Most therapy roles in children's care feel like you're working in isolation, squeezed between meetings and struggling to see real impact. This is different. You'll be embedded in a living and learning environment where your clinical expertise shapes how every single adult supports the young people in their care, and where those small victories feel genuinely huge
Picture this: you walk into a children's home or specialist school and your clinical thinking is woven through everything. You're not just delivering one-to-one sessions that end when the timer goes off. You're training residential and educational staff, designing interventions, running workshops, and watching your formulations come to life across the whole day and night. The young people in this service present with developmental trauma, neuro-developmental conditions and complex special educational needs - real depth, real challenge, real meaning
You'll be part of a multi-disciplinary clinical team where you're not the only expert in the room. You'll have 220+ clinical colleagues across the organisation to learn from, debate with and lean on. There's proper clinical supervision, a dedicated development programme, and genuine space for your career to grow. This isn't a job where you're figuring it out alone
What makes this different is the infrastructure. The home and school are built around therapeutic principles. Your role isn't to fix things around the edges - it's to help shape the culture and approach that affects every interaction these young people have. That's the work that changes lives
What you will be doing
- Deliver therapeutic assessments and formulations for young people with complex needs, then translate those into practical interventions that staff can embed into daily living and learning
- Provide consultation, workshops and direct training to residential and educational colleagues, so your clinical thinking becomes part of how the whole team works
- Work collaboratively across specialist schools and children's homes to ensure therapeutic support is consistent and truly permeates every aspect of a young person's day
- Offer individualised engagement and therapeutic support to young people, guided by your clinical assessment and the team's shared understanding of their needs
- Contribute to a joined-up model of SEND provision where clinical expertise sits alongside education and care, not separate from it
Why you will love working here
- £37,602 to £45,426 per year (including paid school holidays) - properly rewarding what you bring
- Full school holidays plus bank holidays. You work hard during term time, and you get proper time to recharge
- A leading clinical development programme and dedicated supervision. Your career growth is built in, not an afterthought
- Flexible benefits you can tailor to suit your life - life insurance, medical cover for opticians and dental, high-street discounts, and a full wellbeing support package including employee assistance
- A £1,000 recommend-a-friend bonus every time you bring someone brilliant into the team, plus access to a beautiful working environment with the very best facilities
Is this you?
- You're registered with the HCPC as an Occupational Therapist and you take that qualification seriously
- You have real experience delivering therapeutic interventions for children and young people with complex needs - you know what works and why
- You're skilled at supporting teams, not just individuals. You can teach, guide, model and lead in a way that sticks with people
- You're highly organised, you take initiative, and you're driven by genuine outcomes for young people - not just ticking boxes
- You bring your whole self to work. You respect and celebrate the diversity of backgrounds and needs in our young people, and you actively champion neurodiversity and difference
Applications close on 12 October 2026. Great roles like this are filled quickly, so the sooner you apply the better.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All roles are subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.