Senior Educational Psychologist in Bury St Edmunds

Suffolk County Council is seeking visionary Senior Educational Psychologists (SEPs) to join our thriving leadership team. Within our well established Educational Psychology Service, you will work collaboratively to drive system-wide change and make a positive difference for children, families and education across Suffolk. Our practice is firmly rooted in psychological principles to optimise outcomes for children and families.

As a valued member of the Psychology and Therapeutic Services Leadership Team, you will:

• Lead and strategically progress our move towards an integrated community model.
• Support and develop teams through supervision, service development and systemic practice.
• Strengthen and champion a specific area of professional expertise.
• Manage and support innovative projects that promote inclusion.
• Develop, deliver and manage commissioned and traded work.
• Enhance and embed robust quality assurance processes.

You will need:

All applicants must be professionally qualified and registered with the HCPC as an Educational Psychologist.

Post 1 (Locality Lead): We are looking for someone energised by people, psychology and possibility, who brings:

• Experience of leading, supervising or mentoring Educational Psychologists or similar professionals, with a relational, reflective and empowering leadership style.
• A strong grounding in psychological practice, with the confidence to apply psychology creatively at community and system levels.
• The ability to think innovatively and systemically, helping to shape and develop our community psychology approach in response to local need.
• Experience of working collaboratively with education settings and partners to co‑produce inclusive, sustainable solutions.
• Curiosity, creativity and vision, with the confidence to lead on a key service development priority.
• A commitment to learning and development, recognising that transferable leadership or system change experience is highly valued.
• Strong communication and organisational skills, enabling you to balance people leadership, service development and operational demands.

Post 2 (Operational Lead): This role would suit someone who enjoys bringing clarity and coherence across complex systems, and who offers:

• A strategic mindset, with experience contributing to service wide improvement, inclusion or SEND related work.
• Confidence in coordinating and communicating across partners and teams to support effective collaboration and shared understanding.
• Experience of supporting workforce development, such as recruitment, induction, supervision or professional support, with a strong interest in developing others.
• An interest in quality assurance and service oversight, balancing high standards with a reflective and improvement focused approach.
• The ability to manage multiple workstreams, including commissioned or traded activity, while keeping outcomes for children and families central.
• An interest in data and systems improvement, working with business and technology colleagues to streamline processes and demonstrate impact.
• Flexibility and openness to an evolving role, responding to local priorities and national developments, including SEND reform.
• Strong relational and organisational skills, and a clear commitment to inclusion, learning and growth.

The team Psychology and Therapeutic Services sits within the Children and Young People's (CYP) Inclusion Service and includes the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) and the Inclusion Facilitation Service (IFS). Our values guide everything we do:

• Person centred: Children, young people and families are at the heart of our work. We value their voices and work in partnership using person centred approaches.
• Trauma informed: We work with compassion and curiosity, recognising the impact of adversity and understanding behaviour and wellbeing in context.
• Strengths based: We build on what is working well, developing capacity in individuals, families, schools and communities.
• Solution focused: We use psychological thinking to collaborate on practical, inclusive and sustainable solutions that promote positive change.

We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently under‑represented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

In return, you’ll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance‑related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost‑of‑living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day