Occupational Therapist- Wellington Community Mental Health Team

Location:  Wellington Central CMHC 113 Adelaide Rd Mt. Cook. 

Contract: Permanent Full time (1 FTE) or Part time would be considered to suitable applicants.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to serving all New Zealanders. Through integration and collaboration, we’re building a health system underpinned by partnership, equity, sustainability, whanau-centred care, and excellence.

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced and clinically confident Senior Occupational Therapist to join one of our Community Mental Health Team. This is an opportunity for an established OT to take the next step in their career — holding a small complex caseload, providing clinical leadership, and helping shape best-practice occupational therapy within a multidisciplinary mental health setting.

You will work alongside Consultants, Psychiatric Registrars, Nurses, Psychologists, AOD clinicians, Social workers, and support workers, providing both direct clinical care and professional leadership to less experienced colleagues and students.

Key Responsibilities

• Hold and manage a small complex caseload, including tāngata whaiora with co-existing conditions, or diagnostic complexity requiring advanced clinical reasoning
• Provide clinical mentorship, and professional guidance to new graduate and junior Occupational Therapists, and OT students on placement
• Lead comprehensive occupational therapy assessments (functional, cognitive, sensory, and environmental) and complex intervention planning
• Act as a senior OT voice in multidisciplinary team meetings, complex case reviews, and risk formulation
• Champion recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and culturally safe occupational therapy practice across the team
• Design, lead, and evaluate group programmes and service-level initiatives (e.g., vocational rehabilitation pathways, sensory modulation programmes, wellbeing groups)
• Contribute to service development, quality improvement projects, and clinical policy or pathway design within MHAIDS
• Support intake, triage, or duty responsibilities as required, drawing on advanced assessment and risk-screening skills
• Liaise at a senior level with NGOs, housing providers, vocational services, and other external agencies to strengthen wraparound care pathways
• Maintain a high standard of clinical documentation in line with MHAIDS and legislative requirements (including under the Mental Health Act and Community Treatment Orders)
• Participate in and, where appropriate, help facilitate peer supervision, professional development, and in-service training for the wider team

About team/Service/Location

Our base is located in Mount Cook / Newtown, very close to central Wellington. We share office space with the Wellington South CMHT, and Community Alcohol and Drug Services (CADS) is located on the floor below. This makes for a thriving, exciting work environment with staff across teams mutually supporting one another. We have a good working relationship with other services in the local community, and we routinely work closely with NGOs and primary care.

The Local Adult Specialist Mental Health and Addiction Service represents a change in the way we deliver services, and it is an exciting time to join us and help shape the way we work.

Our vision is for an integrated mental health and addiction service, with a focus on local delivery across the district

About You

• Registered Occupational Therapist with a current Annual Practising Certificate from the Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand (Te Poari Whakaora Ngangahau o Aotearoa)
• Significant post-graduate experience in mental health settings (typically 3+ years), with demonstrated advanced clinical reasoning and complex case management skills
• Persons with less experience may apply as well.
• Good Microsoft skills
• Postgraduate qualification in mental health, health leadership, or a related field desirable, or a strong track record of equivalent clinical experience
• Demonstrated experience or aptitude in clinical supervision, mentoring, and supporting the professional development of junior staff or students
• Strong grounding in recovery-oriented practice, trauma-informed care, and holistic models such as Te Whare Tapa Whā
• Excellent assessment, clinical reasoning, and report-writing skills, including for complex or high-risk presentations
• Confident communicator able to influence and lead within a multidisciplinary team

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is ‘the weaving of wellness’. We're dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Health New Zealand are committed to being good employers and honouring our equal employment opportunity obligations. We embrace diversity and welcome application from all people, including all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and disability. A workforce that is diverse and inclusive means that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We are pro-equity health organisation, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific Peoples, and the Disability Community.

How to Apply

To apply please click “apply now.” All applications must be submitted through our online careers’ portal.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Marianne.Lovgren@tewhatuora.govt.nz

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advertisement.

Position description Apply now

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