About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to progress your career as a member of an innovative psychology team at the heart of a category A/category B establishment.

The well-established and integrated team provides excellent support for clinical practice with a complex population.

As a senior Psychologist you will be working as a leader and an agent of organisational and individual change, bringing your specialist skills to support learning journeys for staff and prisoners. 

The site has groundbreaking custodial specialisms working with prisoners presenting with complex neurodiversity, personality factors and high risk.  

Be a part of a motivated and compassionate team dedicated to making a difference, engendering hope and supporting safer futures

Overview of the job

This is a non-operational offender facing job.

Summary

The job holders covered by this job description are usually categorised as specialists in their field or those whose role requires significant additional experience, training and personal development.

The job holder will largely excel in the area of risk assessment or be a specialist in a specific area such as working with those convicted of sexual offending. At this level the jobholder may have responsibility for the key specialist tasks involved in the delivery of a programme or related individual case management which would also entail overseeing the quality of delivery and supervision. They will also provide direction and support for other supervisors. This is a non-operational and non- rotational job.

The job holder will be working with complex individuals and staff and applying their experience and competence in the area of psychology to reduce the risk of harm and re-offending by undertaking complex risk assessments , conducting research, providing consultancy and delivering training for staff and interventions (individual and group).

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Conducts full case reviews on difficult cases and offers authoritative advice on next steps relating to sentence plan
• Specialises in delivery of psychology services in settings such as therapeutic community wings or PIPEs
• Lead and supervise and facilitate group sessions
• Offers professional opinion to multi-functional teams conducting offender reports e.g. risk reports, parole reports on high risk or vulnerable offenders
• Develops and/or strategies such as sexual offending or indeterminate sentence assessment and intervention strategy
• Delivers and supervises (treatment management) the delivery of more complex programmes e.g. healthy sex programme
• Provides consultancy support to colleagues such as Senior Management Team (SMT) in relation to psychology services and outcomes
• Conducts relevant research including data gathering and analysis
• Act as a “professional witness” in parole board hearings, multi-agency meetings, and other formal settings where psychology input is required. May also act as expert witness in respect of court proceedings for Ministry of Justice
• Responsible for managing and providing professional supervision to trainee forensic psychology staff
• Provides supervision, training, mentoring and support to trainee psychologists and where relevant other staff such as interventions staff
• Assist in national specialist tasks such as training on courses related to their specialist discipline
• Provides professional supervision to support a trainee in developing through the key steps towards chartered and registered status. This may be as a coordinating or designated supervisor
• Ensures staff are developed in accordance with key competencies and gateways and ensuring consistency across the team in the application of policies and procedures affecting staff and offenders
• Leads on risk assessment and resulting risk management of complex, vulnerable or high risk offenders. Will be competent to undertake the full range of risk assessments including the more complex risk assessments. Gives feedback of the assessment to the individual and other stakeholders
• Contributes to other offender management processes (usually with more complex cases in work such as Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) assessments and self-harm or personality disorder assessments)
• Provides consultancy role to wider team on their specialist activity. Visit a range of sites/forums to advise on complex cases
• Act as a negotiation adviser where suitable and competence has been demonstrated
• Manage own Continued Professional Development (CPD) requirements and maintains professional standards
• Ensure they maintain their professional Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration
• Provide a psychological contribution to the work of areas of the wider service provision (such as a therapeutic community or regime activity)
• Provide psychological reports when requested for those convicted of a life sentence and to submit within the appropriate time framework
• Responsible for relevant accreditation audit baselines as detailed in the audit document
• Line management of trainee psychologists

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,549, HM Prison & Probation Service contributes £12,987 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.