Psychologist to join its psychology department. This is a strong developmental opportunity, ideal for an experienced 8A looking to progress or an 8B psychologist curious about moving into forensic work.
The post sits within our personality focused recovery service, a specialist ward for men with complex histories of violence, trauma, and interpersonal conflict. We are looking for someone with experience delivering therapeutic work to individuals, groups, and across systems. While expertise in MBT, DBT, or forensic psychodynamic psychotherapy is welcomed, it is not essential. An interest in adapting therapies for men at high risk of violence is especially valued.
Tamarind is an 89 bed medium secure unit supporting men with enduring mental health needs and histories of violence. Our psychology team values openness, authenticity, and psychological safety. We prioritise cohesion over conformity and invite you to help us grow. Our work lives in the balance between care and containment, acknowledging trauma and structural inequality while avoiding binary thinking. Evidence based practice is essential, but we aim to adapt it compassionately and meaningfully.
Main duties of the job
Beyond therapy, we are committed to co-production and service user involvement. Recent work includes culturally informed mental health groups, co-designed trauma training, and projects with carers to hold the service accountable. As Principal Psychologist, you will help lead this work, shaping trauma informed care as a cultural shift across the unit and wider Division. Leadership here is seen not as a title but as a shared, evolving process. Support comes from colleagues across disciplines, including community partners.
Working in a forensic NHS setting comes with complexity. Cultural narratives around men, violence, and mental illness can distort the work. We create space, formally and informally, to reflect on power and help staff and service users recognise and celebrate small but meaningful progress.
If this sounds like a place where you would like to contribute and grow, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
Working for our organisation
Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.
Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.
Please click on the link for a little insight into our services and our people
https://vimeo.com/benthompsonfilms/psychologyrecruitment?share=copy
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Satisfactory completion of a British Psychological Society accredited Doctoral Level postgraduate professional training course in clinical psychology (the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), the completion of which includes the study of models of psychopathology, psychometric and neuropsychological assessment, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- Eligibility for entry onto the Register of Chartered Psychologists
Desirable criteria
- Post-doctoral training in one or more highly specialist areas of psychological practice / therapy
Experience
Essential criteria
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/forensic psychologist for a minimum of 4 years post qualification, with a minimum of at least 2 years at the Senior (highly specialist) level.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, with clients of all ages across the lifespan and of wide-ranging presenting problems that reflect the full spectrum of clinical complexity and severity
Desirable criteria
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of working therapeutically with ‘difficult to treat’ and or ‘hard to reach’ groups and clients in community settings
- Experience of safeguarding and risk management across several agencies, including appropriately escalating concerns
Skills
Essential criteria
- Highly developed theoretical and practical knowledge of the field of clinical psychology, consistent with doctoral level professional training and further post qualification study, training and supervised experience during a minimum of 4 years as a qualified psychologist
- Skills in providing consultation and advice from a psychological perspective to members of other professional and non-professional groups.
- Awareness and understanding of the differential needs of people from black and minority ethnic groups and of the service issues arising within a multicultural urban area.
Desirable criteria
- In depth knowledge of information governance legislation and information sharing practices across agencies
Personal
Essential criteria
- Ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
- Capacity for tolerating frustration, change and high levels of demand with an ability to work effectively under pressure.
Desirable criteria
- Willing and eligible to apply for higher level security clearance
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Abdullah Mia
- Job title
- Consultant Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0121 301 0774
- Additional information
We encourage site visits and phone calls to find out more about our service and the role
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