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Job summary

Main area
Mental Health
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8c
Contract
Fixed term: 13 months (FTC/Secondment Maternity Cover to January 2027)
Hours
  • Part time
  • Flexible working
15 hours per week
Job ref
354-FH-20558
Employer
Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Brighton Probation
Town
Brighton
Salary
£76,965 - £88,682 pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
13/10/2025 08:00

Employer heading

Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust logo

Consultant Psychologist

NHS AfC: Band 8c

Come and join us

We're looking for people who share our values (compassion, accountability and optimism) to help us provide high quality care to the patients, carers, families and local communities we serve. We specialise in providing NHS mental health and learning disability services.

So what can we offer you in return?

We're an organisation which puts people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. We'll help you learn, acquire new skills and gain further experience to support your career development. And we'll provide the opportunity for you to bring your fresh ideas to work about how we can do things differently and continue improving.

You will also be joining a health and care system committed to working together to do the best we can for the communities we serve. Above all, at Sussex Partnership you'll have the chance to make a difference to the lives of the patients, carers and families across our communities.

As a Trust we are committed in making a difference. Your development is important to us, so don't forget to ask us during interview what opportunities we can offer. We can offer fully funded lifelong learning opportunities such as an apprenticeship from GCSE to Masters level.

If you like the sound of that, then come and join our team.

Job overview

The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) programme is a jointly commissioned initiative by NHS England and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, that aims to provide a pathway of psychologically informed services for a highly complex and challenging offender group who are likely to have severe personality difficulties and who pose a high risk of harm or a high risk of reoffending in a harmful way.  

Our OPD Pathways service offers a consultation and formulation service to offender managers across 9 Surrey and Sussex probation offices. The Intensive Intervention & Risk Management Services (IIRMS) forms part of the wider Offender Personality Disorder Pathway.

You will lead a cross counties service covering Sussex and Surrey. You will provide professional and clinical leadership to a dedicated and skilled multi-disciplinary and multiagency team.

You will also be required to work closely and collaboratively with regional senior probation officers, and Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) provider collaborative colleagues in similar posts.

The role will also provide supervision to the Clinical Leads for Brighton and Crawley Primary Care Mental Health Treatment Requirement team (Reflect Service), based at Brighton and Crawley Probation offices.

Main duties of the job

Provide professional and clinical leadership to OPD and IIRMS teams providing consultations to offender managers and (in IIRMS) direct clinical support to a high-risk group with offending histories

·       Ensure contractual KPI performance and reporting, and clinical governance

·       Take a lead on representing the Forensic CDS and SPFT in negotiations, collaborations and strategy development with the general manager and Probation Service senior colleagues

·       Deliver comprehensive, accessible and evidence-based training plans

·       Continually develop and support a competent, skilled and psychologically informed offender manager workforce working with people with offending backgrounds, presenting with high risk/challenging behaviours and complex personality difficulties.

Working for our organisation

At Sussex Partnership we are committed to providing opportunities for flexible working. If you would like to work differently or different hours to as advertised, please get in touch to discuss this in more detail.

If you haven't thought about living in Sussex before then you should consider the following:

  • Journey from the coast to the countryside in minutes
  • Enjoy a lifestyle where there are renowned cycle routes and picturesque walks, including the famous South Downs Way in the South Downs National Park!
  • Embrace taking time to discover all the miles of scenic coastline, including Hastings, Bexhill on Sea and Eastbourne
  • Easy access to airports - Gatwick and Heathrow are both within 90 minutes of the county, providing links to Europe and beyond
  • Brighton and Hove or London are within easy reach via local and national bus routes and national mainline stations

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be an applied psychologist with a core professional qualification recognised by the HCPC, and significant experience of working at a Principal or Consultant Level or similar, preferably in a service working with people with offending histories and / or high risk / challenging behaviours and presentations and complex personality challenges.

You will be able to demonstrate excellent consultation, communication and collaboration skills, and a successful / effective approach when working with a range of stakeholders / agencies within Health and Criminal Justice contexts. You will also be able to demonstrate experience in leadership roles, and will be an effective teacher, trainer and mentor to the staff you lead and support. 

See Attached JD and PS for full details of role

For further details about this role or to arrange an informal visit, please contact:

Dr Michael Lawson

Lead for Psychology and Psychological Therapies

Forensic Healthcare CDS

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

07471217851

[email protected]

(Mon – Thurs)

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Post-graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained before 1996 or outside the UK*] as approved by the HPC, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
  • For forensic psychologists working in forensic settings: Masters degree (with the award of the British Psychological Society qualification in forensic psychology or equivalent).
  • Post doctoral / post-qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice relevant to the specific Care Group/Service
  • HCPC Registered as a practitioner Psychologist

Knowledge/Experience

Essential criteria
  • Doctoral level knowledge of applied psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct models of psychological therapy and lifespan developmental psychology.
  • Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology
  • Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological practice
  • Assessed extensive experience of working as a qualified psychologist, including significant post qualification experience within the Specific Care Group/Service.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of the theory and practice of leadership and management in mental health services
  • Extensive experience of providing successful clinical leadership within a multidisciplinary mental health provider context
  • High level knowledge of national policy frameworks and initiatives and the mental health economy within which the Trust services are provided
  • Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological practice
  • Experience of the successful professional management of qualified and pre-qualified applied psychologists
  • Experience of successfully representing the profession and/or services in local or regional policy forums, across services or at equivalent level.
  • Experience of the application of applied psychology in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework.
  • Experience of multi-professional management of teams or services within the designated care group
  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of severity, across the full range of care settings including out-patient, community, primary-care, in-patient and residential care settings including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for service users’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyDisability confident leaderDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - BronzeCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardStep into healthPride In Veterans

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Christina Silver
Job title
Service Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07391016134
Additional information

Celia Lesquerre, [email protected]

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