Senior Clinical Psychologist Sunderland

Job summary

We are looking for a confident, enthusiastic and dynamic psychologist to join our busy multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment team working in Sunderland. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary team members alongside the Principal Clinical Psychologists, and Assistant Psychologist assessing children and young people. Professionally there are links with the wider network of psychologists who deliver psychology into our mental health and learning disability teams.

The successful candidate will be supported to develop their leadership skills and to contribute to service development and innovative practice. There will also be opportunities to engage in delivering teaching, training, service evaluation and research according to interests and service need. We will expect the post holder to actively pursue continuous professional development and will support them to identify needs and to develop. There will also be opportunity to work into the mental health pathway to support maintaining therapeutic skills and interests.

Main duties of the job

You will be working in an environment where there is strong emphasis on teamwork and quality of clinical care. You will be responsible for leading assessment and formulation of complex presentations, exploring possible neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and/or disorder as well as thoroughly considering wider factors and comorbidity. Our assessments provide thorough profiling of young people's strengths, needs and difficulties helping to ensure that they have access to the most appropriate understanding and supports as they develop and grow. We are looking for a clinician who has significant experience, knowledge and training in neurodevelopmental assessment skills and who is able to put the young person and their family at the centre of every assessment.

As a service, we value the role of robust, supportive and effective supervision and you will have access to separate clinical and management supervision. The post-holder will contribute to the supervision of assistant psychologists, and also team members from wider professions. We have close links with our local clinical training courses and there is opportunity to supervise trainee clinical psychologists on both core and elective placements.

About us

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

Job responsibilities

Please find attached job description for full details.

Advertising date : 1st September 2026

Closing date : 15th September 2026

Education and Qualification

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and Neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the HCPC and British Psychological Society.
• HCPC registered practitioner psychologist

Desirable

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
• Additional qualification in at least one therapeutic model, evidence-based for use with this client group

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups relevant to the client group
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariable data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
• Formal training in clinical supervision of trainee clinical psychologists and other staff.
• Substantial post qualification experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, and inpatient settings.
• Demonstrate further specialist training and experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a clinical psychologist over a minimum of 18 months or an alternative agreed by the Associate Psychological Services Director.
• Experience of providing clinical supervision.

Desirable

• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

Skills and Competencies

Essential

• Skills in managing emotional impact of dealing with highly emotive and distressing situations through self-management and use of the clinical supervision process.
• Specialist skills in evidence based psychological interventions.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management.
• Skills in providing clinical supervision and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).