Job Advert
Location: Glasgow or Edinburgh
Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Part Time, 29.6 hours per week (29 hours 36 minutes)
Fixed-term or Secondment** to 31st March 2027 in the first instance.
**For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.
You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.
Who We Are
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.
The NES Psychology Directorate has two major areas of responsibility:
Training of psychologists for NHS Scotland
Upskilling the existing multi-professional workforce in psychological care
NES has responsibility for commissioning pre-registration training for clinical and applied psychology for NHSScotland. Through partnership working with NHS Boards and Universities, we have been involved in ensuring training pathways reflect changing service needs. The Directorate has developed relationships with a wide range of other stakeholders in Scotland (e.g. Scottish Government, Scottish Social Services Council, Higher Education Institutes) and across the UK (e.g. Department of Health, professional and regulatory bodies) to take forward its modernisation agenda for this professional group.
The directorate has a leading role in developing NES educational strategy to support increased availability of psychological interventions and therapies as well as a significant role in supporting implementation in practice. NES has been directed to work in partnership with Scottish Government, the Scottish Social Services Council, NHS Boards and other key stakeholders to increase the capacity within the current workforce to deliver evidence based psychological interventions
The Opportunity
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to take up a strategic leadership role in a high-profile programme of work at national level, working within the NES Psychology Directorate,
You will be an innovative and highly motivated psychologist (qualified to Doctoral level or equivalent), registered with the Health Care Professions Council, and with considerable experience of working in the field of Trauma across the lifespan. You will have expert knowledge and have significant experience of clinical practice, teaching / training, research and membership of high-level strategic planning groups. Excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills are essential, as is engagement in partnership working with a range of stakeholders. In addition, the post-holder will be committed to multi-professional and inter-agency approaches to education and healthcare as well as the wider public services and will be able to demonstrate flexibility and high-level diplomacy skills. You should demonstrate a proven ability to support others in a rapidly changing environment as well as delivering high level leadership and research skills.
What We Love to See
The Head of Programme postholder will need a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply
highly specialised knowledge, some of which is at the forefront of knowledge around psychological trauma, which you use as the basis for original thinking, strategic planning, leadership, education design and implementation and research;
ability to proactively co-ordinate and connect a range of activities across the interface between NES, Scottish Government and services within NHS Scotland aligned with the National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP)
takes responsibility for the development and implementation of education that will support the key strategic themes of developing educational infrastructure and building workforce capacity for service improvement across health and social care as well as wider public services in Scotland;
effectively manages change in order to deliver successful outcomes;
works as part of a team and in partnership with executives and senior managers across NHSScotland and other parts of the public service, agencies and learning & development providers, thereby influencing and building sustained improvements to capability and capacity;
Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines
Benefits Which Matter
As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:
Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
Generous NHS pension scheme
Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
NHS discounts and more
Diversity and Inclusion
Developing a successful national service for Scotland is impossible without ensuring we consider the diverse needs, perspectives and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland in our work.
We are focused on hiring the very best talent available for NES, and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and aim to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has a positive recruitment experience – regardless of the outcome.
It’s not essential to be in Head of Programme role right now. You may be returning from a career break (e.g. maternity, paternity, caring for others) or returning after working in another field. Your experiences elsewhere can bring a fresh perspective to our work.
If you are considering applying and feel it would be helpful to discuss this initially, please contact Dr Sandra Ferguson, Associate Director – Sandra.Ferguson@nhs.scot
Next Steps
**NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.
All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.
In person OR online interviews (including a presentation) will take place on 8th September 2025. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.
For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.
Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.
To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.
As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.
For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.
It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.
If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot