Job summary
We are seeking to recruit to an exceptional professional for the Principal Occupational Therapist post to provide strategic leadership occupational therapy practice for Sheffield City Council, so that people are supported to live the life they want to live.
It is an inspiring time for you to join our service. Working closely with the Chief Social Work Officer and the Adult, Health and Social Care senior leadership team, you will develop a unifying practice framework for Occupational Therapy (OT), based on the views and experiences of frontline practitioners and service users. With this supportive leadership team and our partners, you will jointly transform services. You will be finding new ways of doing things, so our integrated services are responsive and focus on the outcomes that people wish to achieve.
As a practice leader, you will lead and govern excellent practice, supporting the recruitment of skilled practitioners and ensuring that adequate support and development is offered across the service including to newly qualified and experienced therapists and OT assistants. You will also lead on the provision of high quality placement opportunities for students, through strong links to universities and workforce development partnerships.
You will hold a professional qualification in Occupational Therapy. Your leadership and management skills and experience will be crucial alongside your detailed understanding of the occupational therapy roles.
Main duties of the job
This post has lead responsibility for occupational therapy practice in Adult Health and Social
Care.
The role is actively involved in frontline practice, reporting the views and experiences of the
front line and users of the service to all levels of management including the Director of Adult
Health and Social Care in order to improve services
About us
We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly. Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.
Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We offer hybrid working and are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.
Relocation expenses, in accordance with the Sheffield City Councils Relocation Policy, may be available for the successful candidate subject to meeting the relevant criteria
Sheffield City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. We require the successful candidate to undertake an enhanced Criminal Record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To have overall responsibility for championing good quality occupational therapy practice and
development both within the organisation and at a regional and national level.
To ensure a line of sight to frontline practice for the ASCLT senior leadership team
To assist the ASCLT Senior Leadership Team to develop a career pathway for occupational
therapy that maintains direct work with adults as a core part of its role in line with the
Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice Conduct and Ethics.
Keep informed and disseminate national and international developments in occupational
therapy to ensure that the occupational therapy service anticipates national developments and
responds to new research and effective interventions.
To act as a challenge and change agent to the system in the role of critical friend providing
quality assurance on occupational therapy practice, including observation of practice, case
reviews and Safeguarding adults Reviews (SARs).
To create and embed a Workforce Development Strategy that ensures the delivery of a
systematic approach to staff development and training in line with the expectations of the Royal
College of Occupational therapy and SCC business needs.
To ensure that the Workforce Development Strategy is supported by an effective Recruitment
and Retention Strategy.
To develop a unifying practice framework for Adult Health and Social Care and
ensure that adequate support and training is afforded to Newly Qualified Occupational
therapists by Occupational therapy consultants/Practice Educators/Mentors.
To be ultimately responsible for the management of the identification of placement
opportunities for occupational therapy student placements and the provision of positive
placement opportunities in conjunction with workforce development.
To provide leadership and guidance, coordination and support to the across Adult Health and
Social Care to ensure that practice development is shared across the service in a systematic way.
To be responsible for the dissemination and tracking of the implementation of
recommendations from SARs, Serious Incident reviews, Case reviews and single agency reviews.
To be the lead officer with Higher Education Institutions s and other centres of learning to
influence qualifying course content, post qualification opportunities and links to research.
To be the link with the Central Government as part of the network of Principal Occupational
therapists across England and communicate practice intelligence about the effectiveness of
protection and safeguarding services providing progress reports as and when required.
To undertake complaint enquiries as required, identify and disseminate learning
To take a lead role in preparation for Peer Review
To manage the budget in relation to the POT remit
To take the lead role in ensuring that there are effective systems and procedures in place to
ensure that adults at risk are protected from harm.
To be responsible for own Continuous Professional Development and maintain Health and Care
Professions Standard
Job description
Job responsibilities
To have overall responsibility for championing good quality occupational therapy practice and
development both within the organisation and at a regional and national level.
To ensure a line of sight to frontline practice for the ASCLT senior leadership team
To assist the ASCLT Senior Leadership Team to develop a career pathway for occupational
therapy that maintains direct work with adults as a core part of its role in line with the
Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice Conduct and Ethics.
Keep informed and disseminate national and international developments in occupational
therapy to ensure that the occupational therapy service anticipates national developments and
responds to new research and effective interventions.
