Consultant Clinical Psychologist‑Specialist Autism Services (All Age)
Band 8c
Main area Psychology – Autism Services Grade Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week Job ref 351-PEN1139-SRP
Site Greenbank Centre Town Preston Salary £79,504 – £91,609 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 02/07/2026 23:59
Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:
- Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
- Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Extensive community physical health and well‑being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long‑term condition management.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.
We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity that has arisen for an 8c Consultant Clinical Psychologist to be part of the Senior Leadership Team for Specialist Autism (all age) services here at LSCFT.
This is an exciting and innovative new role, created in recognition of the need for dedicated psychological leadership, oversight and specialist input for this client group. As a Trust we are committed to delivering the highest standard of care for our patients. Our Specialist Autism Services offer trauma informed, evidence based, person centred support that prioritise safety, clinical excellence, and meaningful outcomes. We are looking for an experienced clinician who will play a pivotal role in shaping and strengthening this service. The new post holder would work closely with senior MDT colleagues to deliver high‑quality care for autistic children, young people and adults, working alongside and in partnership with other mental health services to deliver the best possible care and support.
The role will sit across all Specialist Autism Services within LSCFT across the age range for strategic, consultative, governance and supervisory support; however the clinical input for the role would be within the Children and Young People Autism Intensive Support Service (AISS).
Main duties of the job
The post holder will join the Senior Leadership Team for the all age Specialist Autism Service within LSCFT. The post holder will work as a senior member of the service to assist in providing clinical leadership and strategic service development to the clinical teams and services across the Adult Specialist Autism Team, the Children and Young People Autism Intensive Support Service and the Learning Disability and Autism Key Working Service. The post holder will work closely with other senior clinical and managerial staff within the Specialist Autism Service Line to provide a psychological perspective to service planning, service development and clinical service transformation across the Trust.
Working for our organisation
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.
Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under‑represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.
We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.
LSCFT supports flexible working; we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi‑time.
The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
- HCPC registered as a practitioner psychologist (clinical).
- Eligibility for consultant clinical psychologist appointment approval from external BPS assessor.
Knowledge & Skills
- Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology, including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
- Knowledge of legislation and its implication for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group and mental health.
Experience
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course, in various settings including outpatient, community, primary care inpatient and residential care settings. Also including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and threats of physical abuse.
- Experience of providing a range of complex psychological assessment and interventions using information derived from a variety of sources and requiring highly developed analytic and interpretative skills.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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