Clinical Psychologist Preceptorship

Job overview
Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.
We are delighted to offer two opportunities for Clinical Psychologists to join our Perinatal Mental Health Community Service (PMHCS), with 0.6 WTE posts available across our East and West Kent teams. These roles are open to both experienced Band 8a Clinical Psychologists and those wishing to join us as part of our Band 7-8a preceptorship pathway.
PMHCS is a specialist, dynamic, and growing service, supporting women and birthing people experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties during the preconception, antenatal, and postnatal periods. With national investment driving expansion and transformation, this is an exciting time to join a team committed to trauma-informed, compassionate, and psychologically-led care.
For Band 7 applicants, we offer a structured preceptorship programme with access to senior psychological leadership, protected development time, and clear competency progression. Successful completion of this programme (typically 18-36 months) will enable transition into a Band 8a post.
Whether you are newly qualified, progressing in your career, or an experienced psychologist seeking a meaningful and specialist role, we would warmly welcome a conversation or informal visit.

Main duties of the job
The Perinatal Mental Health Community Service (PMHCS) provides specialist assessment, diagnosis and short-term intervention for women and birthing people experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties during the preconception, antenatal and postnatal periods across Kent and Medway.
In this role, you will deliver specialist psychological assessments, develop formulations with service users and the MDT, and provide individual and group therapeutic interventions. You will have opportunities to develop competencies in evidence-based models including tf-CBT, EMDR, and specialist parent-infant approaches such as Video Interactive Guidance (VIG) and VIPP.
You will contribute to family-focused work, including interventions involving partners, co-parents and families up to 24 months, in line with national service expansion.
The role includes liaison with maternity services, health visiting, social care, primary care and wider agencies, ensuring psychologically informed, collaborative care.
You will also provide reflective practice, case discussion and psychological consultation to the multidisciplinary team, supporting safe, trauma-informed practice and ongoing service development.

Working for our organisation
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.
Take a look at our Consultant Clinical Forensic Psychologist
Take a look at our Clinical Associate Psychologist

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).
The Perinatal Mental Health Community Service (PMHCS; formerly MIMHS) is a specialist service covering the whole of Kent and Medway. We provide assessment, diagnosis, and short-term intervention for women aged 18+ experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties in the preconception, antenatal, and postnatal periods.
Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification
We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

Person specification

Qualification

Essential criteria

• DClinPsy
• Eligibility for Chartered Status with the BPS.
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council ( HCPC) as a psychologist

Desirable criteria

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working with women during the perinatal period.
• Experience of working with family or carers.

Important Information:
In cases where we receive a high volume of applications for a post, it may be necessary to bring the closing date forward. Please submit your completed application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Due to the high volume of applications received, it is not possible to respond individually to your application. Should you not hear from us within six weeks of the vacancy closing, please assume that your application has not been successful.

Probation Period. New employees external to the trust are subject to a six-month probationary period.
To deliver an effective service it is essential in some of our roles that you are able to travel between work bases in a timely manner.
Production of false or forged documents/qualifications in order to obtain employment is a criminal offence and will be reported to the Police.