Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Full or Part-Time Considered

Are you looking for a new opportunity? Do you want to join a dedicated team of professionals who are as passionate about changing the lives of disabled children in the UK? Then Caudwell Children is the place for you. This is a fixed-term post to cover maternity leave for a period of 12-14 months. The post will involve providing a high level of expertise in supporting the multi-disciplinary team in the delivery of effective clinical services through assessment, intervention and ongoing support to children, young people and families accessing the service.

We are seeking a skilled and enthusiastic Consultant Clinical Psychologist who is an excellent team player and wants to work in a state of the art environment within a developing service that is part of an ambitious charity transforming the lives of autistic children and young people.

• Lead the development and implementation of autism and neurodevelopmental assessment and intervention pathways including diagnostic assessment, formulation, recommendations, guidance, advice and workshop programmes for children and young people and those around them (e.g. families, teachers, health/social care workers).
• Provide specialist knowledge and skills in the assessment and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses where appropriate.
• Provide and advise on specialist psychological assessments of children referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, observations and interviews with family members and others involved in the child's care.
• Lead and contribute to MDT discussions, offering specialist consultation around psychological and diagnostic formulation, taking into account theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the child or family group.

About us: Caudwell Children is a Staffordshire based national charity, registered since 2000, providing practical and emotional support to children with a disability and their families. Supporting children aged 0 to 18 years. Some of our services extend to young people transitioning into adulthood to age 25 years. The Caudwell International Children's Centre is the UK's first independent purpose-built facility dedicated to autism and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Our dedicated Autism Service provides:

• Multidisciplinary assessment and intervention.
• Practical and emotional support for children with autism and their families.
• Active research programme for all work undertaken.

• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in an autism specialist service working primarily with 4 to 11 year olds but may include children and young adults to age 25 years.
• Provide and advise on specialist psychological assessments of children referred to the service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, observations and interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the child's care.
• Provide specialist knowledge and skills in the assessment and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders where appropriate.
• Contribute to diagnostic formulation and implement plans for psychological intervention to promote the child, young person and family to develop strategies to manage challenges arising and promote optimal personal development and child, young person and family functioning.
• Communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner information concerning the assessment, formulation and intervention plans for children, young people and families accessing the service.
• Contribute to service evaluation and monitoring.
• Monitor progress and evaluate outcomes.
• Contribute to developing and delivering workshops to children, young people, families and staff from other settings.

• Develop appropriate recommendations for ongoing support and intervention plans that promote the child's development, wellbeing and family functioning.
• Prepare comprehensive reports and communicate the findings to others as required, for example parents, children, and team colleagues taking account of the communication needs of others in doing so.
• Provide workshops and individual assessment and interventions.
• Implement a range of interventions for children, young people, carers, families, staff from other settings and groups as required.
• Participate in formulation and decision making about recommendations and interventions taking into account theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the child, family or group.
• Provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to formulation, diagnosis and intervention planning.
• Contribute to risk assessment and risk management and provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• Oversee the coordination of assessments and intervention plans for children and young people, supporting others to plan and review progress with children, their carers, referring agents and others involved in their network of care.

• Provide leadership to practitioner psychologists, trainees, assistant psychologists and other professionals in the team as required.
• Oversee recruitment, induction and retention of psychology staff as appropriate including supporting the recruitment of other disciplines as required.
• Lead appraisals of, and personal development plans for psychology staff.

• Essential: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or suitable equivalent. HCPC Registered Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling or Educational).
• Desirable: Qualifications in research methodology, staff training, supervision and/or other fields of applied psychology.

• Essential: Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision. Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts. Experience in the assessment and diagnosis of autism. Experience of working with a variety of client groups, including children, young people, families, autism and developmental disabilities across a range that reflect a wide range of clinical severity. Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive scenarios. Experience of working in an MDT. Experience of working with families. Experience of undertaking standardised formal psychometric assessments, structured professional judgments and informal observations and interviews. Formulation and implementation of interventions.
• Desirable: Experience of supervising others in the MDT. Experience of working with volunteers. Knowledge of CQC/OFSTED regulatory frameworks. Experience of working in the Charity/Third Sector. Experience of working in ISO regulated organisations.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.