Autism Advisory Team Occupational Therapist
Thank you for your interest in the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT). This is an exciting time to join us and be part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:
- Collaborate at every level by living our values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
- Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
- Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
- Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
- Ensure that research, quality improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
- Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do
We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.
The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.
Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/
As a values‑driven Trust, we recruit through our values. Our selection processes focus on behaviours, attitudes, and examples that reflect our organisational values and commitment to compassionate, high‑quality care.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role.
We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process.AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.
Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.
North London NHS Foundation Trust is committed to fair and transparent recruitment and requires applicants to provide accurate information, as misleading details may affect their application or employment and may be verified in line with the Fraud Act 2006.For further information please visit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.
Job overview
The Autism Advisory Team Occupational Therapist will be part of a newly established, specialist multi‑disciplinary team created to strengthen autism‑informed practice across inpatient and community mental health services in North Central London.This role supports the local delivery of NCL’s Inpatient Quality Transformation Plan (IQTP), which aims to improve the identification, experience and outcomes of autistic adults, reduce inequalities, and develop a more skilled and confident workforce.
The post holder will contribute to a team that offers specialist autism‑focused consultation, guidance and training to front line staff across five boroughs. The team operates in a consultative, non‑caseload model, supporting inpatient wards, community mental health teams and wider system partners to embed reasonable adjustments, improve personalised care planning and promote earlier intervention.
Ongoing case management will remain with the referring service.
Main duties of the job
Within this model, the Occupational Therapist will provide specialist autism informed occupational therapy expertise, with a particular focus on autistic adults diagnosed later in life and those who have not previously accessed appropriate occupational therapy and sensory/environmental support.The post holder will deliver specialist (non diagnostic) OT assessments where appropriate, including sensory and environmental considerations, functional assessments and (where indicated) functional behaviour assessment input. They will translate assessment findings into clear, practical recommendations and reasonable adjustments that can be implemented by inpatient and community teams, ensuring these are documented appropriately within agreed clinical records and team processes.
A key part of the role is enabling others to work more effectively with autistic adults. The postholder will provide consultation to clinicians on sensory and environmental adaptations, daily living and occupational functioning, and practical strategies to support engagement and reduce distress.
Working for our organisation
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
Our Five-Year Strategy:
- We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
- With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
- We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
- We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
- We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
- NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
- Excellent internal staff network
The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities- Demonstrate highly specialist knowledge of autism‑informed occupational therapy practice underpinned by current evidence-based best practice.
- Provide specialist sensory/environmental assessments and develop sensory profiles where indicated, translating findings into practical ward/community adjustments.
- Support assessment of occupational performance factors impacting engagement, regulation, independence, and participation in care planning.
- To apply advanced clinical reasoning to identify occupational therapy goals as part of the overall care plan.
- To consider both physical and mental health needs as part of the occupational therapy process.
- Monitor and manage OT assessment activity and waiting lists within the team’s remit, ensuring prioritisation and risk considerations are applied appropriately.
- Produce high‑quality written outputs from assessments, ensuring recommendations are practical, implementable and tailored to the relevant setting (inpatient or community).
- To take a lead role in the education, supervision and training of more junior members of staff, support workers and occupational therapy students
- To ensure client needs and their carers are central to service delivery, and that individual spiritual beliefs, customs and values are respected.
This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria- Recognised degree or equivalent qualification in Occupational Therapy
- Health and Care Professions Council registration.
- Highly developed communication skills (written and verbal), with the ability to explain complex functional/sensory needs and recommendations clearly to service users, carers and professionals.
- Postgraduate training/courses relevant to autism, sensory integration/sensory processing, mental health, or neurodevelopment.
Experience
Essential criteria- Advanced clinical reasoning and decision-making skills, including the ability to assess, prioritise and manage risk within a specialist assessment pathway.
- Ability to produce high-quality written assessment outputs and practical recommendations suitable for implementation by multi-disciplinary teams.
- Clear evidence to demonstrate specialist experience and clinical skills for working with autistic people
- Knowledge of Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised (ADIR).
Experience
Essential criteria- Specialist knowledge of autism-informed practice and reasonable adjustments, including how sensory/environmental factors can impact distress, engagement and participation
- Experience of completing functional assessments.
- Experience of teaching and training others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within professional settings.
- Experience in developing online workshops and digital materials for families and carers
Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts, we reserve the right to close any vacancies before the stated closing date. Therefore, please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
In line with NHS protocols, only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We regret that it is not possible to contact all applicants for every vacancy. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume you have not been shortlisted for the next stage.
Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome. Please ensure you hold the correct right to work in the UK at the time of your application. Some roles may not be eligible for sponsorship, and we want to make sure you have all the information you need before applying.To avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration
References will be required to cover your last 3 years of employment/training. One has to be from your current or most recent employer and the others from your previous employer. The references should be from persons with management responsibility or HR.
Please note, in order to progress your application your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of North London NHS Foundation Trust. As part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID.You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating.
For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk
The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating an inclusive, fair, and supportive workplace for all. We actively welcome applications from individuals who are under‑represented within our workforce and are dedicated to eliminating discrimination in all its forms.
As a Disability Confident (Two Ticks) employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role and are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make costs savings for NHS organisations but also to save you time when your employment transfers.