Service Manager – Community Occupational Therapy

Milton Keynes City Council is looking for a Service Manager for Community Occupational Therapy — a pivotal role leading a multi-disciplinary team of Occupational Therapists, OT Assistants and Adaptation Officers. This is a unique opportunity to influence service design, oversee transformation, and embed excellence across occupational therapy practice city wide. Working closely with colleagues across Housing, Finance, and wider Adult Social Care, you’ll ensure the delivery of clinically robust assessments, effective adaptation services and high quality, person centred outcomes. You’ll also act as the Principal Occupational Therapist for the Council, representing the profession locally and nationally, shaping policy, and championing innovation across the sector.

If you’re passionate about leading change, developing people, and delivering a service that makes a genuine difference to the lives of residents, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a site-based role.

Interviews for this role will be held on 13 March.

Milton Keynes City Council is a modern and friendly place to work.

Main Responsibility

• In this pivotal leadership role, you will provide inspiring and motivational management to a diverse team of Occupational Therapists, OT Assistants and Adaptation Officers, ensuring the delivery of high quality, person centred practice.
• You will oversee service redesign and transformation, lead on performance and quality assurance, and champion excellence through the development of OT Quality Standards and an Assurance Framework.
• Working collaboratively with Housing, contractors and Finance colleagues, you will ensure clinically robust assessments and effective progression of Disabled Facilities Grant applications.
• You’ll take responsibility for workforce planning, recruitment and retention, and fostering a learning culture through coaching, reflective practice and professional development.
• The role also includes managing budgets, overseeing complex casework, leading HR processes, and representing the Council as the Principal Occupational Therapist in local, regional and national forums, shaping policy and promoting the value of Occupational Therapy across the system.

The Ideal Candidate

• We’re looking for a highly skilled and inspirational leader who is committed to delivering outstanding occupational therapy practice and service delivery.
• You will bring a recognised Occupational Therapy qualification and HCPC registration, with extensive evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Deep expertise in The Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act, safeguarding practice and relevant legislation, with proven experience applying these in complex cases.
• Significant post qualifying experience, including at least two years operating at a senior management level, where you have led teams, driven service improvements, and influenced best practice.
• Strong analytical and strategic skills, with the ability to interpret data, identify risks, innovate solutions and lead change confidently.
• Proven experience managing budgets, contracts, and multi-agency relationships, ensuring resources are used effectively to deliver excellent outcomes.
• A collaborative, motivational leadership style, with the ability to coach, develop and inspire professional colleagues.
• A passion for improving systems, quality assurance and workforce development, and raising the profile of Occupational Therapy both internally and externally.
• Commitment to our values — dedicated, respectful, collaborative — and to championing a supportive and inclusive culture.

If you’re offered the role, we’ll arrange an Enhanced DBS check as part of our pre-employment process (unless you’re already registered with the DBS Update Service).

Package Description

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
• Excellent pension – everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support and a childcare subsidy.
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
• Salary sacrifice car scheme – low-cost leasing of electric and low emission vehicles.
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

Our roles are either designated ‘site based’ or ‘home based’. ‘Site based’ roles can include up to two days a week working from home whilst ‘home based’ roles are based at home four days a week. Of course, managers designate which category roles are in based on the needs of the service and the circumstances.

About The Organisation

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.

We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.

We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences. Milton Keynes City Council is committed to building an inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of our community. We actively encourage applications from candidates who bring a range of perspectives, particularly those from underrepresented groups.

We are proud to have signed up to the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES), a continuous improvement programme designed to help social care organisations achieve anti-racist workplaces. Our commitment means we are actively working to identify and address inequalities, improve representation in leadership, and ensure fair treatment and opportunity for all colleagues in Adult Services.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it’s time for a new role.