Senior Assistant Psychologist

Main area Senior Assistant Psychologist (Eating Disorders) Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 354-CS-21966

Employer Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Aldrington House Town Hove Salary £32,073 - £39,043 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 15/10/2026 23:59

Senior Assistant Psychologist

NHS AfC: Band 5

Come and join us

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.

Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page .

We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.

Job overview

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is looking to recruit a passionate, knowledgeable and dynamic Senior Assistant Psychologistto join our Family Eating Disorders Service (SFEDS).

You will be joining a service of highly skilled and experienced Family and Systemic Psychotherapists, Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists, Nurses, Dietitian, Support Workers and Occupational Therapists. Our team is responsible for covering all of Sussex.

You will be based at Aldrington House in Hove but may occasionally be required to travel to our clinics in Horsham and Hailsham.

We offer and support hybrid and flexible working; we require staff to be on site for 60% of their working week.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will support and enhance the professional psychological care to young people (aged 10-18) with eating disorders as well as liaise with families/carers, other professionals and organisations to promote communication and good practice.

Ideally you will have prior experience of working with eating disorders and experience of using therapeutic models associated with this client group.

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing psychological assessments and interventions within the scope appropriate to level of experience and training.

Working for our organisation

Sussex Partnership Trust provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.

Working in Sussex:

• Travel easily between coast and countryside, with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns there’s always new experiences to be enjoyed
• Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London
• With easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK there is plenty of opportunity for adventure

We’d love you to join our organisation that is rated ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the Care Quality Commission. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.

Other key staff survey results include:

70% highlighting flexible working opportunities as a key point for satisfaction at work

79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work within their team

77% identifying the opportunities to show initiative in their roles

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

REQUIREMENTS:

To be a successful Senior Assistant Psychologist in our team you will be/have:

• Honours degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology or equivalent.
• You will have at least 6 months experience working as an Assistant Psychologist
• Have experience of working with young people with complex needs.
• You must be able to demonstrate a caring, compassionate and non-judgmental attitude, and show a commitment to making a difference when supporting young people and their families on their recovery journeys

See attached Generic Job Description and Person Specification for full details.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Honours Degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology or equivalent
• Further post graduate training in relevant area of professional psychology, health and social care practice, and / or research design and analysis

Knowledge and experience

• You will have at least 6 months experience working as an Assistant Psychologist
• Experience of working with people with complex needs
• Experience of working with people with disabilities, in a health or Mental Health setting and or work with people with complex needs
• Relevant clinical and research skills
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team

• Basic knowledge of databases, research skills and methodology
• Experience of group work and individual therapeutic contact
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care
• Experience of the use of psychometric tests
• Experience of in-patient settings
• Lived experience of mental health issues

Skills

• To be able to communicate effectively under pressure and maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times
• To be able to provide and receive complex sensitive or contentious information in a potentially highly emotive atmosphere. To be able to work with resistance to ideas
• High standard of report writing
• To assimilate complex information and use reflective/analytic thinking, to apply psychological perspectives in work with clients
• Ability to be flexible and cope with multiple demands
• Capable of using initiative and organise work to agreed goals. Ability to work independently and know when to ask for and use supervision, identifying when there is need for advice and using supervision at agreed intervals
• Information technology skills. To have highly developed IT skills and good working knowledge of statistical packages
• Ability to travel across sites
• Punctual and flexible across hours of work when required

SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.

If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.

In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Jo Squire (Interim Team Lead/Lead Nurse)

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