About this role
Job summary
Principal Psychologist will provide clinical leadership and expertise to our Family Safeguarding Team. They will work with clients, their families/ carers in providing a high quality, specialist applied psychology services.
The post will be based within the Family Safeguarding Service of Surrey County Council (permanently seconded from SABP). As the Principal Psychologist, you will jointly lead a small team of psychologists, alongside a team of social workers and other professionals, working with parents where there is high risk of severe parenting problems including maltreatment and neglect.
Our ground-breaking family safeguarding model will bring together all the professionals we need, under one roof, to provide intensive support to parents to address the mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse that place children at risk of significant harm. An important focus of our model is to invest in training all team members to a high standard in motivational interviewing, to engage parents in contributing to their own assessments of risk and change, and to make group interventions and strengthening relationships support part of our everyday work. Our team works in a trauma informed way, and offers trauma-focused and trauma-informed interventions to parents.
Proposed interview date is Wednesday 15 July 2026 at Dakota Building,Weybridge KT13 0YP.
Main duties of the job
To plan and deliver a highly specialist psychology service in the family safeguarding service and to oversee its clinical governance. To be responsible for the professional leadership and continued development of a team and/or service area. To lead in the supervision and contribute to Individual Performance Review/Appraisal of psychology staff, as required. To ensure that the healthcare needs of people using services are communicated to and work in partnership with service commissioners and other healthcare providers for the best outcomes. To advocate and represent the service. To be responsible for the development and implementation of appropriate policies, protocols and care pathways Contribute to appropriate staff recruitment and contribute to the wider strategic plans regarding psychology recruitment. To demonstrate highly specialist expertise and specialist psychological skills such as specialist psychological assessments, formulation, therapeutic interventions and consultation to support people with complex needs To act as supervisor/teacher in teaching, facilitating and supporting pre-registration students and junior personnel and to participate in the audit of educational placements. To influence and develop team cultures that support and encourage innovation, creativity, partnership working and curiosity.
About us
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of mental health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental and drug and alcohol services in Surrey and North East Hampshire. We support people of all ages and are passionate about providing high quality care that is delivered at the right time as close to home as possible to help people recover and stay well.
We are one of the top 10 mental Health, Learning Disability and Community Trust to work for nationwide. Our Trust is an inclusive and supportive employer that offers a wide range of staff networks, flexible working, free parking and excellent health and wellbeing support. We also provide a wide range of opportunities to help staff develop and progress.
Surrey is a beautiful county lying just 30 minutes away from Central London and from the South Coast. Our historic market towns and bustling districts are enveloped in wonderful countryside, and our excellent road and rail networks bring the rest of the country within easy reach. For international travel, both Gatwick and Heathrow airports are nearby.
Please note that we reserve the right to close posts as soon as sufficient applications are received.
Regrettably, due to UK Home Office requirements we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Job description Job responsibilities
Please review the Job Description for even further information about the jobs main responsibility details.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology qualification or equivalent Completion of an appropriate clinical supervision course
Desirable
Additional academic clinical qualification relevant to area of work Additional leadership/management study
Experience Essential
Extensive post qualification clinical experience in relevant clinical setting Experience of leading in clinical practice, service development or project work Experience of supervising trainees, assistant psychologists, qualified clinical/counselling psychologists and others providing psychological therapies Experience of implementing change following audit and service evaluation Experience of advising other professionals on complex psychological issues and risk
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).
Employer details Employer name Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Address Woodhatch Place
11 Cockshot Hill
Reigate
RH2 8EF
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.sabp.nhs.uk/working-for-us (Opens in a new tab)