NJ Civil Service Navigator

STAFF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST 2

Code: 60309 State Competitive Range: P21 (FY2026)

Career Family: STAFF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

Salary: $64,340.11 - $94,061.73/year FY2026 schedule (last updated 2026-05-08)

To land Staff Clinical Psychologist 2 in New Jersey you go through the competitive route: you sit an announced exam and the score puts you on the eligible list agencies hire from.

It is a middle Staff Clinical Psychologist grade, between Staff Clinical Psychologist 1 (mental Health Services) below and the better-paid Staff Clinical Psychologist 3 above. To be eligible you bring a doctoral degree and 2 years of relevant experience. The FY2026 range lands between $64,340 and $94,062.

How to get hired

  1. Watch for an open-competitive announcement for Staff Clinical Psychologist 2 on the NJ Civil Service Commission jobs portal. Announcements run for a fixed filing window.
  2. Apply during that window and sit the examination. Depending on the title, that can be a written test, a rating of your training and experience, or a mix of the two.
  3. Passing scores go onto a ranked eligible list. Veterans get preference points added on top of their score.
  4. When an agency has a vacancy it must appoint from the top of that list under the "Rule of Three." Many competitive jobs are first filled provisionally while the list is being built.

Read the official specification at NJ Civil Service Commission.

Pay ladder: Staff Clinical Psychologist series

  1. Staff Clinical Psychologist 1 (mental Health Services) — $56,253 – $81,897
  2. Staff Clinical Psychologist 2 — $64,340 – $94,062 (this title)
  3. Staff Clinical Psychologist 3 — $73,707 – $108,073

Promoting to Staff Clinical Psychologist 3 raises the top of the band by about $14,012. Its top salary lands around the 37th percentile of all NJ civil service titles that publish a range.

Rungs are ordered by FY2026 pay. NJ level numbers are not always sequential, so ordering follows salary rather than the title number.

Official job specification

The text below is the official specification published by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. The plain-language summary and analysis above are derived from it by NJ Civil Service Navigator.

Definition

Under direct professional supervision of a clinical psychologist of a higher level in a state institution, community mental health center, or other setting in a state department, has responsibility for providing direct psychodiagnostic, psychotherapeutic, and other psychological services to residents in accord with professional and administrative standards, and may represent the psychology staff in contacts with other professionals, agencies, and the community; does related work as required.

Examples of work

  • Provides direct psychodiagnostic, psychotherapeutic, and other psychological services to residents.
  • Assist in developing, evaluating, and training for programs of psychological services which are appropriate to the needs of clientele served by the organizational unit.
  • As requested by the Chief Executive Officer, may assist in representing the psychology staff in an official capacity in contacts with other professionals, agencies, and the community including serving on various committees of the organizational unit, serving in a liaison capacity regarding professional matters, and providing orientation concerning matters related to psychology.
  • Participates in multidisciplinary staff meetings whose functions are to create individual prescriptive programs of treatment for patients and residents.
  • Administers professional services and trains in their administration in the areas of individual and group psychotherapy, behavior modification programs, and psychological consultation.
  • Administers, scores, and interprets a wide variety of psychodiagnostic instruments including projective techniques to patients or residents.
  • Provides for the application of and staff instruction in crisis intervention techniques in treating clients whose behavior threatens their own safety or the safety of others.
  • Interacts with psychiatric residents and encourages therapeutic interaction between other staff members and residents including responsibility for organizing meetings with the units involving both residents and staff.
  • Leads group sessions with residents dealing with issues of medication compliance, selfmedication programming, and community reentry concerns.
  • Functions as a key participant in postdischarge planning.
  • Assists in developing and providing clinical training programs for members of the psychology staff, psychology interns, and other members of the organizational unit.
  • Actively participates in conferences regarding the placement activities of patients or residents who have been or are about to be admitted or released.
  • In connection with community education, interprets the psychological and mental health programs of thedepartment and may make presentations before organizations and groups interested in or concerned about the problems of mental health and/or developmental disabilities.
  • Prepares clear, technically sound, accurate, and informative psychological, statistical, diagnostic, and other reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • Assists in the establishment and maintenance of essential unit records, histories, and files.
  • Will be required to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and computerized information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.

Education

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree supplemented by a Master's degree or a Doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or other behavioral or applied field of psychology. Graduate course training shall have included a minimum of 24 semester hour credits in courses relevant to developmental disabilities including a minimum of three (3) semester hour credits in each of the following six (6) areas: (1) objective testing, (2) projective testing, (3) psychotherapeutic techniques/counseling, (4) personality development, (5) learning theory, (6) psychopathology/abnormal psychology.

Experience

For individuals possessing only a Master's degree, two (2) years of applied post-Master's experience as a psychologist, at least one (1) year of which must be supervised. Such experience may include a supervised clinical internship and/or supervised residency program.

License

Appointee will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform in essential duties of the position.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

  • Knowledge of the discipline of psychology as demonstrated by the attainment of appropriate educational credentials and professional work experience as specified above, and capable of demonstrating, for purposes of serving clients, high quality professional skills in the areas of individual and group psychotherapy, behavior modification and therapy, crisis intervention, psychodiagnostic testing, psychological consultation, and research.
  • Knowledge of the theories and approved practices and procedures of modern clinical research and abnormal psychology including familiarity with the problems involved in administering, scoring, and interpreting varied psychodiagnostic instruments.
  • Knowledge of the difficulties involved in the carrying out of courses of individual and group psychotherapy, crisis intervention techniques, and behavior modification approaches.
  • Ability to apply to specific cases the rules, regulations, policies, standards, organization, and procedures of the Department of Human Services with particular reference to the administration of various types of psychodiagnostic instruments and the carrying out of various psychotherapeutic techniques.
  • Ability to work effectively with medical staff, custodial staff, superior officers, associates, child and adult patients, and others interested in or connected with the work of the unit.
  • Ability to keep current with new developments, trends of thought and literature in the general fields of psychology, mental health, developmental disabilities, psychotherapy, and psychodiagnostics.
  • Ability to assist in preparing accurate and informative case histories, research studies, and statistical and other reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • Ability to assist in the establishment and maintenance of essential psychology records, studies, and files.
  • Ability to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
  • Ability to read, write, speak, understand, or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
  • Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible as long as they can perform the essential functions of the job after reasonable accommodation is made to their known limitations. If the accommodation cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.
  • CODES: 21/P21 - RKR/hw 3/19/94

Note

The definition and examples of work for this title are for illustrative purposes only. A particular position using this title may not perform all duties listed in this job specification. Conversely, all duties performed on the job may not be listed.

Thirty (30) additional semester hour credits in graduate level courses relevant to developmental disabilities beyond the Master's degree from an accredited college or university will be considered equivalent to one (1) year of unsupervised experience.

OR

For individuals possessing a Doctoral degree, one (1) year of applied supervised experience as a psychologist. Such experience may include a supervised clinical internship and/or a supervised residency program. The experience must be obtained either post-Master's degree or after having earned a minimum of thirty (30) semester hour credits in graduate level courses toward the Doctoral degree.

AND

Graduation with a Doctoral degree in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or other behavioral or applied field of psychology. Graduate course training shall have included a minimum of 24 semester hour credits in courses relevant to development disabilities including a minimum of three (3) semester hour credits in each of the following six (6) areas: (1) objective testing, (2) projective testing, (3) psychotherapeutic techniques/counseling, (4) personality development, (5) learning theory, (6) psychopathology/abnormal psychology.

Position Variants