Team Leader Psychologist - Early Intervention

Team Leader Psychologists

• Lead, inspire, and innovate alongside a team of Psychologists to create life-changing outcomes for tamariki with complex needs.
• These roles will be part of a new national intensive clinical services team that will be located across the country.
• These are permanent full-time roles.

Are you a Registered Psychologist seeking a leadership role, who is passionate about improving outcomes for tamariki who have experienced trauma? Oranga Tamariki is seeking experienced Psychologists to join a new intensive clinical services team that will provide early assessment, formulation, and caregiver-centred intervention for tamariki under the age of ten with complex presentations who have recently entered statutory care.

This is an exciting new role where your commitment to evidence‑based practice and cultural competence will directly support better futures for children, young people, and their whānau.

Mō mātou | About us

Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children has a commitment to putting tamariki and rangatahi at the heart of what we do. In our work, we aim to demonstrate these values:

• We put Tamariki first
• We believe Aroha is vital
• We respect the Mana of people
• We are Tika and Pono
• We value Whakapapa
• We recognise that Oranga is a journey

We are committed to ensuring that New Zealand is the best place in the world to be a child. We are also committed to ensuring Oranga Tamariki partners with hapū, iwi and Māori organisations to find appropriate solutions for tamariki in need.

Mō te tūnga | About the role

This new team is being led by a Clinical Services Manager within our current Clinical Services. Clinical Services are part of our Health and Clinical Services Group, which includes the High Needs Services and High and Complex Needs Interagency teams.

Tamariki who enter statutory care in Aotearoa in the first decade of life are among the most developmentally vulnerable cohorts within our system. A timely, developmentally informed, and therapeutically grounded approach mitigates the risk of behavioural escalation, placement breakdown, and an adverse trajectory.

In this role, you will be providing clinical guidance and assistance to some of our most vulnerable tamariki and their caregivers/ whānau, providing best practice models of assessment and intervention. You will have training and experience in working with tamariki presenting with complex issues including developmental trauma, neurodivergence, attachment disruption, and emotion and behaviour dysregulation.

Reporting to the Clinical Services Manager, you will hold a clinical caseload within the service, and provide clinical leadership and oversight for a team of 4–6 service psychologists. Your team will deliver a timely, psychology-led, intensive co-working response that moves through a defined clinical sequence: contact, triage, allocation, assessment, formulation, treatment planning, intensive intervention predominantly oriented towards caregivers and whānau, and supported transition. The service will be delivered over 12 weeks, with post transition follow-up.

This new clinical service is specifically designed to allow flexibility and a timely response; providing specialised support for tamariki and the whanau, caregivers, and support systems around them as soon as possible after entering statutory care. At times this may require you to work across multiple locations within your region and flex across regions if your expertise is needed.

Ngā pūmanawatanga ōu | What you will bring

You will have demonstrated competency in clinical leadership and supervision, and working with tamariki presenting with complex developmental trauma, neurodivergence, attachment disruption, and complex behaviours.

Some other key requirements include but are not limited to:

• Applicants must hold a current New Zealand Psychologists Board Annual Practising Certificate (APC) to be considered.
• A postgraduate qualification in Psychology.
• Have practiced for at least 5 years post-graduation including training in, and providing, clinical supervision of other Psychologists.
• Ability to lead a team, determining workloads and balancing demands of a busy service.
• A passion for, and experience working with tamariki, whānau and/or caregivers and the networks that support them.
• A genuine desire to make a difference to the lives of tamariki and whānau facing adversity.
• Proven practical experience in a wide range of applied psychology, including assessment, intervention, consultation, training and evaluation.
• Sound knowledge of psychological models and theories and their application in relation to tamariki in care.
• Experience in administration and interpretation of psychometric tools, alongside clinical ability to assess developmental functioning, trauma, behavioural concerns, risk, relationships and other domains in tamariki and rangatahi populations.
• Strong engagement and relationship building skills with internal and external stakeholders.
• Understanding and appreciation of cross-cultural practices particularly knowledge of tikanga Māori, and Pacific peoples’ culture.
• The ability to manage risk in the context of complex situations.
• Understanding of the public sector context and agencies involved in providing services for children and young people.
• Some understanding of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

Nōu te rourou | What's in it for you

The roles are part of Health and Clinical Services who are valued for the specialist expertise they provide. The services are supported by a new Clinical Governance approach with a commitment to supporting the clinical workforce.

Oranga Tamariki offers a step-based remuneration package, that offers progression annually for experience through tenure. Please contact us if you would like more information about the Oranga Tamariki remuneration framework.

We offer a vibrant and supportive team, flexible work options and a genuine commitment to wellbeing. We offer training and professional development so that you can thrive and grow. We welcome diversity and are committed to working in an inclusive and respectful way. This is your opportunity to apply your skills and experience to the wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi.

To see all the benefits of working for Oranga Tamariki, please visit

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to Apply

Apply online with your CV and Covering Letter.

If you are an Oranga Tamariki employee already, please ensure you apply with a log in using your Oranga Tamariki email address.

If you would like to discuss the roles or enquire about the remuneration framework, please contact laura.barkwill@ot.govt.nz

Applications for these roles close at midnight on 19th October.