Occupational Therapy Team Leader/Manager
Job reference: 262940
Salary: Band 7 (£52,845 - £61,466)
Job closing date: 18/11/2026
Job Type: Allied Health Professions
Location: University Hospital Hairmyres
Employment type: Permanent
Hours Per Week: 36
Job posted date: 04/11/2026
Employer (NHS Board): NHS Lanarkshire
Department: Occupational Therapy

About The Organisation
Here at NHS Lanarkshire, we put the patient at the heart of everything we do. Each colleague within the organisation plays a key role in how we deliver our healthcare services.

We proudly serve a population of 655,000 across rural and urban communities in both North and South Lanarkshire. NHS Lanarkshire is comprised of Acute Services (which currently provide hospital based services over 3 main sites), Corporate & Property & Support Services, North and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnerships which provide integrated primary healthcare and social care services to local communities and surrounding areas.

The Role
We are seeking an enthusiastic, experienced and dynamic Occupational Therapist to provide operational and professional leadership for the Acute Occupational Therapy Service at University Hospital Hairmyres.

Working closely with the Acute Occupational Therapy Care Group Lead, you will have responsibility for the operational management, professional leadership and development of a team of approximately 25 staff, supporting the coordination and delivery of safe, effective and high-quality Occupational Therapy services across the hospital site. You will be an integral member of the Acute Occupational Therapy leadership structure, the site leadership team and the wider Occupational Therapy Physical Care Team Leader Forum.

The team provides Occupational Therapy services across a diverse range of acute specialties, including Emergency Care, Receiving, Medicine, Surgery, Elective Orthopaedics, Vascular, Stroke and Medicine for the Older Adult, offering an excellent opportunity to lead and influence Occupational Therapy practice across a broad acute care portfolio.

The post is structured as a 0.4 WTE clinical and 0.6 WTE leadership and management role. Clinically, you will work as part of the multidisciplinary team, managing your own specialist caseload and using evidence-based, person-centred practice to assess, plan, deliver and evaluate Occupational Therapy interventions within the acute hospital setting. Recent acute clinical experience is therefore essential.

You will bring strong leadership, communication and management skills, supporting staff and students to develop their clinical reasoning, confidence and decision-making. You will provide leadership within a fast-paced environment, balancing the demands of high patient turnover and complex clinical caseloads while maintaining the quality, safety and timeliness of Occupational Therapy intervention. A strong focus on effective patient flow, early discharge planning and Discharge without Delay principles will be central to the role.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the ongoing development of acute Occupational Therapy services during a period of transformation and reform. Experience of service improvement, redesign or change management would be advantageous, alongside an enthusiasm for supporting innovation, developing the workforce and ensuring Occupational Therapy continues to make a strong contribution to patient outcomes and hospital flow.

In this key role, you will:

• Responsible for the direct operational management of registered Occupational Therapists, support staff and students
• Apply in-depth knowledge of legislation, professional regulation and codes of practice, to lead, develop, evaluate and implement protocols, guidelines and policies.
• Responsible for Occupational Therapy triage, assessment and rehabilitation for a specialist caseload.
• Provide education and advice to patients, carers, members of the multi-disciplinary team and other agencies.
• Regularly undertakes audit and research in line with clinical governance agenda and may lead specific projects.

What You'll Bring:

• Degree in Occupational Therapy with valid HCPC Registration
• Range of post graduate education and short specialist courses relevant to team leader role.
• Comprehensive knowledge of clinical guidelines and standards across a range of specialities within Occupational Therapy
• Specialist knowledge and experience of relevant conditions, pathology, policies and procedures associated with the speciality/area of practice ensuring that the level of expertise can be utilised to deliver leadership within speciality / area of practice.

What we Offer

• Annual Leave - 35 days including public holidays
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Annual incremental salary progression
• Paid sick leave increasing with length of service
• NHS discounts and more.

NHS Lanarkshire is dedicated to building a diverse workforce where everyone can thrive, develop, and succeed based on their skills, knowledge, and talent - regardless of race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or care experience* or any other dimension that can be used to differentiate people from one another.

*Care experienced applicants include those who have lived with foster parents, kinship carers, or in residential/secure children's settings.

For informal discussion, please contact Pamela Grant, Care Group Lead – Acute Occupational Therapy Services via Pamela.Grant@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

If you have any questions about the recruitment process or require support with your application, contact Nicole Hetherington, Recruitment Administrator on nicole.hetherington@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

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Interested?
Full details about the role are provided in the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Please review our Application Guidance which explain key information including closing dates, amendments, right-to-work requirements, sponsorship eligibility and important points to be aware of before submitting your application.

You can also learn more about working with NHS Lanarkshire by viewing our Information Pack.

Unless otherwise stated, the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.

This advert may close early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply early.

Supporting Documents
Job Description (DOCX) and Person Specification (DOCX) are available via the advert.

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