Senior Occupational Therapist

Job overview

The post holder will work as a Senior Occupational Therapist within the Yorkshire and Humber Mother & Baby Unit, delivering specialist, occupation-focused assessment and intervention for mothers experiencing moderate to severe perinatal mental health needs. The role will centre on enabling women to engage in meaningful daily activities and develop their identity and confidence in their role as a mother, promoting recovery, independence, and wellbeing through both individual and group-based occupational therapy interventions.

Using a holistic, trauma-informed, and strengths-based approach, the post holder will assess occupational performance in areas such as self-care, infant care, routine development, and social participation, supporting mothers to build sustainable skills. They will contribute to multidisciplinary care planning, offering expert Occupational Therapy advice to colleagues and partners, and ensuring occupational perspectives are embedded within care plans and risk management.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide expert Occupational Therapy advice and guidance to colleagues and external agencies, contributing to high-quality, recovery-focused care planning and delivery throughout admission. They will ensure that occupational perspectives are central to assessment, intervention, and risk management, supporting the development of meaningful, person-centred outcomes for mothers and their infants. Working Monday to Friday on a 7.5-hour rotational shift pattern, the post holder will play an active role in the daily running of the service. They will take responsibility for developing meaningful, occupation-focused care plans, working closely with the multidisciplinary team to translate these into practice. Including enabling staff, such as Healthcare Support Workers and Nursery Nurses, to deliver interventions that promote recovery and engagement in daily life.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will provide clinical supervision, staff appraisals, and support team coordination, demonstrating leadership through role modelling, teaching, and reflective practice. They will work collaboratively with the Clinical Team Manager to support safe and effective day-to-day service delivery, drive continuous quality improvement, and maintain high professional standards. This includes working alongside the Clinical Team Manager to shape, develop, and embed a robust occupational therapy pathway that underpins service delivery and strengthens the OT contribution within the multidisciplinary team. They will also maintain strong professional networks across the Trust to support service development and the advancement of Occupational Therapy practice.

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team recruitment.lypft@nhs.net Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.