Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist Brighter Beginnings Preschool Checks

NSW Health; St Leonards; On-site; AUD 106,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary packaging

Fitness passport

Job summary

NSW Health is seeking a Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist to lead the Brighter Beginnings Preschool Checks team within the NSLHD CYF service. You will oversee paediatric assessments and care planning for preschool children, partnering with families and educators to support early development.

The role emphasizes trauma-informed practice, interagency collaboration and supervision of junior staff in a fast-paced community health setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in Occupational Therapy with full registration.
• Extensive clinical experience as a minimum Occupational Therapist Level 2 with paediatric assessment and care planning for children aged 0–6 years.
• Demonstrated ability to provide trauma-informed care and partner with families to support vulnerable groups.
• Excellent written, interpersonal and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior clinical leadership within the BBHDC Preschool Team for pre-screening, screening and post-screening phases.
• Review findings, lead outcome classification and referral pathways, and escalate complex cases.
• Mentor junior clinicians and allied health staff; plan visits and contribute to protocols and quality improvement.
• Collaborate with families, educators and interagency partners to support child development and participation.

Skills

Trauma-informed care

Clinical leadership

Communication skills

Independent clinical judgement

Family partnerships

Education

Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in Occupational Therapy

Job description

Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist Brighter Beginnings Preschool Checks

Join us as a senior clinical leader in the Brighter Beginnings Health and Development Checks in Preschools Service Team, part of the Northern Sydney Local Health District Child, Youth and Family Community Health Service. You’ll work alongside experienced colleagues, playing an essential role in delivering the NSW First 2000 Days Framework to support preschool-aged children and their families in early childhood education settings.

This is a temporary position until 15 August 2027, covering parental leave. A single full-time appointment is preferred, with a job share (3 days / 2 days) considered for suitable applicants. An extension on a part-time basis may be available post August 2027, subject to operational need.

• Access generous staff benefits including salary packaging, fitness passport and more.
• A challenging, inspiring and rewarding role with the opportunity to make a difference.

Employment Type:TemporaryFull Time until 1 August 2027 (with possibility of ongoing employment)
Position Classification:Occupational Therapist Level 3
Remuneration:$2,329.85 - $2,405.34 per week
Hours Per Week:38
Requisition ID:REQ706310

Who we are: We are a health service that touches thousands of lives across the Northern Sydney Local Health District, together as a team of like-minded people. We are passionate, driven and have the skills and knowledge to care for our patients whilst creating the best services possible. Our teams have meaningful, interesting and rewarding work everyday. We challenge and nurture each other, sharing our knowledge and experience so that we can deliver better care for everyone. There’s a real sense of belonging here because we value and respect our patients, employees, and teams’ voices. You’ll feel a real privilege being a trusted caregiver in our patients, their families, their carers, and our communities’ lives.

NSLHD is proud of our diverse and inclusive workplaces, a place where health care professionals can thrive and feel they belong. We are committed to ensure that all our people feel respected and participate safely within a work environment without aggression, sexual harassment, discrimination and racism.

Where you’ll be working

Royal North Shore Community Health Centre NSLHD Brighter Beginnings

What you’ll be doing

The Senior Occupational Therapist (Level 3) is a key member of the interdisciplinary Brighter Beginnings Health and Development Checks (BBHDC) Preschool Team, within the NSLHD Child, Youth and Family (CYF) Community Health Service. You’ll provide senior clinical leadership within a developmental surveillance screening service for preschool-aged children attending Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services across Northern Sydney.

BBHDC is a collaboration between NSW Health and the NSW Department of Education. Its purpose is early identification of children’s health and developmental needs before school entry.

You’ll lead across the pre-screening, screening and post-screening phases, with the strongest emphasis on post-screening: reviewing findings, leading outcome classification and referral pathways, providing clinical oversight and escalation for complex or high-risk cases, engaging parents about next steps, and ensuring safe clinical handover to CYF or external services. You’ll bring advanced expertise in paediatric occupational therapy to guide decision-making, and you’ll work in partnership with families, educators and interagency partners, including the Department of Education, and with families from diverse backgrounds and those experiencing vulnerability. When required, you’ll also provide timely clinical assessment and group-based intervention for children identified through screening, within clear scope boundaries aligned with the BBHDC model.

You’ll support and mentor junior clinicians and allied health assistants, plan and allocate screening visits, contribute to protocols, quality improvement and capacity-building for staff, educators and caregivers, and help maintain program fidelity.

Our philosophy of care is child-centred, culturally safe, trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming and evidence-based.

This is a temporary position until 15 August 2027. A single full-time appointment is preferred. A job share (3 days / 2 days) may be considered for suitable applicants.

People of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background are encouraged to apply.

Candidates will need to meet the following criteria:

• A bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in Occupational Therapy with full registration with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. Evidence of extensive clinical experience as a minimum Occupational Therapist Level 2, including specialist paediatric assessment and care planning for children aged 0–6 years presenting with complex developmental, social or health needs, including trauma.
• Demonstrated ability to provide trauma-informed care, and ability to work in partnership with families to respond to the needs of vulnerable families and priority population groups, with the ability to engage with and provide information, guidance and education to parents, caregivers and Early Childhood educators to promote optimal child development and participation.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent, high-level clinical judgement and make timely decisions about a child’s next step with limited information, while working within clear scope boundaries. Please describe how you decide when a child needs further assessment, referral or escalation rather than ongoing intervention, and how you have supported less experienced clinicians to make similar decisions.
• Demonstrated excellent written, interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to establish collaborative working relationships with families, educators, interdisciplinary colleagues and other services (including health, education and community sector partners), and to negotiate and coordinate care that optimises outcomes for children.
  

This is a NSW Health Category A position which requires immunisation and screening for certain diseases. The full list of requirements are outlined intheNSW Health OASV Policy(Page 11). You will be required to complete the OASV Undertaking/ Declaration Form and TB Assessment Tool during the recruitment process.

NSW Health is committed to implementing the Child Safe Standards.

The team enriching health in millions of ways every day.

Applications Close: 17 November 2026

Tentative Interview Dates: 25th November or 30th November 2026