Directorate Lead Occupational Therapist

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

A major NHS healthcare provider is seeking a Directorate Lead Occupational Therapist. This role involves leading the operational OT services, managing a complex clinical caseload, and providing professional supervision to junior staff and students. The ideal candidate must have extensive experience in Mental Health and strong leadership skills. You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams and contribute to strategic service improvements. This permanent full-time position offers a salary between £61,631 and £68,623 per annum.

Qualifications

• Extensive clinical experience in a Mental Health setting.
• Minimum of 2 years experience at Band 7 level.
• Leadership experience in occupational therapy.

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning and delivery of OT services across the Directorate.
• Provide clinical supervision to junior colleagues and students.
• Manage a complex clinical caseload effectively.

Skills

Clinical Leadership

Therapeutic Intervention

Risk Assessment

Effective Communication

Education

Masters level qualification or equivalent experience

HCPC registration

Job description

Job summary

A unique opportunity has arisen for a Directorate Lead Occupational Therapist in the Adult Acute & Crisis Directorate to address a complex active clinical caseload and provide strategic professional and clinical leadership. The post holder will represent Occupational Therapy at the Senior Management Team and the Directorate Lead Occupational Therapy group ensuring representation at a strategic level in the organisation. The post holder will be responsible for leading on service delivery and clinical supervision of junior colleagues and students ensuring safe, responsive and effective specialist occupational therapy clinical interventions.

There are over 150 Occupational Therapists at Oxleas across the six clinical directorates: Adult Learning Disability, Children and Young People, Adult Acute and Crisis, Adult Community Mental Health, Adult Community Physical Health and Forensic and Prisons.

Oxleas Occupational Therapists are highly regarded Allied Health Professionals in the South East London Integrated Care System leading on: Rotational Band 5 and 6 AHP Programme, Apprenticeship, Preceptorship and Clinical Placement Expansion Programmes.

Main duties / Responsibilities

• Responsible for the professional leadership planning and delivery of OT services across a Directorate
• Be a key member of the Oxleas House multi-disciplinary leadership team and contribute/lead on strategic developments and service improvement initiatives
• Provide professional leadership and clinical supervision of Occupational Therapists in the Directorate
• Manage a complex clinical caseload
• Role will be divided between 0.5wte Principal OT within Oxleas House Working Age Adul and 0.5wte Directorate Lead responsibilities
• Liaise with the Acute & Crisis Directorate AHP Lead in order to feed into the Directorate Senior Management Team
• Provide OT specific assessment and interventions via groups and individual work related to: Self care, Education and Leisure
• Contribute to and carry out risk assessment and risk management plans
• Provide specialist OT advice
• Be an OT specialist and have in-depth knowledge of OT assessment & interventions within Acute Mental Health Directorate
• Ensure the supervision of OT students on clinical placement
• Lead in the maintenance and strategic development of the Trust wide OT service as a member of the Directorate Lead Occupational Therapy group
• Advise the Head of Profession for Occupational Therapy on issues related to the management and delivery of the Occupational Therapy service within the Directorate
• Deputise for Head of Profession for Occupational Therapy as appropriate

About us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We're Kind
• We're Fair
• We Listen
• We Care

Details

Date posted: 02 December 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8a

Salary: £61,631 to £68,623 a year pa inc

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 277-7642775-AAC

Job locations:

• Oxleas House, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Stadium Road, London, SE18 4QH

Qualifications

• HCPC registration
• Masters level qualification or experience to an appropriate level

Experience

• Extensive clinical experience in a Mental Health setting
• Specialist knowledge and application of relevant OT assessment and interventions in Mental Health
• Building and maintaining effective working relationships with relevant stakeholders
• Minimum of 2 years experience at Band 7 level
• Experience of Leadership

Additional requirements

• Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
• Certificate of Sponsorship: Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country ... Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
• UK Registration: Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas House, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Stadium Road, London, SE18 4QH

Website: http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)