Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development post
At a glance
- Band
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Pattern
- Full-time
- Posted
- 24/08/2026
- Closes
- 07/09/2026
Sponsorship verdict
Candidates needing sponsorship are encouraged to apply.
HiveMind found a sponsorship-friendly statement in the source advert welcoming applicants who require a visa. Always confirm on the source before applying.
“Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.”Quoted verbatim from the source advert
Role summary
This is a development post for a Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist within The Fens Service, a challenging environment for individuals with chronic trauma in a male high-risk prison. The role involves managerial duties, clinical leadership, and working with personality disorders, challenging behaviour, and trauma. The service uses attachment theory, schema-focused therapy, EMDR, CBT, and CAT. The post offers opportunities to broaden therapeutic skills, management experience, and contribute to research.
Essential criteria
- Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence.
- Or chartered forensic psychologist
- Valid HCPC registration
Desirable criteria
- Recognised training in specialist assessment tools (e.g.PCL-R, HCR-20, WAIS-IV or other clinical assessments)
- Working experience as a trainee/qualified psychologist within a locked/secure environment
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across a range of care settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity Skills at 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 teaching, training and/or supervision
- Experience of the application of psychological interventions in different contexts
- Lived experience of mental health
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Experience of interagency working
- Skills & Abilities
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management.
- Skills in developing and/or delivering individual and group work.
- Skills in planning and organising caseload management.
- Skills in self-management, including time-management.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS/HMPPS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.).
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
- Knowledge of the OPDP services, and what working within an OPD service might entail.
- Knowledge or experience of using neurofeedback as a wellbeing tool.
- Knowledge or experience of using VR as a tool to support wellbeing or psychological interventions.
- Knowledge & Understanding
- Good understanding of other professionals' theoretical perspectives of this client group.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Physical Requirements
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enabling formation of networks with professionals within the Trust and from other agencies (HMPPS) to promote effective team working with clients
- Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients.
- Emotionally robust.
- Able to contain and work with organisational stress.
- Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
- Ability to exercise appropriate levels of self-care and to monitor own state, recognising when it is necessary to take active steps to maintain fitness to practice.
- Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record.
- Able to tolerate ambiguity and to take decisions in situations of incomplete information.
- Other
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Able to tolerate prolonged periods of sitting.
- Education/Qualifications
- Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement
Useful to know
Agenda for Change 2024/25 pays Band 7 at £46,148 – £52,809 a year, across England.
This advert: £49,387 – £64,750 — outside the standard scale; check for HCAS/London weighting.
Posted 14d ago · Closes in 1d
Applications close soon — apply now if this is a fit.
Full advert · preview
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development post
The closing date is 07 September 2026
Job summary
The Fen's service are advertising an 8a position, which includes the opportunity for people at a band 7 level to apply for and develop up to an 8a. Those already at the level of 8a are also welcome to apply.
If you are appointed as a Band 7, you will be provided with a list of competencies to complete and an agreed timescale in which to complete these, up to a maximum of 12mths. Competencies will be reviewed in your supervisions and appraisals. Only on successful completion of these competencies, you will progress to a Band 8a.
The Fen's is an innovative and challenging service for individuals with chronic histories of trauma who are located in a male high-risk prison.
Our treatment draws on attachment theory and incorporates schema focused therapy, along with a range of short-term interventions such as EMDR, CBT, CAT etc. Through a combination of individual and group therapies, patients are given opportunities to heal from trauma and neglect, improve wellbeing and reduce risk.
We will support you in broadening your therapeutic skills, management, and working to achieve organisational change in a complex system. There are opportunities to further your research interests through our links with Universiti
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