To act as a challenge and change agent to the system in the role of critical friend providing
quality assurance on occupational therapy practice, including observation of practice, case
reviews and Safeguarding adults Reviews (SARs).
To create and embed a Workforce Development Strategy that ensures the delivery of a
systematic approach to staff development and training in line with the expectations of the Royal
College of Occupational therapy and SCC business needs.
To ensure that the Workforce Development Strategy is supported by an effective Recruitment
and Retention Strategy.
To develop a unifying practice framework for Adult Health and Social Care and
ensure that adequate support and training is afforded to Newly Qualified Occupational
therapists by Occupational therapy consultants/Practice Educators/Mentors.
To be ultimately responsible for the management of the identification of placement
opportunities for occupational therapy student placements and the provision of positive
placement opportunities in conjunction with workforce development.
To provide leadership and guidance, coordination and support to the across Adult Health and
Social Care to ensure that practice development is shared across the service in a systematic way.
To be responsible for the dissemination and tracking of the implementation of
recommendations from SARs, Serious Incident reviews, Case reviews and single agency reviews.
To be the lead officer with Higher Education Institutions s and other centres of learning to
influence qualifying course content, post qualification opportunities and links to research.
To be the link with the Central Government as part of the network of Principal Occupational
therapists across England and communicate practice intelligence about the effectiveness of
protection and safeguarding services providing progress reports as and when required.
To undertake complaint enquiries as required, identify and disseminate learning
To take a lead role in preparation for Peer Review
To manage the budget in relation to the POT remit
To take the lead role in ensuring that there are effective systems and procedures in place to
ensure that adults at risk are protected from harm.
To be responsible for own Continuous Professional Development and maintain Health and Care
Professions Standard
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Must have a relevant professional qualification in Occupational therapy:
- i.e.Degree
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of successful strategic and operational working at a senior management level within a relevant Social Services or Health setting to adults at risk
- Direct, relevant experience of providing services to adults within the
- framework of the Care Act 2014
- Demonstrable evidence of effective practice experience in cases involving the resolution of complex legal and professional issues affecting the welfare of adults including Safeguarding and legal proceedings
- Experience of working and managing within a changing environment including evidence of successfully managing complex change in larger organisations.
- Experience of influencing partner agencies in the development / delivery of services
- Demonstrable evidence of depth of management experience of the issues facing local government and statutory responsibilities associated with the service.
- Experience of taking a lead role in regulatory compliance and Peer Reviews
- A sound working knowledge of the underlying philosophy and the main provisions of the Care Act and the associated volumes of operational guidance.
- Possess skills and knowledge set out in the Royal College of Occupational Therapy Occupational therapist
- Knowledge of the key objectives of the Care Act 2014 and of other initiatives influencing the development of Safeguarding overall
- A demonstrable understanding of high standards of professional practice and of effective systems for ensuring the delivery of high quality, customer-orientated
- services
- Knowledge of the principles of quality assurance and standards based service.
- A clear and demonstrable commitment to the delivery of high quality,
- customer centered service
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Must have a relevant professional qualification in Occupational therapy:
- i.e.Degree
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of successful strategic and operational working at a senior management level within a relevant Social Services or Health setting to adults at risk
- Direct, relevant experience of providing services to adults within the
- framework of the Care Act 2014
- Demonstrable evidence of effective practice experience in cases involving the resolution of complex legal and professional issues affecting the welfare of adults including Safeguarding and legal proceedings
- Experience of working and managing within a changing environment including evidence of successfully managing complex change in larger organisations.
- Experience of influencing partner agencies in the development / delivery of services
- Demonstrable evidence of depth of management experience of the issues facing local government and statutory responsibilities associated with the service.
- Experience of taking a lead role in regulatory compliance and Peer Reviews
- A sound working knowledge of the underlying philosophy and the main provisions of the Care Act and the associated volumes of operational guidance.
- Possess skills and knowledge set out in the Royal College of Occupational Therapy Occupational therapist
- Knowledge of the key objectives of the Care Act 2014 and of other initiatives influencing the development of Safeguarding overall
- A demonstrable understanding of high standards of professional practice and of effective systems for ensuring the delivery of high quality, customer-orientated
- services
- Knowledge of the principles of quality assurance and standards based service.
- A clear and demonstrable commitment to the delivery of high quality,
- customer centered service
Additional information
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
