Overview

The London Borough of Harrow is creating a specialist Autism Function within Adult Social Care, designed as a preventative, high‑impact intervention to reduce avoidable harm, inequality and high‑cost escalation for autistic adults.

We are seeking a Senior Occupational Therapist with strong autism expertise to play a pivotal role in this function. This is a senior, specialist post, focused on early intervention, formulation, sensory and environmental adaptation, and system‑wide influence — not a traditional equipment‑led OT role.

You will be embedded within the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism (MHLDA) service, applying specialist OT expertise upstream, before distress escalates into crisis, hospital admission, or high‑cost packages of care, but also support cases where there is a need for specialist expertise to reduce restrictions and support independence.

This role is ideal for an OT who wants to work at the interface of practice, prevention, public health and system leadership.

The Senior Occupational Therapist will:

intervene early in high‑risk situations
reduce reliance on restrictive and staffing‑intensive support models
stabilise placements
support accurate formulation of need
build autism‑informed capability across Adult Social Care and partners.

Key Responsibilities:

Specialist Practice & Prevention
- Provide autism‑ and sensory‑informed assessment and formulation for adults at risk of escalation.
- Design sensory, environmental and occupational interventions that reduce distress and prevent crisis.
- Influence care planning to reduce reliance on 1:1 / 2:1 staffing and containment‑based models.
- Support stabilisation of placements, tenancies and daily routines.
- Contribute to safeguarding responses that understand autism rather than misinterpret distress as behavioural risk.
System Leadership & Consultation
- Provide specialist consultation and advice to social workers, care managers, AMHPs and managers.
- Support targeted review of high-intensity packages, identifying unmet autism‑related needs.
- Influence provider practice through review activity, commissioning conversations and quality work.
- Contribute to system learning
Partnership & Integration
- Work closely with Social Care colleagues, CNWL, health partners, housing services and commissioning.
- Contribute to the development of autism‑informed approaches across the local system.
Workforce Development
- Deliver training, case consultation and reflective learning to improve autism capability across the workforce.
- Champion trauma‑informed, neurodiversity‑affirming practice.

About You

You will:

Be a registered Occupational Therapist (HCPC).
Have significant post‑qualifying experience working with autistic adults or people with complex neurodevelopmental profiles.
Have strong expertise in sensory integration, environmental adaptation and functional formulation.
Be confident working with complexity, ambiguity and risk.
Understand how autism intersects with trauma, mental ill‑health, safeguarding and capacity.
Be able to influence practice beyond your own caseload.
Be comfortable working flexibly across community, office and partnership settings.

We welcome applicants with experience in Adult Social Care, mental health, learning disability, forensic or complex community settings.

Related Documents

For more information, please refer to the Role Profile/Selection Criteria