Assistant Psychologist

Job overview

This is a job is for an Assistant Psychologist position at the Health and Justice Directorate, Specialist Service Care Group.

The position is full-time and based at HMP Manchester. The responsibilities include clinical duties, workforce and service development, risk assessment and management, research, audit, evaluation, and administration, and professional development. The post holder will work under the direct supervision of a clinical psychologist and will be part of a multidisciplinary team providing psychological and mental health care to the offender population. The candidate is expected to have strong clinical and interpersonal skills and should be able to work effectively in the challenging prison environment. In addition they should hold a valid degree of 2:1 or above that is accredited by the BPS.

Main duties of the job

The job role involves working alongside mental health teams and the prison to improve the psychological well-being of offenders. The tasks include contributing to the gathering of information for individual formulations, supporting the development of specialist assessment of need, evaluating and motivating the use of Talking Therapies, contributing to the multi-professional understanding of service-user presentation, and supporting the development of psychologically informed ways of working with service-users. 

Working for our organisation

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over  6,400  members of staff, who deliver services from more than  160  locations.

We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.

Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.

Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job Description/Person Specification for full details.

Staff benefits

Pay Enhancements – 30% additional for Evenings (8pm onwards) and Saturdays and 60% additional for Sundays and Bank holidays.

27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years

Excellent pension

Cycle to work scheme

Salary sacrifice car scheme

Wellbeing programme

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria

2:1 Degree

Desirable criteria

An interest in social justice

Registration

Essential criteria

Eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS).

 Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.

Sponsorship

We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – click .

If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.

Do you have experience outside the NHS?

We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities. 

We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment.