Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: Grade H. Scale 29 - £39,862 to Scale 34 - £45,091 with a professional bar at Scale 31 - £41,771**

Hours Per Week: 36 to be worked flexibly

Base Location: Jubilee Gardens, Gardenfold Way Droylsden. M43 7XU

Assessment Date: To be arranged

The Role

Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and families? Do you bring compassion, curiosity, collaboration, conversation, and courage to your practice? If so, Tameside is looking for you.

Duties and responsibilities will include the following:

• To assess the needs of children/ young people with complex and specialist needs within the home environment, taking into account the needs of parents/carers.
• To complete risk assessments where risks within the home environment cannot be reduced to a reasonable level
• To carry out manual handling assessments within the community and to minimise the handling risk to children/young people, parents and informal carer’s.
• To adhere to and apply the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Occupational Therapists (Royal College of Occupational Therapy)
• To independently manage a complex caseload in consultation with the Manager
• To give advice on the management of disability to children/young people, parents and carers, providing equipment and recommending long-term intervention, including major adaptations, in accordance with the authority's policy and guidelines.
• To work in partnership with children/young people, Parents and carers to determine the most appropriate intervention required to meet the assessed need and maximize independence.
• To liaise, negotiate and work jointly with other teams and agencies involved in organising and providing services
• To maintain accurate and concise documentation consistent with legal and organisational requirements.
• To provide advice and information to children/young people with low level needs and redirect to other services as appropriate.
• To provide support, guidance and training to new staff members, students and also to staff in other teams to increase awareness of Occupational Therapy in the community. To be involved in team development activities and projects.

About you

We are looking for candidates with:

• Diploma/Degree of Royal College of Occupational Therapy
• Professional registration with HCPC
• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent with 4 GCSE Grade A C 4/9 including Maths and English

You will have the ability to communicate effectively in writing and produce quality reports. Be able to present information to professionals, families and community groups. Be able to communicate open and honestly with children, parents carers.

Must be able to work independently with good organisational skills as well as working with other agencies and partners to achieve multi-agency outcomes for families. Be able to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service be able to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines. In return you will be part of a large supportive team.

About Us
Hear from Jill Colbert OBE, Director of Children’s Services

“When I first joined the council at the beginning of 2025 I was instantly charmed by the warmth, openness, and energy of my colleagues.

“The reason why I came to Tameside was because I knew we could do fantastic things for our families here.

“Whilst we’re currently a children’s service on a significant improvement journey, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made together, and this is already making a difference for our children.

“I know from the feedback from our Commissioner, Ofsted and our Strategic Improvement Partner, that families are seeing and feeling the impact of the thoughtful and compassionate support delivered by our workforce.

“We know that if we keep children at the centre of our thinking and our actions, we will create meaningful change for them that lasts.

“We are also growing and investing in our future. We have a range of specialist services for children, giving social workers quick access to expert help that makes complex decisions easier and supports better outcomes. Our Social Work Academy is led by people who bring passion to learning. We are strengthening our progression pathways so that staying in Tameside is rewarded and recognised. We have invested in innovation and improvement so that we can grow services and support for families that we can sustain, from family hubs through to complex safeguarding.

“Together, we are creating a proud, inclusive, and safe environment where great practice can truly flourish. And I feel incredibly privileged to lead this journey alongside such dedicated colleagues.

“Be a part of something great, be a part of our improvement journey and join us at Team Tameside.”

Our Heart of Support Practice Approach

At Tameside, we believe in:

• Compassion understanding the lived experiences of children and families.
• Curiosity asking questions that lead to deeper insight and better outcomes for children.
• Collaboration working together across services to deliver joined-up support.
• Conversation listening and engaging meaningfully with children, families and professionals.
• Courage leading with courage, making bold and compassionate decisions that put children first.

At Tameside, we are committed to ensuring all our Citizens lead long, fulfilling and healthy lives. We are committed to supporting economic growth, providing high quality health and care services, protecting our most vulnerable and creating strong and supportive, self-sufficient communities.

We recognise that our people drive our success and enable the organisation to deliver on its vision, purpose and priorities, and that our people are our most important resource and asset. Our values underpin our practice and behaviours, and are at the heart of everything that we do; and we understand that how we do things is just as important as what we do. We pride ourselves on living by our STRIVE values of Support, Trust, Respect, Integrity, Value Diversity and Engage. Our values underpin our practice and behaviours and are at the heart of everything that we do. How we do things are just as important as what we do.

Our employees’ skills, experience and knowledge are essential to our success along with their happiness, wellbeing, commitment, enthusiasm and motivation to be the best they can be.

This post is classified as being in a professional job category. As such the grade for the job has a professional grade development bar which employees can progress through subject to meeting the following criteria:

1. Relevant professional qualification for the job role at Level 6 or above, AND

2. Minimum of 2 years post qualification experience in the role, AND

3. Maintained membership of a regulated body where this is a requirement to practice in the role where applicable, AND

4. Professional standards practised to the highest expected level.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. This position is subject to Enhanced with Barred List Disclosure Procedures.

This post is designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and required a specific level of spoken English.

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

We are committed to developing a culture which respects individuals, appreciates difference and allows everyone regardless of background to reach their full potential. We are proud to be an accredited disability confident employer. Reasonable Adjustments will be considered in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 in relation to the Job Role Criteria.

Our rewards and benefits package can be viewed here

We have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel. Please click here for more information on our guaranteed assessment scheme.

For further information about this role please contact the recruiting manager Kerry Dalston on 0161 342 5599 or kerry.dalston@tameside.gov.uk