Trainee Infant and Early Years Pathway Practitioner

Salary: £39,959 per annum + travel expenses
Full-time: 37 hours per week
Location: Flexible locations across Kent
Contract: 1-year fixed term
Start date: January 2027

About the opportunity

Are you passionate about supporting the mental health, wellbeing and development of babies, young children and their families?

Do you have experience working with children aged 0–5 and their parents or carers, and are you keen to develop your skills in evidence-based psychological interventions?

If so, we would love to hear from you.

Salus is delighted to offer an exciting trainee opportunity within our Infant & Early Years service, providing you with the chance to combine academic learning with hands-on clinical experience.

This is a unique opportunity to train as a Trainee Infant & Early Years Practitioner (CYP-PT IEYP) while working within Salus. The programme will allow you to develop specialist knowledge and practical skills in supporting infants, young children and their families, while making a meaningful difference to the lives of those we work with.

The training programme is due to begin in January 2027 and will be delivered in partnership with University College London (UCL) and Anna Freud.

Any appointment will be made subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. 

About the role

As a trainee, you will spend approximately half of your working week undertaking academic teaching and personal study, with the remainder of your time based within the Salus service.

You will have the opportunity to put your learning into practice through direct clinical work with infants, young children and their families. You will receive regular clinical supervision and will work alongside experienced practitioners within a supportive, welcoming team.

Your role will include opportunities to:

• Develop your understanding of infant and early childhood mental health.
• Build skills in assessment and evidence-based intervention.
• Support the emotional wellbeing and relational development of babies and young children.
• Work sensitively with parents, carers and families.
• Contribute to safeguarding and multi-agency working.
• Apply learning from your academic programme to your clinical practice.
• Reflect on your practice and develop your professional skills.
• Work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Contribute to inclusive, compassionate and evidence-informed care.

You may also have opportunities to develop skills in approaches such as Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) and other evidence-based interventions relevant to infant and early years mental health.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for motivated and compassionate applicants with a strong interest in the mental health and development of children aged 0–5 years.

You will ideally have:

• Experience of working with young children and their families.
• An understanding of child development and early years wellbeing.
• Experience of working with parents and carers.
• An understanding of safeguarding and the importance of multi-agency working.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to build positive and sensitive relationships with children, parents and carers.
• A reflective approach to your own practice.
• The ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Enthusiasm for learning and developing your clinical skills.
• The ability to manage the demands of combining academic study with clinical work.

Above all, we are looking for someone who is passionate about making a positive difference during the earliest years of a child’s life.

Training and development

This is a fully salaried training opportunity, meaning you will be employed by Salus throughout the programme while also being enrolled as a student on the relevant postgraduate training programme.

The training will begin in January 2027 and will combine academic teaching, personal study and supervised clinical practice.

Successful completion of the programme will lead to a Postgraduate Diploma, subject to meeting the university’s course requirements.

You will benefit from:

• A full-time salary of £39,959.
• Training and study costs covered as part of the programme.
• Regular clinical supervision.
• Support from experienced practitioners.
• Dedicated academic teaching and personal study time.
• Valuable experience within an infant and early years service.
• The opportunity to develop a career in early years psychological practice.

Application process

This is a dual application process.

Alongside applying for this position with Salus, applicants will also need to complete the relevant university/course application so that the Course Team can assess whether they meet the academic and training requirements.

The Course Team will liaise with Salus during the recruitment process.

Please note that a training place can only be offered where the applicant is successful in securing the Salus post and meets the relevant university training requirements, including academic eligibility, relevant experience and any applicable visa requirements.

By submitting an application for this role, you agree that your application details may be shared with the relevant course and training team for the purposes of the recruitment and training process.

Important information about studying

Please consider the following requirements before applying:

The training programme is expected to commence on Monday 18 January 2027. You can only be enrolled as a student on one training programme at any one time. If you are currently completing a course when you apply, your course must finish before the January 2027 training programme begins.

There are eligibility requirements relating to previous funded psychological professions training. Please check the current guidance carefully before applying. The link below will take you to the UCL website where you can apply for the training position.

https://evision.ucl.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login_enc?0qhYzuG1h9udTFM8i9sPhtGiUgIR6D6iP0QBDHq24aUE7Anl4FtDGBDmc3LlBtzaLnpmgGfEEG0=

Further information

For questions about the employment opportunity, application process or contract, please contact Salus.

For questions about the training programme or course application, please contact the relevant programme team using the contact details provided in the course information.

We would be delighted to hear from people who are enthusiastic about infant and early years mental health and who are excited about developing their career in this rewarding area of practice.

Closing date: 12^th October 2026
Interview date: 19^th October 2026
Training start date: 18^th January 2027

Any appointment will be subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

Main Purpose of Post

This is a training role within the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (CYP IAPT), delivered by NHS England and partners to improve existing young people’s mental health services working in the community.

The postholder will:

• Work under supervision, to deliver high-quality, brief outcome focused evidence-based interventions for children 0-2 and their families
• Support parents who are experiencing difficulties with feeding, toileting, sleeping or persistent crying or experiencing difficult behaviour with their children
• Attend all university-based taught and self-study days required by University College London and work in service for the remaining days using newly developed skills.
• The post holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities  

Responsibilities and duties

• Assess and deliver, under clinical supervision, outcome focused, evidence-based interventions to parents experiencing difficulties with their children.

• Support and empower parents to make informed choices about the intervention.
• Operate at all times from an inclusive values base, which recognises and respects diversity.

• Undertake accurate assessment of risk to self and others

• Adhere to the service request for support protocols. Under supervision, signpost unsuitable requests to the relevant service as necessary.
• Through close clinical case management and supervision, escalate cases where the level of need becomes beyond scope, or more severe ensuring adherence to other relevant elements of service delivery.
• Provide a range of information and support for evidence based psychological treatments. this may include guided self-help. This work may be face-to-face, virtual, by telephone or via other media.
• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or parents accessing treatment, where appropriate.
• Keep timely and accurate records of all activity in line with service protocols and use these records and outcome data to inform decision making. Complete all requirements relating to data collection.
• Work in collaboration with children, families and communities to enhance and widen access.

Training and Supervision

• Attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post including practical, academic and practice-based assessments.
• Apply learning from the training programme to practice.

• Attend meetings with academic tutor in relation to course work to meet the required standards.

• Prepare and present case load information to Clinical Supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the governance obligations of the trainee, supervisor and service are delivered.

• Respond to and implement supervision suggestions by Clinical Supervisors in practice.
• Engage in Clinical Skills Supervision to improve competences and practice.

Professional

• Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating bodies, and keep up-to-date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the relevant departments

• Ensure that confidentiality is protected at all times.
• Ensure clear objectives are identified, discussed and reviewed with Clinical Supervisor on a regular basis as part of continuing professional development

• Participate in Line Management and Probation Meetings and respond to agreed objectives
• Attend relevant training/workshops/Team Days in line with identified professional objectives

Person specification

We are looking for a motivated, reflective and compassionate individual who is passionate about supporting the emotional wellbeing, development and relationships of babies, young children and their families.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

Due to the geographical area, this post will require a driver with access to a car for work purposes.