Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist

London Borough of Hackney; Greater London; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Assistance Programme

Occupational Health

Gym discount

Eye test vouchers

Family leave options

Job summary

London Borough of Hackney is seeking a Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist to join the Occupational Therapy and Sensory Service. You will hold and manage a small caseload of complex cases while mentoring team members, OT students and apprentices.

You will lead on risk enablement and safeguarding within the team, acting as Safeguarding Adults Manager. You will contribute to developing key service provisions, local strategic initiatives and inter‑agency forums.

Qualifications

• UK state-registered degree in Occupational Therapy
• Current HCPC registration (England) and RCOT membership
• Substantial post-qualification experience in Adult Services

Responsibilities

• Lead on risk management and safeguarding investigations within the team
• Provide mentoring, coaching and supervision to OTs, apprentices and students
• Represent the service in developing key service provisions and inter-agency forums
• Manage a small caseload of complex and challenging cases

Skills

Leadership

Supervision

Risk management

Safeguarding

Mentoring

Communication

Education

HCPC England registration

RCOT membership

Occupational Therapy degree

Job description

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values. Hackney Council is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Anti‑Racism framework, formally adopted in February 2024.

We are committed to enabling independence and supporting residents to live safely in their own homes through our ‘Waiting Well’ approach, ensuring our assessments lead to the best possible outcomes. To further improve our services, we recently achieved significant milestones, including the insourcing of our Home Improvement Agency (HIA) to minimise delays in home adaptations and the redesign of our reablement service.

Hackney has a strong strengths‑based and person‑centred approach in which we prioritise maintaining and promoting people’s independence. We are proud that 85% of the people who use our services live in the community, with 78.8% of residents living independently after receiving reablement support and 89.4% of older residents living at home 91 days after hospital discharge—outcomes significantly higher than the London average.

We are serious about collaboration and co‑production, building strong multidisciplinary links across Housing, Health, and Benefits teams to ensure adults facing multiple vulnerabilities receive holistic support. We believe accessible learning opportunities are crucial to performance and staff wellbeing, supported by a dedicated Practice Innovation and Workforce Capability team developing our Continuous Professional Development offer.

About The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic Hackney Occupational Therapy and Sensory Service as a Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist.

This is a dynamic, leadership-focused, and challenging role that puts the customer at the heart of service delivery. As a Senior Practitioner, you will hold and manage a small caseload of complex and challenging cases while providing crucial support, mentoring, and supervision to team members, occupational therapy students, and apprentices. You will drive high professional standards, lead on risk enablement and safeguarding within the team, and act as a Safeguarding Adults Manager leading investigations and multi‑agency meetings.

You will undertake analytical assessments using a strengths‑based approach, recommend major adaptations, equipment, moving and handling, and Tech Enabled Living solutions, and participate in the OT duty rota. Furthermore, you will represent the service in developing key service provisions, local strategic initiatives, and inter‑agency forums.

We go the extra mile for our residents, supporting them to achieve their full potential to fulfil their aspirations. We have a strong commitment to integrated working across health and social care through our alignment with the neighbourhoods, which has given us opportunities to work closer with social workers, health professionals, care navigators, and local assets to achieve the very best holistic outcomes for our residents.

Hackney has an adult social care practice framework which will support you to adapt your interventions to each individual you work with. If you are an HCPC‑registered Occupational Therapist with substantial post‑qualification experience in Adult Services, excellent leadership, assessment, and reflective skills, and a dedication to developing others and driving forward practice standards, then we want to hear from you.

What do we offer?

Hackney Adult Social Care (ASC) has undergone a significant transformation and remains dedicated to our three‑year Adult Social Care transformation plan (2023‑26). Our work is driven by four key guiding principles: ensuring services are easy to access, preventative, personal to you, and good quality and safe. Our Practice Framework supports staff to deliver strengths‑based, anti‑racist, and trauma‑informed care to all residents, upholding our commitment to promoting independence and tackling inequality.

Staff can access a range of benefits

• An outstanding focus on Health and Wellbeing, including our Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health support, discounted gym memberships, eye test vouchers, and a comprehensive range of carer and family‑friendly leave options.

Essential Criteria

• This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require an Enhanced DBS check.
• UK state‑registered degree in Occupational Therapy with current registration with HCPC England and membership of RCOT.
• Substantial post‑qualification experience as an Occupational Therapist in Adult Services (e.g., minimum 3 years).
• Detailed knowledge, legislative literacy, and understanding of the Care Act, Adult Safeguarding (including self‑neglect and hoarding), Mental Capacity Act, and Mental Health Act.
• Proven ability to supervise, educate, mentor, coach, shadow, and co‑work with OTs, apprentices, and students on placement.
• Demonstrated ability to lead on risk management, safeguarding investigations, and complex casework management.

We are looking for a Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist in our Occupational Therapy Team

Occupational Therapy

We coordinate the provision of occupational therapy services, advising on equipment and adaptations for short‑term interventions as well as complex specialist and long‑term support. We are responsible for Hackney’s Integrated Community Equipment Services (ICES), including Telecare, across many partner agencies. We undertake assessments with a strengths‑based approach and make recommendations for a range of interventions including but not exclusively; educative techniques, equipment, adaptations, moving and handling and Tech Enabled Living solutions. Our team includes senior practitioners, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants and Telecare officers. As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Closing date for applications: 20 October 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: TBC

Please note – we reserve the right to close applications early if we receive a high number of applications.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: [e-mail]