Assistant Psychologist

Hackney is looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated Assistant Psychologist to join our newly redesigned, in-house Mental Health Service within Children and Family Services. Working under the direct supervision of a qualified Therapist, you will play a crucial role in supporting children, young people, and families known to Social Care, Young Hackney, the Family Support Service, and the Youth Justice Service.

In this varied and dynamic role, you will hold a dual focus: delivering direct and indirect clinical support (including supporting our Family Therapy Clinic and psychological assessments) while taking ownership of service evaluation, quality improvement, and clinical outcome data collection. You will act as a key operational anchor-helping conduct literature searches, managing local clinical databases, and building strong links with partner mental health services to enhance access for vulnerable young people.

Our Practice Framework: The STAR Model

Hackney is on an ambitious journey to embed a Systemic, Trauma-informed, and Anti-Racist (STAR) practice model. We are deeply committed to anti-oppressive practice, actively centering the lived experiences of families and clinicians with marginalised identities. Our STAR framework ensures a sharp focus on ethnicity and race, while deeply attending to the intersections of sexuality, faith, neurodiversity, and other protected characteristics. As an Assistant Psychologist, you will adopt a non-pathologising, creative, and strengths-based approach to ensure our clinical processes reflect the needs of children from Black and global majority communities.

• Clinical Support & Assessment: Assist qualified clinicians with psychological assessments (including psychometrics), direct therapeutic interventions, and joint work with children and families in community, school, and home settings.
• Outcome Measurement & Data Management: Lead the collection, analysis, and dissemination of clinical activity and outcome data, maintaining local databases to drive service improvement and clinical audits.
• Service Evaluation & Quality Improvement: Undertake evidence-based literature searches and support Quality Improvement projects to optimize referral pathways and service delivery.
• Multi-Agency Linkage: Support the development of robust working links with external partner agencies, local mental health providers, and statutory social care teams.
• Clinic & Training Coordination: Support the running of the Family Therapy clinic, assist with multidisciplinary training events, and produce high-quality clinical reports and presentations.

We are looking for a motivated psychology graduate with a passion for working with vulnerable children and young people in an inner-city environment. You will bring:

• An upper second (2:1) or first-class honours degree in Psychology, conferring Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS).
• At least 1 year's relevant post-graduate experience working with vulnerable individuals or groups (e.g., in a mental health, social care, or voluntary sector setting).
• Strong knowledge of developmental trauma, child mental health, and the social factors affecting youth well-being.
• Excellent IT, data analysis, and record-keeping skills (including proficiency in Excel and database management).
• High-level communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build rapport with diverse communities and work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary network.
• A demonstrable commitment to anti-racist, strengths-based, and anti-oppressive ways of working.

An Enhanced DBS check is required for this role.