Principal Practitioner Psychologist

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Principal Practitioner Psychologist

The closing date is 22 March 2026

The Community Autism Service (CAS) is a new team, developed with commissioners, staff and Experts by Experience, to meet a gap within service provision for autistic adults across Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. The CAS aims to support autistic individuals who cannot access other services such as mental health or learning disability services, but would benefit from specialist, autism-focused, time-limited and targeted assessment and therapeutic input.

We are looking for an 8b Practitioner Psychologist to provide clinical leadership and specialist psychological input within CAS.

This post is an exciting opportunity to use your skills and expertise as a neuro-affirmative professional, to help shape and deliver this new and innovative multi-disciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

The Practitioner Psychologist will provide highly specialist psychological input to autistic adults and their supporters, and will provide consultation to other team members.

The Practitioner Psychologist will work closely with the operational lead across all aspects of team development and functioning, including recruitment, supervision and appraisal of individual team members and implementing and chairing meetings as required.

The Practitioner Psychologist will also have a role in service evaluation, audit, research and policy development.

About us

Alongside the Practitioner Psychologist we are recruiting an Occupational Therapist team leader, Speech and Language Therapist and Peer Support Worker. The team will be supported by an administrator and Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

This exciting new team will sit within a large, friendly and supportive Autism and ADHD pathway and will have contact with other services including during the weekly Education and Research meeting. Informal support will also be available via our sister service in a neighbouring Trust.

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

Todevelop, co-ordinate and work closely with the team leader to ensure the systematic provision of the Community Autism Service and personally provide highly specialist clinical input.

To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.

To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist working with autistic adults.

To ensure that systems are in place and working effectively for the clinical and professional supervision and support of other psychological practitioners within the Community Autism Service.

Topromotes service evaluation, audit, research and policy development.

To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.

To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.

To support the coordination of staff support within their area, working closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to support colleagues and ensure all staff in SLaM have access to evidence based support. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Entry level qualification in Applied Psychology (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration (A/I/R)
• Completed training course in clinical supervision and/or accredited to supervised qualified psychological practitioners in relevant discipline. (A/I/R)
• Registered with HCPC

Experience

• Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision with autistic adults
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of autistic clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
• Experience of supervising assistants and/or trainees having completed the relevant training.
• Post qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
• Experience of carrying out post qualification research, audit or service evaluation projects.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of health care.

Skills

• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups.
• Consultation skills to work with the multi professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing a number of people's needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.
• Advanced skills in working with a number of clients and systems together, managing the highly complex emotional relationships within and between the component parts of the systems in ways, which maximise the potential for therapeutic outcomes

Abilities

• Ability to work effectively within a multi disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate.

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.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

£72,921 to £83,362 a year per annum inclusive of inner HCAs pro rata