Associate Director Psychological Professions - Acute Care Group in Bolton

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of psychological leadership within Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). We are strengthening the voice of psychological professions across the organisation and this new role will play a pivotal part in that vision.

As Associate Director for Psychological Services within the Acute Care Group you will join a team of associate directors and hold collective responsibility for that group. The Acute Care Group encompasses three key service clusters: 1) Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC), 2) Adult Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Wards and Psychiatric Intensive Care Units, and 3) Later Life Psychiatric Inpatient Services.

Main duties:

• The postholder will be responsible for professional psychological practice and quality within the care group, ensuring excellence in service delivery, staff wellbeing, patient experience and outcomes.
• The post holder will provide professional leadership and line management for senior psychological practitioners within the care group and act as a motivator and expert resource.
• They will work closely with the Care Group Leadership team and the Director for Psychological Professions (CPPO).
• They will be part of a collaborative and compassion focussed leadership team, taking a trauma responsive approach to delivering services.
• They will enable and support the pooling, development, sharing and retention of psychological knowledge and skills, strategic planning for psychological professions, professional and clinical governance and a clear identity for psychology within the care group.
• The post holder will facilitate co‑ordination of supervision and training placements and support recruitment, professional self‑regulation and continuing professional development.
• It is expected that the post‑holder will also provide some focused clinical input to Bolton Home Based Treatment Team and act as Lead Psychological Professional for UEC as part of their job plan.
• They may be asked to deputise for the CPPO as appropriate.

Qualifications:

• Qualified to doctorate level or equivalent
• Registered professional HCPC or equivalent
• Experience of acute care services
• Professional Leadership experience
• Research experience
• Experience managing others & related processes (e.g. HR, recruitment)
• Training and experience supervising others
• Demonstrated ability to work with clinical complexity with individuals, teams and services, in all aspects of the role of a psychologist (assessment, formulation, intervention, consultation)
• Experience leading psychological or multi‑professional services at a senior, strategic level within an NHS Trust or healthcare environment.
• Experience of leading and implementing strategic change or service transformation projects
• Experience using data to develop strategy and improve services
• Experience in managing budgets, workforce planning, recruitment, and retention

Personal attributes:

• Personal experience of mental health difficulties
• Demonstrating values which are relevant for this role

We are committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under‑represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities.

All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre‑employment checks. The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. Applicants are required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout employment.

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.