Psychologist/Psychotherapist

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides life-saving emergency relief and longer-term medical care to some of the most vulnerable and excluded communities around the world. As an independent medical humanitarian organisation, we deliver care based only on need, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, religion or political affiliation.

MSF relies on donations from private individuals and organisations for the majority of its income. This private funding gives MSF the freedom to respond where needs are greatest and to speak out publicly, free from any political interference.

MSF has around 63,000 local and international staff working in over 70 countries, in some of the most challenging places in the world. Our medical humanitarian projects are supported by offices in 44 countries, including the UK and Ireland. These teams recruit staff, organise fundraising, and raise awareness on the humanitarian crises our colleagues are witnessing, as well as running different and diverse support activities. MSF offices are spread across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

At MSF UK/IE, we support MSF\’s operations by building relationships with our supporters, increasing awareness of our work, raising funds, providing specialist medical expertise, ensuring MSF staff have access to relevant higher education programmes, catalysing change on medical humanitarian issues, and recruiting field staff. MSF UK/IE personnel are dynamic, hard-working, enthusiastic and committed to MSF\’s values and aims. In addition MSF continues to build upon its presence in Ireland to become a widely recognised, accepted and respected humanitarian organisation among Irish audiences, and within the Irish humanitarian and political sector.

Position

The Psychologist/Psychotherapist will deliver high-quality, evidence-based psychological interventions, providing psychological assessments, formulations, and therapeutic support to asylum seekers and refugees with complex trauma-related mental health needs. This role will focus on the delivery of trauma-informed care, including interventions such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) and Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET).

The psychologist/psychotherapist will work within a multidisciplinary team, collaborating closely with caseworkers, assistant psychologists, and other stakeholders to ensure the integration of psychological services into broader psycho-social support. A key responsibility is supporting and supervising assistant psychologists in the delivery of interventions, ensuring adherence to evidence-based practices and the service’s ethical standards.

DEPARTMENT: Programmes Unit (UK Migration Project)

HOURS: Full time 37.5 hours a week

LENGTH OF CONTRACT: Fixed Term Contract, one year with possibility of three-year renewal, subject to project funding

LOCATION: A 5-day in-person role working in the project clinic in Birmingham/Sandwell.

Internal salary grade: 15

Requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Knowledge

• Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist with HCPC registration or Psychotherapist with BACP,BABCP, or UKCP accreditation.
• Further advanced training in relevant specialist treatment delivery (e.g. CBT, EMDR, NET)
• Expertise in trauma and PTSD, particularly in refugee and asylum-seeking populations.
• In-depth understanding of trauma-informed care, post-migration stressors, and their impact on mental health.
• Familiarity with evidence-based trauma therapies including TF-CBT, EMDR, and NET.
• Strong working knowledge of safeguarding policies, risk assessment protocols, and ethical guidelines (e.g. HCPC, BPS, UKCP, BACP,BABCP).
• Understanding of cross-cultural therapeutic considerations and best practices for working with interpreters.

Skills

• Highly skilled in specialist psychological assessments, formulation, and treatment planning.
• Strong clinical supervision and mentoring abilities, supporting the professional development of junior staff.
• Ability to adapt therapy models to suit the cultural and linguistic needs of SUs.
• Strong risk assessment and crisis management skills.
• Effective multidisciplinary teamwork, collaborating with the caseworker, assistant psychologist, and external agencies.
• Strong advocacy and service development skills, contributing to best practices in trauma mental health care.
• Highly developed skills in effectively communicating complex, ethically sensitive, and clinically relevant information both orally and in writing to clients, their families, carers, and professional colleagues across different healthcare and humanitarian settings.

Experience

• Experience providing evidence-based trauma-focused therapies (TF-CBT, CBT, EMDR, or NET).
• Experience working with interpreters and culturally diverse client groups.
• Experience conducting specialist and complex psychological assessments and formulations.
• Previous experience supervising others such as assistant psychologists, trainee psychologists, or case workers.
• Strong record of multidisciplinary team collaboration and safeguarding work.
• Experience working with refugees, asylum seekers, or survivors of torture and trafficking is an advantage for the post.
• Research, service evaluation, or quality improvement experience.
• Experience in policy advocacy or influencing service provision in humanitarian or third-sector settings is an asset for the role.
• Experience in the practical use of personal IT equipment and Microsoft Office 365 suite. The ability to effectively collaborate and communicate within a hybrid working environment utilising Teams, SharePoint, One Drive and Yammer.

Other information

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply on our website by submitting a copy of your CV together with a letter of motivation (please upload as one document) by the closing date.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Please check that you have included the following in your application:

• Letter of Motivation, which is a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the key requirements of the role

Recruitment timetable:

• Closing date for applications: Tuesday 14th October 2025 at 11:59pm
• First round interviews: tbc

Accessibility

We are committed to removing barriers for people with specific accessibility needs. If you need an adjustment to the recruitment process to be considered for the role, please let us know by contacting recruitment.UK@london.msf.org

Examples of adjustments we can make:

• offering you an alternative if you are unable to use our online application system
• providing necessary information, such as the job description or assessment materials, in an alternate format
• allowing you to have someone with you during an interview for example, a Sign Language interpreter.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We are a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive organisation. MSF UK thrives when everyone feels comfortable bringing their best self to work. We celebrate difference, whilst striving to create an environment where colleagues feel respected and valued for their unique potential. We are committed to our values on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Please read our Equality & Diversity policy for more information.

MSF UK is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from all sections of our diverse community.

Safeguarding

MSF UK/IE is dedicated to safeguarding everyone who comes into contact with the organisation, for whatever reason and however brief. All posts are subject to safer recruitment process which include robust reference requests, scrutiny of employment history and where applicable criminal record and barring checks.

Our safeguarding commitment is underpinned by policies and procedures which encourage and promote safe working practice across the organisation. On joining MSF UK/IE you will be required to attend safeguarding training to ensure responsibility for and maintaining safe working practice and to safeguard our teams, beneficiaries, and communities.

Right to work in the UK

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK. Please click here to check whether you have the right to work in the UK.If you would like to discuss your right to work status further, please contact recruitment.UK@london.msf.org .

Interviews will be held on a rolling basis. Please apply as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close the application early if we find a suitable candidate.

We look forward to receiving your application!

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