Head of Psychological Workforce and Training | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£81,774 - £93,879 per annum, pro rata (inc. of HCAS)
Hours:	Part-time
Location:	Bracknell, RG12 2UT
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	3 Sept 2026
Closing date:	9 Oct 2026

Apply for this job

Summary

PART TIME - 3O HOURS PER WEEK

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Consultant Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to shape the future psychological workforce across Berkshire Healthcare.

As Head of Psychological Workforce and Training, you will provide Trust-wide leadership for workforce governance, education, training and professional standards across the psychological professions.

You will work at the interface of professional leadership, strategic workforce planning, education and training, using workforce intelligence and partnership working to support safe, effective and sustainable psychological practice.

Working closely with the Director of Psychology and Psychological Therapies, professional and operational leads, corporate services, NHS England, training providers and professional bodies, you will help ensure that the Trust has the right psychological workforce, skills and training infrastructure to meet current and future needs.

The role includes leadership of the Trust’s psychological education and training offer, including placements, recruit-to-train initiatives, funded development opportunities, relationships with training providers and assurance on quality and professional standards. You will also have direct responsibility for clinical psychology doctoral training arrangements, including placement coordination and contractual monitoring with course providers.

In this senior Trust-wide role, you will lead the development of systems that support safe,effectiveand high-quality psychological practice across services.

You willprovideassurance on professional,statutoryand regulatory requirements;use workforce intelligence to inform capacity,skillsand riskanalysis;and advise senior leaders on workforce priorities, education,developmentand investment.

You will lead the Trust’s psychological education and training offer, working with education providersand servicesto support placement quality, training governance, funded developmentopportunitiesand alignment with service needs.

You will directly coordinate andmonitorclinical psychology doctoral placements with course providers, while providing oversight, advice and assurance for other psychological professions training arrangements managed within services.

You will promote inclusive workforce development, widening participationandequitableaccess to training and career pathways that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

Please be advised that the interview will be held on the 28th of September. Unfortunately, this date cannot be amended due to service availability. Interviews will be conducted face-to-face.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority

• Committed to providing good quality, safe services

• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance

• 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell

• Generous NHS pension scheme

• Excellent learning and career development opportunities

• ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles

• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services

• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants

• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality

• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave

• Free parking across Trust sites

The ‘must haves’ for this role:

• Postgraduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology, or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or completed their training overseas

• Registered as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

• Eligibility for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)

• Clinical supervision training for doctoral psychology trainees and other qualified clinicians

• Extensive experience as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist, including senior-level leadership in complex healthcare settings

• Significant experience supervising and supporting clinical psychology doctoral trainees and other psychological professions trainees

• Experience of working collaboratively with education and training providers to support placement quality, training governance and learning environments

• Experience of workforce governance, professional standards, data systems, reporting, assurance and improvement

• Experience of leading workforce or service improvement programmes and delivering change in complex multi-stakeholder environments

• Experience of managing or overseeing budgets, funded training allocations, contracts, tariff arrangements, procurement or financial initiatives

• Ability to provide senior professional leadership and governance with direct responsibility for doctoral clinical psychology training arrangements and for collaboration with NHSE and other internal and external commissioners of education and training courses.

• Excellent communication, influencing and partnership-working skills

• Ability to travel to multiple sites and work effectively with stakeholders online

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey. 

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Stonewall Proud Employer, Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and ‘Other’ Ethnic Groups.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dr Alison Pocock, previous Head of Psychological Workforce and Training: Alison.Pocock@berkshire.nhs.uk.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

This advert closes on Wednesday 16 Sep 2026

Apply for this job