Lead Psychologist | Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 23 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £64,455 - £74,896 per annum pro rata |
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 22 January 2026 |
| Location: | Milton Keynes, MK76AA |
| Company: | CNWL NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7694452/333-D-MK-CM-1180 |
Summary
Join Us at a Time of Exciting Change
Are you an experienced Clinical Psychologist ready to lead and innovate? We are seeking a highly motivatedProfessional Leadto join ourMilton Keynes Autism Assessment and Community Paediatrics Service. This senior role offers the opportunity to shape a multidisciplinary autism pathway, ensuring timely, high-quality assessments and post-diagnostic support for children and young people.
About the Role
AsProfessional Lead Clinical Psychologist, you will:
• Lead autism/ASD assessments and neurodevelopmental formulationswithin a multidisciplinary framework.
• Provideexpert psychological input and consultationacross the team.
• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, job planning, and performance management.
• Deliverteaching, training, and supervisionto psychology staff and wider professionals.
• Driveservice development, quality improvement, and co-production initiatives.
• Ensure compliance withclinical governance, safeguarding, and Trust policies.
You will lead a small team of MDT practitioners offering assessment and brief psychological intervention, ensuring safety and quality of their work. You will inspire and support colleagues within a busy service and work closely with the MDT to deliver high-quality assessments and interventions for children and young people.
Main Duties
1. Lead Clinical Practice
• Oversee autism/ASD assessments and neurodevelopmental formulations within a multidisciplinary framework.
• Ensure high-quality, evidence-based psychological interventions for children and young people.
Provide Expert Consultation
• Offer specialist psychological input and advice to the multidisciplinary team.
• Support complex case discussions and clinical decision-making.
Leadership and Management
• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, including recruitment, supervision, job planning, and performance management.
• Maintain compliance with clinical governance, safeguarding, and Trust policies.
Teaching and Training
• Deliver training and supervision to psychology staff and wider professionals.
• Promote continuous professional development and best practice across the service.
Service Development
• Drive quality improvement, innovation, and co-production initiatives.
• Lead implementation of digital tools and contribute to CNWL’s Neurodevelopmental Pathway Transformation programme.
Click here to find out more about working at CNWL!CNWL Psychological Professions
Hear directly from our leaders and their vision for psychological professions in the Trusthere.
Learn more about working in Milton Keynes by following the link below.
Welcome to Psychological Therapies at Milton Keynes Mental Health Services :: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (cnwl.nhs.uk)Here at CNWL we encourage our psychological professions staff to pursue leadership opportunities in senior roles. Various prominent leadership roles within the Trust are currently held by Psychologists including: Director of Strategy and Integration, Chief Information Officer, 3 Clinical Directors. We try to facilitate the development of our psychological professions staff across all areas.
Main Responsibilities
Leadership & Governance
• Act as theprofessional lead for clinical psychologywithin the service.
• Oversee psychological governance and ensure compliance withTrust policies, clinical governance, and safeguarding standards.
• Leadservice planning and developmentfor neurodevelopmental pathways across the county.
Clinical Responsibilities
• Provideexpert, highly specialist assessmentsfor neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly autism.
• Ensuretimely accessto assessments, post-diagnostic support, and interventions.
• Workautonomously within professional guidelines, maintaining the highest standards of clinical care.
Team Management
• Line manage psychologists and psychological practitioners, includingrecruitment, supervision, appraisal, and training.
• Coordinate workload and supportstaff developmentto maintain service quality.
Collaboration & Consultation
• Work closely with theSpecialist Children’s Service Manager, Service Manager, and Clinical Director.
• Participate inCNWL networksrelated to ASD and Community Paediatrics.
• Provideconsultation, training, and teachingwithin and beyond the team.
Quality & Evaluation
• Leadquality improvement initiatives, service evaluation, research, and audit.
• Monitor service effectiveness against key deliverables such aspatient safety and care quality.
• Report regularly to theService Manager and Clinical Director.
Equality & Inclusion
• Promoteinclusive practicesand foster good relations across diverse communities.
• Encourage applications from all sectors of the community to ensure the workforce reflects the populations served.
CNWL Neurodevelopmental Pathway Transformation
This is an exciting time to join CNWL. We are implementing a newNeurodevelopmental (ND) pathway transformation programme, designed to improve access, consistency, and quality of care for children and young people with neurodevelopmental needs.
As part of this initiative, the autism assessment service is adoptinginnovative digital tools and platformsto streamline processes, enhance multidisciplinary collaboration, and improve patient experience.
The postholder will play akey role in embedding these digital solutionsand contributing to the ongoing development and evaluation of the ND pathway transformation.
This advert closes on Tuesday 6 Jan 2026
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.