Job Description
Social Inclusion and Occupational Therapy Lead – Barking and Dagenham Community Mental Health (Band 8a)
If you’re looking for a role where you can genuinely shape services, this is it.
Mental Health Services in Barking & Dagenham are undergoing a period of transformation. Pathways are being redesigned, models of care are evolving, and there is real appetite within the senior leadership team to do things differently.
We are looking for a Lead Occupational Therapist who will be part of that change.
You will work alongside senior leaders across the service to help shape community mental health pathways, bringing an occupational perspective into how care is designed, delivered, and evaluated.
You will lead and develop an Occupational Therapy workforce, including qualified staff, support staff, and apprentices, working across multiple teams.
What you’ll be doing
- Providing professional and clinical leadership for Occupational Therapy across community services
- Supporting and developing a diverse OT workforce at different stages of their careers
- Shaping pathways and contributing to service transformation alongside the wider leadership team
- Strengthening the visibility and impact of Occupational Therapy within multidisciplinary teams
- Driving a focus on meaningful outcomes and demonstrating the value of occupational approaches
- Creating consistency, quality, and identity across the Occupational Therapy workforce
What we’re looking for
- An experienced Occupational Therapist who is ready to lead at a system level while staying grounded in practice.
- Strong professional identity and credibility as an Occupational Therapist
- Experience of leading or developing others across teams or services
- Confidence to influence beyond your own discipline
- The ability to navigate change and uncertainty constructively
- A focus on improving outcomes for service users
You don’t need to have worked at Band 8a before, but you do need to be ready for that level of impact.
Interested?
- If you want to be a part of transformation!
- If you want to lead a valued and developing OT workforce!
- If you want to influence the wider system!
- If you want to make a visible difference
Then, we’d like to hear from you.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen within Barking & Dagenham Community Mental Health Services for an experienced and motivated Band 8a Occupational Therapist to join the service in a senior leadership role.
The successful candidate will be a key member of a supportive and forward-thinking management team, providing professional leadership, clinical oversight, and strategic direction for Occupational Therapy staff across the directorate. You will play a central role in the development, delivery, and promotion of high-quality Occupational Therapy services for adults with serious and enduring mental health needs.
This post requires substantial experience of working within community mental health services and a strong understanding of recovery-focused, person-centred care. You will be expected to demonstrate effective leadership skills, the ability to support and develop staff, and a commitment to service improvement within a multidisciplinary environment.
The role offers an excellent opportunity to further develop senior leadership and management skills while contributing to service transformation and innovation. You will be supported by a strong local infrastructure and benefit from collaborative working across the wider health and social care system.
We welcome applications from enthusiastic, skilled Occupational Therapists who are passionate about improving outcomes for people with complex mental health needs and who are committed to upholding NHS values.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will report directly to the Head of Adult Mental Health Services for Barking & Dagenham, with professional supervision provided by the Trust Professional Lead for Allied Health Professions (AHP).
As a key member of the senior management team, the post holder will contribute to the delivery of operational and strategic objectives across the directorate. They will provide professional leadership for Occupational Therapy staff, including supervision, professional development, workforce planning, and supporting effective recruitment and retention.
The role includes providing specialist Occupational Therapy advice and guidance to Integrated Care Directors, Associate Directors, and team managers, and contributing to Trust-wide Professional Lead Occupational Therapy and Allied Health Professional groups to support professional standards and service development.
The post holder will lead on Social Inclusion, Recovery, and Wellbeing agendas and manage NELFT ISA (Barking & Dagenham)–funded specialist mental health community placements, ensuring effective placement reviews, value for money, positive clinical outcomes, and appropriate throughput.
They will also contribute to borough, directorate, Mental Health Services, and Trust-wide projects as required, and ensure appropriate supervision and development of STR, Peer Support Workers, and other designated staff.
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind.
We are respectful.
We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15%of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time).
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI
during the recruitment process.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
References
Please ensure that the references are from your most recent employer and one of these must be your direct Line Manager or Supervisor. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. Additionally, ensure that any gaps in your employment history are clearly indicated. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly
