Clinical Director

www.helmcareservices.co.uk

Job Title: Clinical Director – Clinical Psychologist

Reports To: Managing Director

Location: Various Locations (Lancashire and West Yorkshire Region)

Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 PA (Depending on experience)

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday; flexibility required

Clinical leadership that makes a difference to children

We are looking for an experienced HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist to lead clinical provision across Helm Care Services and Helm Academy. You will bring sound clinical judgement, experience supporting children with complex needs and the ability to turn psychological understanding into practical improvements in children’s everyday lives.

About Helm Care Services and Helm Academy

Our services bring together specialist therapeutic residential care and bespoke independent education for children and young people with complex needs, developmental trauma and disrupted experiences of care or learning.

Helm Care Services supports children whose needs and levels of risk may require more than traditional residential care has been able to provide. Some arrive following repeated placement breakdowns, periods in hospital or secure care, significant self-harm or missing episodes. Our homes combine nurturing, consistent care with therapeutic parenting and clinical support to help children experience safety, build trusting relationships and move towards recovery.

Helm Academy provides personalised education for children with special educational needs, including those whose needs have not been met within mainstream settings. We use each child’s Education, Health and Care Plan as a blueprint for support, working closely with families and professionals to create opportunities for learning, participation and achievement.

Across both services, care staff, teachers, therapists and clinical practitioners work together to understand the child beyond their presenting behaviour and shape support around their needs, strengths and aspirations. The child is not expected to fit the service. The service adapts around the child.

The role

Reporting to the Managing Director, you will provide strategic, professional and specialist psychological leadership across our homes and SEN education provision. You will line manage Children’s Clinical Practitioners and the wider clinical team, working closely with Registered Managers, Responsible Individuals and education leaders to ensure therapy, care and education operate as one coordinated system around each child.

You will lead the development of our residential clinical model, with a qualified, professionally registered or accredited clinician, such as an RMN or therapist, working on shift in the home every day alongside therapeutic parents. You will establish appropriate clinical cover, supervision, handovers and escalation arrangements.

Your responsibilities

• Provide specialist consultation, assessment, formulation and clinical guidance, maintaining an agreed caseload of complex work balanced with your leadership responsibilities.
• Embed PACE, attachment-informed and trauma-responsive practice, helping colleagues apply psychological understanding to everyday care, emotional regulation, education and relationships.
• Lead and develop the clinical team through line management, appropriate supervision, reflective practice, training and clear competency expectations.
• Lead clinical governance, safeguarding, clinical risk management, audits and incident learning, and support homes and the school to evidence the impact of therapeutic practice.
• Provide clinical input into referrals, matching and admissions, ensuring decisions reflect children’s needs, risks and the service’s ability to provide safe, effective support.
• Use assessment findings and outcome measures to review progress, improve interventions and demonstrate meaningful changes in children’s safety, wellbeing, relationships and engagement in learning.
• Ensure children’s views, strengths, identity and aspirations shape therapeutic planning and service development, working collaboratively with families and external professionals.

The experience you will bring

• A Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and current HCPC registration as a Clinical Psychologist.
• Significant experience assessing and supporting children and young people with complex presentations, including developmental trauma, attachment difficulties and emotional regulation needs.
• Experience working in children’s residential settings or with complex young people in other complex settings.
• Experience delivering clinical supervision and line management to clinical staff, with the ability to lead a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of safeguarding, clinical risk assessment, formulation and multidisciplinary working.
• Experience working with, or a strong interest in, children involved in the Criminal Justice System.
• Strong communication and organisational skills, a reflective approach and the ability to translate clinical recommendations into practical guidance for care and education teams.
• A driving licence and willingness to travel between services in Lancashire and West Yorkshire.
• Knowledge of relevant Ofsted frameworks, the Children’s Homes Quality Standards and SEND is desirable, alongside additional training in approaches such as DDP, Theraplay, EMDR or other trauma-informed modalities.

The leader we are looking for

We want a grounded, approachable leader who puts children’s needs and outcomes at the centre of every decision. You will listen to children and colleagues, welcome constructive challenge, share your knowledge and be willing to reconsider your approach when evidence or experience points to a better way.

You will value the expertise of therapeutic parents, teachers and clinical colleagues, recognise the contribution each person makes and support others to develop. You will combine humility with clear professional accountability: confident enough to make difficult decisions, honest about the limits of your knowledge and focused on what will help the child.

Success in this role means helping children become safer, build trust, participate in learning and develop confidence in their future. You will recognise that progress can be gradual and individual, and use evidence, reflection and the child’s own experience to understand whether our support is making a difference.

What we offer

• £75,000–£85,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Mileage allowance for travel to other homes.
• 30 days’ holiday, including bank holidays.
• Ongoing training and professional development.
• Pension and private healthcare after probation.
• Opportunities to contribute to service development and develop others within a growing organisation.

How to apply

Please send your CV and a supporting statement to [email protected]. Tell us about your experience with complex children and young people, your clinical leadership and supervision experience, and an example of how your work improved a child’s outcomes.

Helm Care Services and Helm Academy are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment is subject to appropriate safer recruitment checks, including references, professional registration verification and an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information where applicable.

You will lead the development of our residential clinical model, with a qualified, professionally registered or accredited clinician, such as an RMN or therapist, working on shift in the home every day alongside therapeutic parents. You will establish appropriate clinical cover, supervision, handovers and escalation arrangements.

Your responsibilities

• Provide specialist consultation, assessment, formulation and clinical guidance, maintaining an agreed caseload of complex work balanced with your leadership responsibilities.
• Embed PACE, attachment-informed and trauma-responsive practice, helping colleagues apply psychological understanding to everyday care, emotional regulation, education and relationships.
• Lead and develop the clinical team through line management, appropriate supervision, reflective practice, training and clear competency expectations.
• Lead clinical governance, safeguarding, clinical risk management, audits and incident learning, and support homes and the school to evidence the impact of therapeutic practice.
• Provide clinical input into referrals, matching and admissions, ensuring decisions reflect children’s needs, risks and the service’s ability to provide safe, effective support.
• Use assessment findings and outcome measures to review progress, improve interventions and demonstrate meaningful changes in children’s safety, wellbeing, relationships and engagement in learning.
• Ensure children’s views, strengths, identity and aspirations shape therapeutic planning and service development, working collaboratively with families and external professionals.

The experience you will bring

• A Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and current HCPC registration as a Clinical Psychologist.
• Significant experience assessing and supporting children and young people with complex presentations, including developmental trauma, attachment difficulties and emotional regulation needs.
• Experience working in children’s residential settings or with complex young people in other complex settings.
• Experience delivering clinical supervision and line management to clinical staff, with the ability to lead a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of safeguarding, clinical risk assessment, formulation and multidisciplinary working.
• Experience working with, or a strong interest in, children involved in the Criminal Justice System.
• Strong communication and organisational skills, a reflective approach and the ability to translate clinical recommendations into practical guidance for care and education teams.
• A driving licence and willingness to travel between services in Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

Pay: £75,000.00-£85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Private medical insurance

Work Location: In person