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NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
About
NELFT NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and community services for over 4.9 million people living in the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Havering, and across Essex and Kent.
We work to ensure our patients, their friends and family, feel confident that their health needs are well met. With an excellent reputation for research and development, our skilled health professionals are at the cutting edge of evidence-based innovation, opening up the possibilities for better ways of working and delivery of care.
Contact
- Address
- Trust Head Office
- West Wing
- CEME Centre
- Marsh Way
- Rainham
- Essex
- RM13 8GQ
- Contact Number
- 0300 300 1530
Deputy Director of Psychological Professions
Accepting applications until: 18-Nov-2025 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 18-Nov-2025 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Kent & Medway Adolescent Hospital
- Address
- Cranbrook Road
- Town
- Gillingham
- Postcode
- ME8 0PZ
- Major / Minor Region
- London
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
Salary
- Salary
- £91,342 - £105,337 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 8d)
Specialty
- Main area
- Psychology
- Interview date
- 24/11/2025
Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
NELFT’s senior Psychological Professionals’ leadership team is excited to advertise a Deputy Director role within Kent CAMHS. The successful candidate will be part of the most senior team of Psychological Professionals within NELFT led by the Director of Psychological Professions and will have peers covering Redbridge, Havering, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Talking Therapies and our Acute and Rehabilitation Directorate. The role will include oversight of all psychological provision for Children and Young Peoples Mental Health and Neuro Development Services within Kent. The post holder will become a core member of the directorate’s multidisciplinary senior leadership team and will lead a group of Psychological
Now is an important time to be joining NELFT. We are a patient and clinically led organisation which is operationally enabled. NELFT’s cohort of Psychological Professions hold a vision which centres on coproduction, trauma informed care, building a community of psychological professionals and delivery of inclusion and parity of access to all residents in the areas we serve. We strive to provide inclusive, accessible and individualised offers of care in a timely manner; to reduce health inequalities; and to recognise the harm caused by social injustice in the communities we serve. We are committed to working with integrity, authenticity and courage to deliver the best possible psychological care to those using our services.
Advert
In recent years, there has been major investment into Psychological Professions and clinical leadership within NELFT. This has resulted in a vastly expanded senior Psychological Professional leadership team and a major transformation. This work is within the implementation phase and looks at several areas, including the creation of parity between bandings of Psychological Professionals in different areas of NELFT; ensuring that the care delivery is trauma informed for both people who use services and staff; and the integration of siloed psychological offers of care into multidisciplinary secondary care adult mental health provision. The transformation also included the coproduction of an accountability framework in which clinical and operational colleagues work collaboratively and in partnership in order to deliver the best care for people who use services, their carers, family members and supporters. This offer is in line with NELFT’s commitment to being patient and clinically led, whilst being operationally enabled.
Working for our organisation
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.
On-call payment
This post will be required to participate in the Trust on-call rota and attracts payment of 0.75% of the basic salary.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Now is an important time to be joining NELFT. We are a patient and clinically led organisation which is operationally enabled. NELFT’s cohort of Psychological Professions hold a vision which centres on coproduction, trauma informed care, building a community of psychological professionals and delivery of inclusion and parity of access to all residents in the areas we serve. We strive to provide inclusive, accessible and individualised offers of care in a timely manner; to reduce health inequalities; and to recognise the harm caused by social injustice in the communities we serve. We are committed to working with integrity, authenticity and courage to deliver the best possible psychological care to those using our services.
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
- A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
- A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
- Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
- Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.
Supporting our Armed Forces
We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans. reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.
Equal opportunities employer
We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.
We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email [email protected].
Correspondence with us
You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.
As part of our recruitment process, we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology
- Post-graduate qualification in psychology or a psychological therapy (e.g. clinical or counselling psychology, psychotherapy)
- BABCP accredited or meeting eligibility criteria for BABCP accreditation
- Post Graduate training in psychodynamic psychotherapy as accredited by UKPC or BPC.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Detailed and advanced knowledge of a range of evidence based therapeutic interventions and their practical application in a range of mental health therapeutic settings
- A robust and broad understanding of national health and social care strategy and policy, in relation to developing services for secondary care
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of strategic planning process
- Comprehensive knowledge of mental health policy
Skills
Essential criteria
- Evidence of leading groups of psychological professionals working in NHS services
- Open, participative, dynamic and supportive leadership and management style
- Ability to build alliances and secure ownership of proposals across organisational boundaries
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, featuring: breadth of outlook and political skill necessary to establish effective working relationships with staff at all levels within and outside the organisation
- Ability to identify, define, promote, communicate and achieve clear organisational values and goals, effective management processes and rational and timely decision making
- Ability to work in partnership with other key professionals within and outside the organisation and a partnership approach to work across agencies
- Ability to analyse complex issues, to think and plan to achieve both tactical and strategic objectives and to exercise sound judgement in the face of conflicting pressures
- Effective in conflict resolution and management
- Ability to present complex information to a diverse audience
Desirable criteria
- positive outcomes of service
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Rachel Hussey
- Job title
- Interim Director of Psychological Professions
- Email address
- [email protected]
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