Principal Specialist Psychologist - Neuromuscular Research Project

Purpose of the Role

The purpose of this role is to be responsible for the development and evaluation of a research programme to examine the needs for a psychology service for children with neuro-muscular conditions at CHI (examples of conditions include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker Muscular dystrophy, Spinal muscular atrophy among others). This will involve the delivery of high quality patient and family-centred psychological assessment and therapeutic services in a paediatric specialty and to fully and competently discharge the duties of the post. The post-holder will work closely with the core research team including Principal Investigator (PI) Professor Denise Mc Donald, PhD research student employed for this project, the senior and staff grade psychologists working on the project.

The project will run for three years and is funded to develop, implement and evaluate paediatric psychology care for children and young people with neuromuscular conditions and their families attending CHI Tertiary clinics.

Essential Criteria:

Candidates must:

• have a recognised honours degree in psychology
• have a recognised postgraduate professional qualification in Psychology recognised by the Psychological Society of Ireland - such as clinical, counselling or educational psychology.
• have a minimum of eight years postgraduate professional experience in psychology (inclusive of time spent in training), at least three of which are at senior grade
• have relevant training and experience in psychological assessment and intervention skills for patients with a wide range of psychological difficulties inclusive of developmental/neurodisability presentations and or physical impairment.
• demonstrate competence in clinical audit, research and supervision skills
• possess the requisite knowledge and ability (to include a high standard of suitability and management ability) for proper discharge of the duties of the post
• Candidates who have completed their postgraduate training outside of Ireland must ensure that their qualification is validated by the Department of Health and Children

How to Apply & Informal Enquiries

Applications for this post must be accompanied by a cover letter, setting out relevant experience that illustrates how the essential criteria listed above is met.

The criterion for short listing is based on the requirements of the post, as outlined in the eligibility criteria.

* Please note that you must submit a cover letter with your CV, this forms part of your application and CV’s will not be accepted without a detailed cover letter.

The closing date for submissions of CV’s and cover letter is by 2nd of September by 23:45pm.  Applications must be completed through the advertised post on CHI.jobs by clicking ‘Apply for Job’.

Applications will not be accepted through direct email or any other method.

For informal enquiries for this specialty/department, please contact Dr Anne Kehoe, Psychology Manager Tallaght at anne.kehoe@tuh.ie or Helena Rushe, Director of Psychology at Helena.Rushe@childrenshealthireland.ie or Professor Denise Mc Donald, Consultant Paediatrician Neurodisability CHI / Associate academic Professor TCD (mcdonadg@tcd.ie )

For other queries relating to this recruitment process, please contact Talent Acquisition specialist Victoria.Gsamelova@childrenshealthireland.ie

PLEASE NOTE:

CHI has transitioned to a process of a one commencement day per month for all new employees, CHI internal transfers and Secondments. This update to our Onboarding process is aligned to changes in our monthly/fortnightly payroll and with the launch of our new corporate induction program. This process enhancement ensures that we can thoroughly prepare for your arrival and facilitate a smooth transition in your onboarding journey.

So that the Onboarding team can confirm your start date, you will need to ensure that your mandatory training is completed at least 7 days prior to your commencement date.

It is important for you to note that if you do not have your pre-employments and mandatory training completed in time, your commencement date will be deferred to the next available date.

Below, you’ll find the list of commencement dates for 2025.

• September 15th
• October 13th
• November 10th
• December 15