Applied Principal PsychologistBand 8B

Blackcountryhealthcare; Wolverhampton; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Wolverhampton seeks an Applied Principal Psychologist to lead the Psychology team within the Mental Health division. The successful candidate will provide specialist psychological assessments and lead multi-disciplinary care teams, supporting both staff and clients. The position requires a post-graduate degree in applied psychology, HCPC registration, and experience in clinical supervision. This offers a competitive salary and potential flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Experience with clients across various clinical severity and settings.
• Ability to communicate complex information effectively.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

Responsibilities

• Provide highly specialist psychological assessment.
• Formulate therapy and management plans for clients.
• Conduct risk assessments and manage client safety.
• Lead the multi-disciplinary team and monitor interventions.
• Supervise Trainee Applied Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists.

Skills

Clinical responsibility

Risk assessment and management

Multi-disciplinary collaboration

Clinical supervision

Psychological assessment

Education

Post-graduate doctoral level training in applied Psychology

HCPC registration as an Applied Psychologist

Job description

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Position: Applied Principal Psychologist – Band 8B

Job Summary

This role is within the Mental Health division of BCHFT. As the largest clinical Division in the Trust, the MH Division includes Community, Urgent care, and Clinical Health Psychology services. Although the role is based in Wolverhampton, it is possible that psychology resources may need to be supplemented in other adult community mental health localities in the future, in which case the applicant may be required to move their base to a different geographical area.

This is a leadership role with the Psychology team of the Wolverhampton adult Community Mental Health Team (CMHT). This psychology team consists of clinical and counselling psychologists, CBT therapists and DBT therapists. The post holder will be supported and accountable to the team manager, and be professionally and clinically supervised by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist based in Wolverhampton. The post holder will be keen to work in a multi‑disciplinary environment, develop complex formulations, offer supervision, consultancy, and training to multi‑disciplinary colleagues and other members of the psychology team, and help to develop multidisciplinary understanding of psychological approaches to mental health recovery.

Responsibilities

• 1. Clinical Responsibilities, Patient Contact
  • Provides highly specialist psychological assessment of clients with highly complex and contentious conditions based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources, which may include neuropsychological testing.
  • Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of client harm, abuse or neglect, reporting all such concerns and taking all reasonable steps to protect the client. Responsible for identifying and reporting concerns regarding the safeguarding of children who may be at risk.
  • Undertakes risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and provides highly specialist advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management and the high physical risks inherent in the client group.
  • Formulates plans for highly specialist psychological therapy and/or management of clients' mental health conditions based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence‑based practice, negotiating the implementation with clients and/or their carers.
  • Implements a range of highly specialist psychological therapies for individual clients, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.
  • Undertakes highly skilled evaluations and makes decisions about treatment options.
  • Provides highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other staff contributing directly to clients' diagnosis, formulation and intervention plan.
  • Facilitates decision‑making by planning and mapping processes/interventions with members of the team to determine the most appropriate treatment modality or service for clients.
  • Leads the multi‑disciplinary care team in the development and implementation of multi‑disciplinary care plans where appropriate. Monitors progress during the course of multidisciplinary interventions.
  • To liaise with other professionals working within the NHS, Social Inclusion and Health and the voluntary sector on matters relating to client care that have implications for the service.
• 2. Supervisory/Professional Responsibility
  • Clinical supervision of Trainee Applied Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists.
  • Supervises Band 7 and 8a Applied Psychologists.
  • Specialist psychological supervision and scaffolding in a care pathway/cluster.
  • Line‑manage Assistant Psychologists.
  • Will hold responsibility and accountability for own actions, ensuring appropriate support and supervision is sought when required.
  • Keep abreast of current developments in the field through reading, attendance at appropriate training courses, and a range of other CPD activities, ensuring a log is kept in line with HCPC requirements.
  • Contribute, as appropriate, to the teaching offered on the local Applied Psychology training courses.
• 3. Multi‑Disciplinary Training and Development
  • Work with members of the multi‑disciplinary team to develop and maintain psychologically minded ways of understanding and working with clients using the services, both to promote and maintain the mental health and coping strategies of the clients and to maintain the safety of clients and staff.
  • Provides highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other direct care staff in MDT.
  • Provides clinical supervision to other direct care staff in MDT.
  • Ensures appropriate clinical supervision and scaffolding is in place to enable embedding of psychological skills in relation to a specific care pathway/cluster.
  • Assesses the need for and develops a plan for training in psychological interventions for the team in relation to a specific care pathway/cluster.
  • Devises and delivers training to staff which may include those outside immediate MDT in consultation with Consultant Applied Psychologist.
• 4. Service and Organisational Development
  • Clinically leads MDT in development, implementation and monitoring of MD care plans/ pathways/ clusters.
  • Takes a lead role in MDT delivery of CQUIN and QIP projects, NICE benchmarking and compliance requirements as required within MDT.
  • Able to identify service priorities and to work with Consultant Applied Psychologist and/or Team/Service Managers on developing these into action plans.
• 5. Service Redesign and Cultural Change
  • Bring an understanding of psychological change processes to own role within MDT and to help MDT to cope with changes, in consultation with Consultant Applied Psychologist.
  • Represent a psychological perspective in regular specific Division‑wide forums around governance, quality and redesign under guidance from Consultant Applied Psychologist.
• 6. Service Evaluation and Research
  • Take a lead role in clinical audits as required within MDT.
  • Evaluates training and competencies of staff who have been trained in psychological therapies in relation to the care pathway/cluster.
  • Undertake service evaluation and research.
  • Work on projects from conception to delivery.
  • Lead projects across MDTs in agreement with Consultant Psychologist and Team/Service Manager.
  • Engage multiple stakeholders in project work including service users and/or carers.
  • Developing and implementing outcome monitoring within MDT.
  • Supervise Applied Psychology trainee service evaluation and/or research.
• 7. Other
  • To undertake any other duties of a similar nature consistent with the responsibilities of this post in order to provide a quality Forensic Community Team service.

