Assistant Psychologist post (6m initial funding) Midlands/Cheshire

We have a vacancy for an Assistant Psychologist to administer and score psychometric assessments that contribute to wider psychological assessments of parents and children undertaken as part of expert witness work for the family court. The post-holder may also contribute to our services related to screening the psychological adjustment of young people in children's residential homes, or working with local authorities. We expect that the majority of the work will be located around Coventry, Birmingham and east Cheshire, but it may involve travel further afield for two or three days per month.

This role involves travelling to various locations in the area and gathering information, setting up meetings, administering psychometric assessments and contributing to reports and letters. We have 6 months of funding initially, whilst another AP in the team is seconded into a project funded by a grant, so we are initially recruiting to a fixed term contract. However, we have other grant applications submitted through the BERRI side of the business, for which we will hear the results in January. If any of these are successful, that could lead to this post being extended. Likewise, we have several members of staff who have applied for clinical training this year, and again, this could create longer-term vacancies if any of them secure a place.

The contract of employment will be with LifePsychol Ltd, and you are likely to have a mixture of working from home, out in the field and our offices in Sutton Coldfield. This role cannot be done remotely, and we expect the postholder to be fully immunised and willing to engage positively with applicable precautions to prevent the spread of covid-19, such as wearing masks or social distancing, where applicable, and sanitising materials between uses.

The post involves a combination of:

• summarising legal bundles
• administering psychometric assessments
• writing up reports to a template provided
• gathering background information from files
• collecting questionnaire data from schools and parents/foster parents/residential care staff
• gathering outcome data and using an online outcome measurement tool (see BERRI.org.uk)
• acting as a champion for the outcome measurement protocol within services
• providing summary reports from outcome data/questionnaires
• making structured observations of children
• gathering third party observational data

It may also involve:

• data entry and statistical analysis
• writing literature reviews
• contributing to academic papers for publication
• general administrative tasks (arranging meetings, responding to telephone and email enquiries, keeping track of materials, etc)
• other such tasks as the business requires

You'll be part of a small local team, co-located with a qualified clinical psychologist, and remotely linked into a wider national team that includes a consultant clinical psychologist, two other clinical psychologists, three other AP/psych graduates, various students on placement, and a wider operations, sales and admin team. We also fund a research team at the Anna Freud Centre / UCL. This means there are lots of interesting people within the network to learn from. There will be opportunities to sit in on training events, and you may be able to contribute to research and publications.

The nature of the roles this post will undertake means that we require a psychology graduate with GBC (at a 2:1 or better, or with a completed post-graduate qualification), who has a driving license and access to a vehicle (or can propose suitable adaptation if they have a disability that prevents this). We need someone who is proactive, diligent and meticulous about collecting and writing up information. Experience administering psychometric assessments would be advantageous but is not essential, as full training will be provided. You need to be organised and persistent, able to set up meetings and communicate in a professional manner, including writing up reports to a high standard. Fluency with computer and internet applications is also necessary. We want you to share our mission to improve the lives of people who have experienced adversity. You need to have the kind of personality and resilience required to be part of a team that makes a difference for some of the most complex and vulnerable children in the country.

We are a supportive team and positive about diversity. We like to give you the opportunity to show us what you are capable of, and we see our staff as our most valuable resource. We provide regular supervision, and plenty of opportunities for personal development. Supervision will be provided by a qualified clinical psychologist. We have a commitment to training and development, and a good track record of past assistants gaining places on clinical training.

We are a real living wage employer. The salary for this post is £21,225 per annum.

Benefits:

• We reimburse the cost of travel undertaken to fulfil this role (from your home or base office, according to which is nearer).
• We also provide a health scheme to cover the costs of eye tests and dental check-ups and reimburse some of the costs of other health treatments, as well as other benefits such as access to counselling, GP services and an advice line.
• We provide regular supervision and plenty of opportunities for personal development.
• Supervision will be provided by a qualified clinical psychologist.
• We have a commitment to training and development, and a good track record of past assistants gaining places on clinical training.

Background information:

LifePsychol/BERRI/Evolving Families are a set of small clinical psychology companies that have particular expertise about children and families, particularly when it comes to attachment, parenting and recovery from adversity. Our main specialist area is around attachment, trauma and maltreatment and how this evidence base can inform the care of children who do not live in their family of origin. The tools that we have developed help local authorities, placement providers and parents/carers to identify, support and advocate for the psychological needs of their child. We use specialist psychological expertise to undertake assessments for the family courts, as well as for the local authorities and placement providers that we work with. In addition, we run a neurodevelopmental assessment clinic, that helps to identify autism, learning disability and other neurodiverse conditions, which is based in Sutton Coldfield. The company is small but growing rapidly. Our mission is to improve outcomes for children with complex needs.