Overview
Go back NELFT North East London Foundation Trust
The closing date is 18 February 2026
An exciting opportunity has arisen within Barking & Dagenham Community Mental Health Services for an experienced and motivated Band 8a Occupational Therapist to join the service in a senior leadership role.
The successful candidate will be a key member of a supportive and forward-thinking management team, providing professional leadership, clinical oversight, and strategic direction for Occupational Therapy staff across the directorate. You will play a central role in the development, delivery, and promotion of high-quality Occupational Therapy services for adults with serious and enduring mental health needs.
This post requires substantial experience of working within community mental health services and a strong understanding of recovery-focused, person-centred care. You will be expected to demonstrate effective leadership skills, the ability to support and develop staff, and a commitment to service improvement within a multidisciplinary environment.
The role offers an excellent opportunity to further develop senior leadership and management skills while contributing to service transformation and innovation. You will be supported by a strong local infrastructure and benefit from collaborative working across the wider health and social care system.
We welcome applications from enthusiastic, skilled Occupational Therapists who are passionate about improving outcomes for people with complex mental health needs and who are committed to upholding NHS values.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will report directly to the Head of Adult Mental Health Services for Barking & Dagenham, with professional supervision provided by the Trust Professional Lead for Allied Health Professions (AHP).
As a key member of the senior management team, the post holder will contribute to the delivery of operational and strategic objectives across the directorate. They will provide professional leadership for Occupational Therapy staff, including supervision, professional development, workforce planning, and supporting effective recruitment and retention.
The role includes providing specialist Occupational Therapy advice and guidance to Integrated Care Directors, Associate Directors, and team managers, and contributing to Trust-wide Professional Lead Occupational Therapy and Allied Health Professional groups to support professional standards and service development.
The post holder will lead on Social Inclusion, Recovery, and Wellbeing agendas and manage NELFT ISA (Barking & Dagenham)-funded specialist mental health community placements, ensuring effective placement reviews, value for money, positive clinical outcomes, and appropriate throughput.
They will also contribute to borough, directorate, Mental Health Services, and Trust-wide projects as required, and ensure appropriate supervision and development of STR, Peer Support Workers, and other designated staff.
About us
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are: We are kind. We are respectful. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Starting with NELFT NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period This post will be subject to a probationary period.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time).
Use of AI Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.
Certificates of Sponsorship Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
References Please ensure that the references are from your most recent employer and one of these must be your direct Line Manager or Supervisor. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. Additionally, ensure that any gaps in your employment history are clearly indicated. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* NVQ level 2 or equivalent standard of literacy and numeracy
* Graduate qualified Occupational Therapist, fully registered with the appropriate professional or regulatory body (HCPC).
* Evidence of Continuous Professional Development through access to relevant courses
* A recognised management qualification
Experience
* Clinical professional leadership experience within a Children and Young Peoples service
* Experience of clinically supervising and managing less experienced colleagues
* Experience of working in a multi-agency and/or multi-disciplinary team
* Planning and delivery of training to other professionals
* Experience of storing and maintaining electronic records
* Working in an NHS environment
Knowledge
* An awareness of NHS Plan, NSF and clinical governance priorities
* Awareness of Government policy and legislation and how this may affect service delivery
* Awareness of standards of record keeping
* Awareness of the principles of clinical governance/audit
* In depth knowledge of safeguarding children and looked after children.
Skills
* Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
* Ability to apply continued professional development to practice
* Able to use own initiative
* Demonstrate clear clinical reasoning based on evidence-based practice
* Establish and maintain good working relationships
* Able to construct clear care plans for complex cases based on analysis of information from assessment, theoretical knowledge and clinical benchmarking to make highly specialist clinical decisions
* Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy ensuring that effective communication is achieved
* Negotiation, problem solving concentration, analytical and reflection skills
* Written and verbal presentation skills
* Ability to facilitate and support learning of others
* Develop evidenced based clinical guidelines and pathways
Demonstration of Trust Values
* Demonstration of Trust Values
Other
* To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area
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.
NELFT North East London Foundation Trust
£55,690 to £62,682 a year plus HCAS per annum
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