Visa sponsorship Home Office sponsor register · Skilled Worker route

This role is listed by an employer that holds a live Home Office sponsor licence on the Skilled Worker route.

Salary for this role£32,073 – £39,043 a year

Health and Care route minimum£25,000 a year

Pay basisNational pay scales (NHS bands)

This occupation falls under the Health and Care Worker route. Salaries set by national pay scales (NHS bands) at or above the relevant band rate typically meet the occupation's requirement.

Closest occupation match: SOC 2225, Clinical psychologists. Pay for this occupation is set by national pay scales (NHS bands), so no single Home Office going rate applies.

Individual eligibility depends on personal circumstances. These figures are public reference information, not advice or a verdict on this job.

Role description

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is looking to recruit a passionate, knowledgeable and dynamic Senior Assistant Psychologistto join our Family Eating Disorders Service (SFEDS).

You will be joining a service of highly skilled and experienced Family and Systemic Psychotherapists, Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists, Nurses, Dietitian, Support Workers and Occupational Therapists. Our team is responsible for covering all of Sussex.

You will be based at Aldrington House in Hove but may occasionally be required to travel to our clinics in Horsham and Hailsham.

We offer and support hybrid and flexible working; we require staff to be on site for 60% of their working week.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will support and enhance the professional psychological care to young people (aged 10-18) with eating disorders as well as liaise with families/carers, other professionals and organisations to promote communication and good practice.

Ideally you will have prior experience of working with eating disorders and experience of using therapeutic models associated with this client group.

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing psychological assessments and interventions within the scope appropriate to level of experience and training.

About us

Sussex Partnership Trust provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.

Working in Sussex:

Travel easily between coast and countryside, with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns there's always new experiences to be enjoyed
Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London
With easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK there is plenty of opportunity for adventure

We'd love you to join our organisation that is rated 'good' overall and 'outstanding' for caring by the Care Quality Commission. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.

Other key staff survey results include:

70% highlighting flexible working opportunities as a key point for satisfaction at work

79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work within their team

77% identifying the opportunities to show initiative in their roles

Date posted

02 October 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£32,073 to £39,043 a year pa

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

354-CS-21966

Job locations

Aldrington House

35 New Church Road

Hove

BN3 4AG

United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

REQUIREMENTS:

To be a successful Senior Assistant Psychologist in our team you will be/have:

Honours degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology or equivalent.
You will have at least 6 months experience working as an Assistant Psychologist
Have experience of working with young people with complex needs.
You must be able to demonstrate a caring, compassionate and non-judgmental attitude, and show a commitment to making a difference when supporting young people and their families on their recovery journeys

See attached Generic Job Description and Person Specification for full details.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Honours Degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology or equivalent

Desirable

Further post graduate training in relevant area of professional psychology, health and social care practice, and / or research design and analysis

Knowledge and experience

Essential

You will have at least 6 months experience working as an Assistant Psychologist
Experience of working with people with complex needs
Experience of working with people with disabilities, in a health or Mental Health setting and or work with people with complex needs
Relevant clinical and research skills
Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Basic knowledge of databases, research skills and methodology
Experience of group work and individual therapeutic contact
An understanding of psychology applied to health care

Desirable

Experience of the use of psychometric tests
Experience of in-patient settings
Lived experience of mental health issues

Skills

Essential

To be able to communicate effectively under pressure and maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times
To be able to provide and receive complex sensitive or contentious information in a potentially highly emotive atmosphere. To be able to work with resistance to ideas
High standard of report writing
To assimilate complex information and use reflective/analytic thinking, to apply psychological perspectives in work with clients
Ability to be flexible and cope with multiple demands
Capable of using initiative and organise work to agreed goals. Ability to work independently and know when to ask for and use supervision, identifying when there is need for advice and using supervision at agreed intervals
Information technology skills. To have highly developed IT skills and good working knowledge of statistical packages
Team working
Ability to travel across sites
Punctual and flexible across hours of work when required

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.