Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology - Adult ND

NHS Scotland is seeking enthusiastic and skilled Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology (CAAPs) to join a growing national workforce, dedicated to improving outcomes for neurodivergent people.

Following significant national investment in neurodevelopmental services for adults, multiple NHS Boards across Scotland are recruiting qualified CAAPs to a number of part-time and full-time positions to support the delivery and development of high-quality, neuro-affirming services. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to meaningful improvements in assessment, intervention and post-diagnostic support pathways.

Through this national recruitment process, applicants will be able to express preferences for one or more participating NHS Boards.

This is a unique opportunity to:

• Play a key role in transforming neurodevelopmental assessment, intervention and post-diagnostic support for adults across Scotland
• Work within innovative multidisciplinary teams
• Access ongoing professional development and supervision
• Contribute to national priorities aimed at improving access, outcomes and experience for neurodivergent adults.

About the Role

As a qualified CAAP, you will work as part of multidisciplinary teams delivering evidence-based psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for neurodivergent individuals. Posts may be deployed across a range of settings depending on local service need, including:

• Adult neurodevelopmental assessment services
• Post-diagnostic support pathways
• Primary care mental health services
• Secondary care mental health services
• Community-based multidisciplinary teams
• Psychological therapies services.

You will contribute directly to improving access to care while supporting the delivery of compassionate, person-centred and neuro-affirming practice.

You will:

• Undertake psychological assessments and formulation-informed interventions
• Deliver evidence-based individual and group interventions
• Contribute to neurodevelopmental assessment and support pathways for the adult population
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary and multi-agency partners
• Provide consultation and psychological expertise to colleagues and services
• Support service improvement, evaluation and quality improvement activity
• Contribute to workforce development through training, coaching and the sharing of psychological knowledge and skills.

About You

Applicants must:

• Hold the following qualification:
• MSc Psychological Therapy in Primary Care (Adults), University of Stirling and University of Dundee
• Demonstrate strong skills in psychological assessment, formulation and intervention
• Be committed to delivering neuro-affirming, evidence-based and inclusive practice
• Have excellent communication, partnership working and relationship-building skills

Experience working with and additional training in neurodevelopmental presentations, including autism and ADHD, is desirable but not essential.

National Recruitment Process

This is a coordinated national recruitment campaign involving multiple NHS Boards across Scotland, led by Public Services Delivery Scotland. Applicants will submit a single application through JobTrain alongside the MS Form linked below where you have the opportunity to identify preferred Board locations and full-time or part-time hours of work.

Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology (CAAP) Application Information - Fill in form

You MUST complete this MS Form by the application deadline to be eligible to continue in the recruitment and selection process, any applicants who have not completed the MS Form will be withdrawn from the selection process.

Specific hours, job plans, service models and locations will vary across participating Boards and will be discussed during appointment stages.

Candidates successful at application stage will be invited to interview. Interviews will take place via MS Teams week commencing 30th November 2026.

Following interviews, each employing NHS Board will appoint successful candidates to posts available within their health board. It is expected posts will commence from end of January pending pre-employment checks. Posts are fixed-term to 31st March 2028 in the first instance.

AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be helpful for planning and preparing your application, but your answers must be your own. Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically. Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.

If you are interested in this vacancy, please refer to the attached documents. Further board specific information will be made available as and when we receive this from services.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date.

Further information:

Please contact psychology@nes.scot.nhs.uk with any informal enquiries relating to these posts.