Advanced Occupational Therapist

NHS; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in the United Kingdom is seeking an Advanced Occupational Therapist to enhance mental health rehabilitation services. The role emphasizes clinical leadership and collaboration with multi-organisational teams to improve patient pathways and quality of life for individuals with severe mental illness. Candidates should possess a degree in Occupational Therapy and be registered with the Health Care Professions Council. This unique opportunity allows you to influence an essential emerging service.

Benefits

Increased mileage rates

Health and wellbeing support

Development opportunities

Qualifications

• Must have a degree in Occupational Therapy.
• Registration with Health Care Professions Council is essential.
• Leadership training or willingness to undertake is required.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and develop core clinical skills in delivering therapy.
• Engage in opportunities for service development and pathway improvements.
• Collaborate with multi-organisational teams to enhance patient pathways.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Holistic functional assessment

Intervention strategies

Multi-organisational teamwork

Education

Occupational Therapy (BSc or MSc)

Health Care Professions Council Registration

Leadership training

Job description

Advanced Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 28 December 2025

It is a great time to be joining BDCFT as we are strengthening how we deliver our Mental Health Rehabilitation Services to reduce any health inequalities and improve the health and social care outcomes for individuals in our communities with severe mental illness (SMI).

Utilising your specialist therapy skill set you will display and perform advanced therapy role functions and clinical leadership in a small specialist pilot team and be pro‑active in developing processes to identify, engage and facilitate the recovery, rehabilitation and habilitation of those service users stuck within acute inpatient beds, or inappropriate residential placements, or experiencing cycles of re‑admission from community placements. This is your opportunity to be there at the beginning of our new approach and influence an emerging mental health rehabilitation service squarely aimed at improving the quality of life of people in our communities.

Closing Date: 28th December 2025

Shortlisting Date: W/C 29th December 2025

Interview Date: W/C 5th January 2026

Main duties of the job

This is a specialised Occupational Therapy clinical role and if successful you will maintain and develop your core clinical skill as a therapist, to deliver holistic functional assessment and evidence‑based interventions. We are seeking a candidate who will provide sound reasoning to support and enable admission avoidance or timely step down into a variety of settings including NHS rehab provision, the new Hollingwood Lane rehab supported housing unit, the wider supported housing provision, or more independent community settings.

You will be proactive in working closely with a variety of professional multi‑organisational teams in our place such as care coordinators, clinical leads, peer support workers and the rehabilitation programme manager to develop referral pathways and a "no wrong door" approach to access our services. Stepping provision up and down as required, recognising opportunities for wider service and pathways developments to meet NG 181 and GIRFT recommendations.

About us

Everything we do is underpinned by our core values:

We Care- We act with respect and empathy, and always value difference

We Listen- We understand people's views and respond to their individual needs

We Deliver- We develop and provide excellent services and support our partners

We will consider variety of flexible working arrangements to enable staff to balance their work and home lives and support staff by offering a fantastic range of benefits including :

• Increase mileage rates for > 3500
• A wide range of health and wellbeing support packages
• A range of internal and external development and learning opportunities
• Plus many more.
We are also proud to pledge our support to the Armed Forces and hold a Bronze Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.

BDCFT is dedicated to environmental and social sustainability by delivering on the commitments within our Green Plan. All staff are actively encouraged and supported to participate in training and to identify and implement sustainable quality improvement across all service areas and activities.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received. It is in the candidate's best interest to apply as soon as possible

Job responsibilities

Please read the attached Job description and person specification for further details about this role.

Right to Work in the UK

Prior to your appointment you will be asked to provide confirmation of your right to work and reside in the UK. During your continued employment with Trust, you have a personal responsibility to notify your manager as soon as possible should there be any changes to your right to work status. Regrettably, if the role is not eligible for sponsorship under the Trusts eligibility criteria, the Trust are unable to extend your employment beyond the expiration of your current visa. The Trust is not responsible or liable for ensuring that your employment continues after this period.

As a condition of continuous employment, it essential you maintain the legal right to work in the United Kingdom throughout the duration of your employment with Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (BDCFT).

Any change in your right‑to‑work status, including but not limited to visa expiration, revocation, or denial of renewal, may impact your eligibility for employment with the Trust. It is your responsibility to promptly inform your Line Manager of any changes in your right‑to‑work status immediately and to provide necessary documentation for verification purposes. Failure to obtain or renew your visa in a timely manner is a breach of employment conditions and will result in termination of your employment. We appreciate your attention to this matter and your commitment to fulfilling this requirement promptly.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Occupational Therapy (BSc or MSc)
• Registration with Health Care Professions Council
• Training in clinical supervision, appraisal and recruitment (or willingness to undertake within an agreed timescale)
• Training and Qualifications in Leadership
• Evidence of higher level professional development e.g. accredited modules at post‑graduate or Masters level in Occupational Therapy or related subject

Experience

• Specialist clinical experience of direct occupational therapy clinical work with people with mental health problems
• Experience working within in‑patient or community services.
• Understanding of the role of Occupational Therapy in transition work
• Experience of using highly specialist occupational therapy assessments and interventions relevant to the clinical area
• Experience of project management / service development.
• Experience of leadership.
• Experience in design and delivery of staff training and development activity

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.

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust