We are hiring two new Senior Occupational Therapists to join our fantastic Reablement team. We have the following vacancies:
1 x vacancy within the East of the County, supporting our East 1 & East 2 Reablement Teams, which cover Reigate, Tandridge, Banstead, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, and Elmbridge.
1 x vacancy within the West of the County, supporting our West 1 & West 2 Reablement Teams, which cover Runnymede, Spelthorne, Woking, Guildford, Waverley and Surrey Heath.
This is a fantastic role for someone who is passionate about shaping and delivering the Reablement strategic vision to empower people to regain independence, shaping high quality therapeutic practice, and leading talented, multidisciplinary teams. You'll play a key part in driving innovation, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring our service continues to deliver excellent outcomes for the communities we support.
Our Offer to You
26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
A generous local government salary related pension
Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents
About the Team
Surrey County Council is an ambitious organisation, with a focus on standing up for the interests of Surrey residents, promoting independence and ensuring they get the services they need. At our very heart we are committed to improving outcomes for our most vulnerable residents, aiming to empower them to live healthy, active and fulfilling lives and providing everyone with the health and social care support they need to promote their independence.
The Reablement service supports this agenda by supporting people in their own homes to promote wellbeing and independence through skills gain programmes and we are embedding a therapy led Reablement offer.
About the Role
As a Senior Occupational Therapist you will play a critical role in Reablement by leading on triage, including assessing referral information, identifying risks and priorities, determining suitability for reablement, and identifying early OT involvement, equipment or technology needs. You will be working closely with Reablement staff, health partners and other social care teams and attend multi-disciplinary team and Transfer of Care Hub (TOCH) meetings with health and social care staff.
Alongside triage activity, you will undertake and oversee complex, strength‑based occupational therapy assessments, completing risk assessments and ensure proportionate, person‑centred interventions in line with legislation and best practice.
You will need to work flexibly across the East or West Teams within their geographical areas. They will provide senior professional advice and oversight to Reablement colleagues across the area, including OTs, Reablement Practitioners, Team Leaders, Reablement Team Managers, including formal supervision to non-qualified colleagues or less experienced Occupational Therapists.
You will contribute to embedding a therapy‑led, integrated Reablement offer, ensuring safe, person‑centred practice in line with CQC standards and will support in the training and upskilling of Reablement staff.
Overall, the role combines autonomous clinical practice with leadership, service development, and cross‑team collaboration.
Shortlisting Criteria
In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:
Qualified and registered Occupational Therapist, with HCPC registration, eligibility for Enhanced DBS, and significant post‑registration experience (typically 3+ years) working in social care or community multi‑agency settings.
Proven supervisory experience, including at least one year supervising multiple staff, providing effective reflective supervision to less experienced Occupational Therapists and/or non‑professionally qualified staff.
Strong clinical knowledge and judgement, with extensive understanding of physical health conditions, long‑term disability and their impact on individuals, carers and families, alongside good knowledge of mental health conditions, learning disabilities and autism.
Experience working in pressured, complex environments, including duty and/or triage functions, demonstrating resilience, sound decision‑making, effective communication with health colleagues, and confidence in appropriate professional and clinical challenge.
Service and organisational awareness, including understanding of CQC requirements, willingness to contribute to internal Reablement training and service development, and the ability to build effective professional relationships within a hybrid working environment.
Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality based social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK and access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job. Additionally, in this role you may be required to attend meetings outside usual working hours, to meet the needs of the people we support.
The job advert closes at 23:59 on 26/04/2026 with interviews to follow.
We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.
Join our dynamic team and shape the future of local government. Make a lasting impact with innovative solutions and improved services for our community. Help us build a brighter future for our residents!
Our Commitment
We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.
Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs
Salary description
£47884.00 - £51175.00 per year