Occupational Therapist (Principal Advisor)

London Borough of Hounslow; Hounslow; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Regular supervision

Professional development opportunities

CPD and training opportunities

Job summary

London Borough of Hounslow is recruiting an Occupational Therapist to join the Specialist Practice & Advice Service. You will provide expert guidance, support inclusion for children and young people, and work within a dynamic multi-disciplinary team to deliver early intervention strategies in schools and communities.

Applicants will be HCPC registered and RCOT member, with post‑graduate training in sensory integration.

Qualifications

• Qualified Occupational Therapist with HCPC registration.
• RCOT member and ongoing professional development expected.
• Post-registration training in sensory integration or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist advice and coordination to support inclusion of children and young people.
• Develop and use innovative, early intervention approaches within a multidisciplinary team.
• Collaborate with schools, families and agencies to implement assessment and support strategies.
• Deliver training and coaching to the wider workforce to build capacity.

Skills

Inclusion & early intervention

Multi-disciplinary collaboration

Communication with families

Sensory processing & integration

Adapt environment for participation

Education

HCPC registered

RCOT member

Post-registration sensory integration training

Job description

About Us At Hounslow

We’d love you to join us at the London Borough of Hounslow! Our people are deeply committed to providing excellent services to our residents, doing all we can to make lives as good as they can be.

We are an outstanding council, serving an outstanding borough. With brilliant, visionary leadership, a dynamic Cabinet and a can-do culture, we’ve built strong partnerships which have transformed how we serve one of London’s most diverse boroughs. Hounslow is the world in one place and full of potential. We are stepping up for our residents like never before.

About Our Commitment To Diversity And Inclusion

We live by five core values: Lead with Heart, Do New, Pass on the Power, Harness the Mix and Be a Rock. All our work has equality, diversity and inclusion at its very heart, best articulated in “Harness the Mix”. It's about breaking down barriers between our parts and people and unlocking the problem-solving power of our amazing mix of minds. We serve a diverse community, we have a diverse workforce and we are committed to being an inclusive employer.

We work hard to create representation across our workforce and leadership community, we have thriving employee network groups and our learning and development programmes help us lead, model and breathe ways of working that eliminate inequality, inequity, injustice and bias.

As part of this and under our commitments as a Disability Confident Employer, we make reasonable adjustments to accommodate our candidates. There’s space for you to tell us what you need within our application form.

Our Benefits

About The Role

Join a Growing, Forward-Thinking Specialist Practice and Advice Team

Hounslow is expanding and evolving its Specialist Practice & Advice Service, and we are looking for passionate and motivated Occupational Therapists to join us at an exciting time of transformation.

The therapy team is part of a newly developing multi-disciplinary service - Specialist Practice & Advice - bringing together Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, Portage, Early Years practitioners, and specialist teachers. This creates rich opportunities for integrated work focussed on inclusive practice and early intervention, that goes beyond traditional models of Occupational Therapy services.

As An Occupational Therapist In Hounslow, You Will:

• Provide and co-ordinate specialist advice, consultation and support to ensure children and young people are fully included and supported.
• Develop and use innovative ways of working to support children and young people across universal, targeted and specialist levels, including supporting delivery of the DfE “Experts at Hand” initiative.
• Develop skills across a wide range of ages and settings, including early years, primary, and secondary settings.
• Work closely with schools and settings to develop early intervention approaches.
• Contribute to assessment, consultation, and wider strategic work.
• Deliver training, modelling and coaching to up-skill the wider workforce and build capacity.
• Build strong partnerships with families, schools, and multi-agency colleagues.
• Support and supervise other team members, with opportunities to lead on projects within the team.
• Play a key role in improving outcomes for Hounslow children and young people.

Our service is committed to keeping the voice of children and young people at the centre of everything we do.

This role will best suit someone who has significant post-qualification experience of working with children and young people and is interested in further development and working in innovative ways.

About The Team You’ll Be Working In

This role sits within the multidisciplinary Specialist Practice and Advice team. The Specialist Practice and Advice team provides professional advice and guidance to support the inclusion of children and young people across Hounslow schools and settings.

What We Offer:

• A supportive and ambitious environment, where you will receive regular supervision.
• A range of professional development opportunities, including opportunities to develop skills in training and coaching, and learning from the wider multi-disciplinary team.
• Support to further develop relevant areas of clinical interest, in line with service needs.

Why Join Hounslow’s Specialist Practice and Advice Service?

Shape the future of practice

• Be part of a rapidly developing, innovative service model.
• Contribute to early intervention and systemic work at scale.
• Participate in the rollout of the DfE “Experts at Hand” initiative, with protected time to engage in consultation, workforce development, and preventative work.

Work in a truly integrated system.

• Collaborate daily with a wide multi-disciplinary team.
• Influence outcomes across education, health, and care systems.
• Develop skills working with a range of ages, in a wide range of settings including primary and secondary schools, and early years settings.

Develop professionally

• Strong culture of evidence-informed and reflective practice.
• Opportunities for training delivery, coaching and supervision of practitioners.
• Structured support and regular supervision.
• Pathways into supervision and leadership for experienced colleagues.

Wellbeing and workload.

• Hybrid working with high autonomy and flexibility.
• Strong CPD and team support.

About You

Your Skills

• You have a strong grounding in evidence-based and high-quality practice.
• You are committed to inclusion, equity, and early intervention.
• You enjoy collaborative and multi-disciplinary working.
• You are motivated to contribute to service development and innovation.
• You have strong communication skills to liaise and collaborate with multi-agency professionals, parents and carers.
• You can provide expert advice and practical strategies around sensory processing and integration, motor coordination and physical function, environmental adaptation, and barriers to participation, independence, and engagement in learning.

Qualifications

• Qualified Occupational Therapist, with post registration sensory integration training or equivalent professional experience.
• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• A member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).

Essential For The Role

• Enhanced DBS
• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
• Flexibility to work across different settings within the local authority.