CYP Principal Clinical Psychologist

We are seeking an enthusiastic, compassionate and forward thinking Principal Clinical Psychologist to join our well established CYPMHS service, working with children and young people aged 0–18 across our Crewe and Winsford footprint.

This is a senior clinical leadership role for an experienced psychologist who is passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people and families with complex emotional and mental health needs. You will provide expert psychological assessment, formulation and intervention, alongside strategic clinical leadership, supervision and service development.

Our service is ambitious, values psychological thinking at its core and is committed to continuous learning, innovation and compassionate care. You will work closely with skilled and motivated colleagues, influence service delivery at a locality and system level and play a key role in shaping high‑quality, evidence‑based practice aligned with national priorities.

This role offers the opportunity to make a real and lasting difference to young people’s lives, while working within a supportive, reflective and values‑driven organisation that actively invests in CPD, professional development and psychological leadership .

If you are motivated by complexity, collaboration and meaningful impact, this is a role where your expertise will be valued, your voice heard and your leadership will matter.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking applicants with experience of, or a strong interest in, working with children and young people aged 0–18 who present with a range of mental health difficulties, often alongside additional psychological needs such as neurodiversity, trauma and complex risk . Applicants should demonstrate enthusiasm, compassion and optimism , with a clear commitment to improving outcomes and quality of life for children, young people and their families.

The successful candidate will provide specialist psychological assessment , including complex formulation at individual, family and systemic levels, delivering evidence‑based psychological interventions both directly and indirectly. The role includes providing clinical supervision, consultation multidisciplinary colleagues.

The post holder will work within an integrated, innovative and psychologically minded CYPMHS team , where psychological approaches are highly valued and central to service delivery.

Working for our organisation

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.

We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton, Liverpool and Stockport.

Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.

As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.

Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you’ll find something to suit you at CWP.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position.

The Trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Costs are deducted from salary following appointment and a small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Person specification

Knowledge and Expertise

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
• Knowledge of attachment theory
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
• Well-developed 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).
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.

Qualifications

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Registered with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical Psychologist
• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice. Post-qualification specialist training in particular psychotherapeutic approaches e.g. cognitive analytic psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy.

Experience

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of four years with 2 years at a highly specialist level.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in patient and residential care settings severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Specialist experience in the area of complex needs mental health.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care
• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

Trust Values

• Demonstrate alignment with Trust Values (6 C’s: Commitment, Communication, Care, Courage, Compassion, Competency)

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Giving you time to care, space to think and opportunity to grow

We are Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP). We provide health and care services for local people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care – including the provision of three GP surgeries.

We have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton, Liverpool and Stockport. We also provide specialist services for the North West as a whole.

Our services are provided in partnership with commissioners, local authorities, voluntary and independent organisations, people who access our services, their carers and families. The Trust has over 14,500 members and employs more than 4,000 staff across 62 sites, serving a population of over one million people and highly specialist services for two million people.

We offer career opportunities to staff across a range of professions, including:

• Allied health professions - including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, and speech and language therapy
• Medical - including psychiatry and general practice
• Pharmacy
• Clinical support roles
• Estates and facilities
• Support services roles - including HR, communications, ICT,finance and more

At CWP, we believe in giving our staff the time to care, the space to think and the opportunity to grow.

With vacancies across a range of professions, wherever you’re at in your career journey, you’ll find something to suit you. So why not join our team today?

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT 653 subscribers

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