Occupational Therapist - Rehabilitation team at Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Southern, Otago

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Occupational Therapist – Rehabilitation team

Dunedin  

• 0.6 FTE (24hrs per week) fixed term maternity cover December 2027

Have you always been keen to try community work, or are you already  passionate about community rehabilitation and helping people regain independence in their own environment? We're looking for an enthusiastic Occupational Therapist to join our Older Persons Community Rehabilitation team

This is an opportunity to work in a supportive, innovative team where you'll build meaningful relationships with patients and see the impact of your rehabilitation programmes firsthand.

About the team

This role sits within older persons community rehabilitation team.  With changing ways of worker this may in time not be defined by age.  This is a dynamic, supportive and evolving community interdisciplinary team. It plans and provides intensive rehabilitation to our diverse patients within their own homes and age residential care facilities and outpatient settings.

Our patients present with a wide range of rehabilitation needs, including:

• Stroke
• Parkinson's disease
• Neurological conditions
• Cognitive impairment
• Frailty
• Orthopaedic injuries
• General reconditioning following illness

We are passionate about delivering person-centred, evidence-based rehabilitation that enables people to achieve their goals and maximise their independence.

Why join us?

Rehabilitation is a rewarding area of practice where you can truly get to know your patients, work alongside them to achieve meaningful goals, and witness life-changing outcomes.

We are committed to supporting your professional growth through:

• Regular interdisciplinary education sessions and in-service training
• Senior clinician mentoring and peer review
• Professional development, conference and course funding
• Opportunities to supervise and teach occupational therapy students
• Access to secondments and experience across our wider rehabilitation services to support your career aspirations

About you

Ideally you bring a minimum of 3 years occupational therapy experience that includes working in a rehabilitation environment.  You will demonstrate a strong understanding of optimising patient outcomes and facilitating effective discharge planning, using a patient centred and evidence-based approach to goal setting and intervention. You will build excellent relationships between inpatients and the community.

In addition, you will have enthusiasm and a willingness to commit to our team and patients. You will be expected to be active in service quality initiatives, therefore be proactive, innovative and have a quality driven leadership approach.

For this role, you will need to be a New Zealand registered occupational therapist with a current annual practising certificate.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.  

How to Apply

To apply please click “apply now.”  All applications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by Friday 2nd October 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact: james.boyd@tewhatuora.govt.nz

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