Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Work Psychologist
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Work Psychologist
Pay: up to £41,625, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, flexible working options and a strong focus on wellbeing.
Are you ready to use your expertise in psychology to make a life-changing difference for people who need it most?
You’ll join the DWP Work Psychology Service (WPS) - a vibrant and diverse community of nearly 100 practitioners. You’ll use evidence-based occupational psychology to support people who may be socially excluded, living with health conditions, or experiencing significant challenges that make access to work more difficult.
This is work that matters. Through one-to-one assessments, group-based interventions, and capability-building with Jobcentre colleagues, you’ll help people move closer to and into employment. You’ll also become part of the Government Occupational Psychology Profession, the largest Occupational Psychology community in the UK, offering substantial opportunities for professional development, connection and growth.
DWP is the UK’s largest government department. Every day, we support millions of people across the UK - helping them access employment opportunities, improve wellbeing and make positive life changes.
The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We’d love you to join us.
What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?
- You can explain psychological ideas simply so colleagues and customers can use them confidently.
- You build rapport easily and help people understand their strengths and experiences.
- You’re confident communicating complex information clearly, both in writing and in conversation.
- You understand professional ethics and apply them in your work.
- You gather information, weigh it up and make good evidence-based decisions.
- You work well with a wide range of people, building trusted relationships and challenging constructively when needed.
- You’re able to manage your own workload, stay organised and adapt when priorities shift.
- You can travel regularly across a large geographical area to meet customers face-to-face.
- You’re comfortable visiting multiple Jobcentres and adapting to different environments.
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You should already have the recognised academic pathway for Occupational Psychology: holding a GBC-eligible psychology degree and a BPS-accredited Stage 1 MSc in Occupational Psychology. This ensures you’re eligible to enrol on Stage 2 training toward becoming a Registered Occupational Psychologist – something we support you to do as part of your role with us.
We cannot consider applications if you don’t meet our minimum qualifications criteria.
You and your role
As a Work Psychologist, you’ll play a pivotal role in helping people overcome barriers and make meaningful progress towards employment.
You’ll design and deliver one-to-one assessments that explore a customer’s strengths, work goals and support needs, and you’ll run group interventions that build confidence, develop job-search skills and encourage positive beliefs about work.
You’ll also support DWP colleagues directly - offering advice on complex cases, facilitating structured case discussions and designing learning sessions on topics like mental health, coaching skills and employability. Your input will help Jobcentre teams feel more confident, more skilled and better equipped to support customers.
Beyond customer-facing work, you’ll use the consultancy cycle to explore local issues, gather evidence, deliver bespoke interventions and evaluate their impact. This may include working with senior leaders to improve team effectiveness or strengthen the services offered in a district.
Once established in the role, you’ll work towards achieving Registered Occupational Psychologist status through the BPS Qualification in Occupational Psychology Stage 2, with dedicated time each month for professional development.
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You’ll succeed here if you’re someone who thrives on variety, enjoys working across different sites and teams, and finds purpose in supporting people who often feel furthest from the job market. This is a role where your expertise directly changes lives - and where you’ll be supported by a strong national psychology community that values learning, curiosity and collaboration.
Details. Wages. Perks.
Location: Roles are available across North East and North West England, and Scotland, with frequent travel between Jobcentres in your allocated area. You can express a location preference during selection and will be based in a local office with available capacity - please refer to the Civil Service job page for full details.
Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model – you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a Jobcentre.
Pay: We offer competitive pay of £34,503 rising to £41,625 once successfully passing probation and the associated learning routeway – typically after six months.
Pension: You’ll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97% a year.
Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 24 days and rising to 26 days after one year.
Benefits:
- Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies
- Time off volunteering and charitable giving
- Bring your authentic self to work with ‘I Can Be Me in DWP’
- Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
- Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it’s even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
- Sports and social activities
- Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.
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