Occupational Therapist or Advanced Occupational Therapist

How you'll make a difference

As an Occupational Therapist or Advanced Occupational Therapist within our Central team, you will empower people to recognise and build on their strengths and abilities, supporting them to achieve meaningful goals and greater independence in their daily lives.

Working collaboratively with social work colleagues and service providers, you will help ensure people receive the right support at the right time, enabling them to maximise and maintain their independence and wellbeing.

• What you will be doing
• You will undertake occupational therapy (OT) assessments autonomously within the community, supporting people in their own homes to achieve their goals and maintain their independence.
• Drawing on your professional expertise, you will support the delivery of effective interventions through task analysis and OT techniques, recommending appropriate equipment, assistive technology and housing adaptations to help people live safely and confidently.
• With regular supervision and support, you will manage a caseload and work collaboratively with Occupational Therapists, Social Workers and Social Care Practitioners, applying a strengths-based approach in line with the 3 Conversations Model.
• It will be your responsibility to provide advice and information to individuals and their carers to help them access the most appropriate services and support available, including those delivered under the Care Act.
• Assessing for major adaptations, you will make referrals for Disabled Facilities Grants where changes to a person's home are required.
• You will be responsible for making recommendations involving significant expenditure, ensuring resources are allocated proportionately, delivering value for money and making effective use of available funding.
• Using your effective communication skills to achieve positive outcomes, you will build and maintain strong relationships with services users, their families and carers, as well as partners across health and voluntary sector organisations.

Advanced Occupational Therapist – Additional Responsibilities

• As an experienced practitioner, you will support students on placement.
• You will be fully up to date with the core training expectations.
• Drawing on research and evidence-based resources, such as Research in Practice and other online tools, you will enhance practice and promote shared learning across the team.
• What we need from you
• We require you to have a professional OT qualification, such as Dip COT, BSc Honours OT or equivalent, and be registered with the Health Professionals Council.
• You will have experience gained within hospital, community, voluntary or agency OT settings, which enable you to deliver effective, person-centred interventions.
• It is essential that you have a sound and up-to-date knowledge of legislation, policy and guidance relevant to social services OT.
• Given the nature of the work, you must have experience of managing complex cases and applying strong assessment skills in practice.
• You need to have excellent time management and organisational skills, enabling you to work efficiently and effectively to meet service requirements.

Advanced Occupational Therapist – Additional Requirements

• It is essential that you bring at least 2 years post-qualification experience, including working with individuals with complex needs.
• You must evidence advanced level practice, demonstrating high-quality professional reasoning, sound judgement and leadership in complex situations.
• A clear commitment to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is required.
• What you need to know
• To be considered for the Advanced Occupational Therapist, you must provide clear and detailed evidence within your application.
• The salary is offered within the following bands, dependent on experience:
• Occupational Therapist: £36,363 - £39,152
• Advanced Occupational Therapist: £40,777 - £45,075
• You will be based in the Central team, but you are expected to work across the localities and to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area so must have a full, valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle or have alternative appropriate means of travel.
• Business insurance will need to be added to your insurance policy and you can claim back mileage expenses.
• Please note that due to the nature of this role it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained for this post.

Interviews will be held on 7th September 2026.

• How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different
• As part of our benefits package, you will receive generous annual leave

(pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts , including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.

• We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work.

We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.

• What’s special here is the strength of the team ethos . We are a relatively small local authority, so managers know staff well. They can plan their services to ensure teams have manageable caseloads and have effective supervision so feel supported to make decisions which are right for the people they work with.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.

Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.

• We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of.
• We're working with the most vulnerable in our community to help them achieve what they want in life.
• We're investing in our schools to ensure every child and young person in South Gloucestershire achieves their full potential.

We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.

We’re making a difference, be part of it!

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