Qualifications – Essential Criteria

• Post‑graduate doctoral level training in applied Psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the BPS, including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
• HCPC registration as an Applied Psychologist with Chartered Status.
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Working as a qualified applied psychologist within the designated service including a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and a range of clinical severity across a range of care settings.
• Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary team.
• Liaison and joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies.
• Teaching, training, consultancy and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses.
• Research and development.
• Active participation in quality and service improvement initiatives.
• Evidence‑based practice relevant to the role.
• Risk assessment and risk management.
• Clinical governance.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health and its implications for clinical practice.
• Audit and research methodology.
• Social inclusion agenda.
• Communicate highly complex, highly sensitive and contentious information effectively to a wide range of people.
• Adapt creatively the evidence base for the interventions relevant to the client group.
• Articulate the value added by applied psychology services within the context of multidisciplinary mental health and learning disability healthcare provision.
• Undertake complex multiagency working and liaise with multiple systems.
• Utilise psychometric tests competently.
• Provide effective teaching, training, consultancy and clinical supervision for the multidisciplinary team.
• Identify, provide and promote appropriate interventions / means of support for carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours.
• Utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own work.
• Demonstrate effective keyboard skills.
• Utilise multimedia materials for presentations in professional, academic and public settings.
• Able to work in accordance with the Trust Values and Behaviours.
• Able to engage with vulnerable people and work effectively in highly distressing and challenging circumstances.
• Respects and has awareness of the advantages of joint working with other experienced professionals in a multidisciplinary setting.
• Able to work flexibly and co‑operatively as part of a team.
• Able to use own initiative and make decisions independently.
• Committed to continual quality and service improvement.
• Self‑aware and committed to professional and personal development. Able to accept and respond positively to feedback from supervision.
• Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological phenomena, theories and application.
• Be compassionate, empathetic and caring to everyone.
• Enable yourself and others to act with confidence and authority in order to achieve the best outcome for everyone.
• Work with others. Be inclusive by understanding and valuing others to achieve the best results for everyone and everything we do.
• Act with transparency and honesty, respect and value others to do the right thing at the right time for everyone.
• Highly developed knowledge and skills in the care of difficult to treat groups e.g. dual diagnoses, additional disabilities or severely challenging behaviour.

Desirable Criteria

• Registration with BPS.
• Project management.

Employment Details

Reference number: 285-5599A-MH

Location: Penn Hospital (may be required to work within other Black Country CMHT localities), Penn Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV4 5HN

Date posted: 25 November 2025

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full‑time, Part‑time, Flexible working

Salary: £64,455 to £74,896 per annum

Pay scheme: Agenda for change