Job vacancy: Deputy Director of Psychological Professions, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Luton

Job summary

Main area: Psychology
Grade: 8d
Contract: Secondment: 12 months
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 363-LUT7397475

Employer: East London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Charter House
Town: Luton
Salary: £91,342 - £105,337 Per Annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 19/08/2025 23:59
Interview date: 09/09/2025

Deputy Director of Psychological Professions

8d

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description

Person specification

Education / Qualification / Training

Essential criteria

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) or BPS statement of Equivalence and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist) with group training/expertise Or Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist) Status Or Accredited training as a psychotherapist (e.g. Arts, Systemic, Psychodynamic) or CBT Therapist, to a Masters Degree level and full registration with either: 1. UKCP 2. BPC 3. HCPC (Psychologists and Arts Therapists) 4. BACP 5. BABCP
A demonstrable working knowledge of NHS values, clinical structures in physical health care, referral pathways, how services are funded and the roles of NHS professionals.
Evidence of continued professional development

Desirable criteria

Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Experience

Essential criteria

Experience of working as a qualified psychological therapist for a minimum of 4 years including substantial postqualification experience within speciality.
Experience of working with teams and team leads to provide specialist psychological consultation, advice and support.

Desirable criteria

Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

Knowledge and understanding of NHS psychology careers and the barriers experienced by some sociodemographic groups
A knowledge and understanding of organisational development and change
Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies
Up to date knowledge and understanding of Higher Education training programmes in psychology
Able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base, evidence-base and research in the analysis of highly complex facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations and strategy
Able to plan, organise and prioritise own workload.
Knowledge of project management tools and techniques
Able to record and report on as required clinical information.
Competent in use of basic IT packages – word processing, e - mail and internet.
Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis. Up to date knowledge of psychological research and national guidance Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice with this client group.
Aware of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health.
Able to be flexible and adapt approach according to need.

Personal

Essential criteria

Able to contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others.
Able to sit in constrained positions for a substantial proportion of working time.
Able to undertake assessments in a range of environments most accessible/suitable for the service user
Able to concentrate intensely for a substantial proportion of working time, during client contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc
Able to manage effectively exposure to distressing circumstances and exposure to traumatic circumstances.
Able to manage effectively verbal aggression from service users, families, etc and the risk of physical aggression.
Able to tolerate dirty and noisome situations
Respectful approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals.
Willing to negotiate and can handle confrontation effectively and professionally

Other

Essential criteria

Able to work to professional guidelines.
Must be capable of accountability for own work, of autonomous clinical practice, of being guided by precedent and of working towards defined results.

Making Things Better

Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.

We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.

Our Community

We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.

Aiming High

We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated ‘Outstanding’ again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021.. We were named in the HSJ’s Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.

Staff and Service Users United

We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.

We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.

Diversity

ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.

Other reasons to apply

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 job share, part time or another flexible pattern.

As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.

What Next?

If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!

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..

If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.

Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT

Committed to being an Inclusive Employer

Mindful employer. Being positive about mental health.

Stonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

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: Ravi Rana
Job title: Director for Psychology
Email address: [email protected]
Telephone number: 02076554246
Additional information: Ravi Rana will be on annual leave from 8 August to 1 September. During this period please contact Patricia Potter - [email protected]

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Job summary

Employer heading

Deputy Director of Psychological Professions

8d

Job overview

Main duties of the job

Working for our organisation

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Person specification

Education / Qualification / Training

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Experience

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

Personal

Essential criteria

Other

Essential criteria

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

Documents to download

Further details / informal visits contact

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