[Hiring] Clinical Lead Occupational Therapy @East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Role Description

East of England Community Health and Care Trust is establishing Experts at Hand, a major national SEND reform project recognising the importance of Occupational Therapy within early years, mainstream schools and further education. The programme aims to improve early identification and strengthen workforce capability across education settings.

The postholder will provide senior clinical and operational leadership for the development and delivery of the Occupational Therapy element of Experts at Hand across Luton and Bedfordshire. As a credible specialist OT, they will work with partners in educational psychology, speech and language therapy, CAMHS, local authorities and education to co-produce an integrated offer.

Working closely with the Head of Service, the Clinical Lead will establish effective team structures, support safe and high-quality delivery, and monitor and report objectives and key performance indicators. They will ensure that clinical expertise, the voices of children, young people and families, and best available evidence inform programme planning and delivery.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop senior strategic and operational leadership skills while helping to shape a new multidisciplinary service supporting children and young people with functional and sensory needs across neighbourhood partnerships.

Interviews will take place in 2 parts: Virtual stakeholder panel on 9th October and formal interview on 16th October 2026.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in Occupational Therapy.
• Expertise in working with children and young people with functional and sensory needs.
• Strong collaboration skills with educational and health professionals.

Requirements

• Leadership and operational responsibility for the development, delivery and management of the Expert at Hand programme and Community Occupational Therapy team.
• Collaboration with Heads of service in health and education to develop the programme plan and evaluation.
• Act as an expert within the wider system, making judgements involving complex facts or situations.
• Leading on recruitment of the workforce for the Expert at Hand team.
• Developing structured universal, targeted and targeted plus care pathways.
• Ensure coproduction is integral to the development of pathways and evaluations.
• Responsibility for delivering and arranging meetings with relevant stakeholders.
• Use well-developed change management, communication and resilience skills.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining momentum within the department.
• Leading on the independent evaluation and reporting on KPIs throughout the project.
• Developing and overseeing processes between the Expert at Hand and Specialist Occupational Therapy Service delivery models.
• Develop clear clinical governance structures within the department.

Benefits

• Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.
• High quality innovative services across most of the east of England.
• Culture prioritising staff engagement and development.
• Flexible working opportunities to meet the needs of the workforce.