Occupational Therapist - Community Occupational Therapy at Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Southern, Otago

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

• Home team Dunedin Hospital
• Permanent, full-time role (1.0 FTE)
• Competitive salary, discounted health insurance and on-site employee gym
• Join our friendly team during an exciting time of development!

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, whānau-centred care, and excellence.

About the role

The Home team is an interprofessional team designed to support discharge from hospital or prevent unnecessary hospital admission through rapid allied health and nursing assessment and support at home.

This service works in partnership with clients, key stakeholders and uses frailty as an indicator. The Home team play a critical role in supporting the Medical Assessment unit. This is a fast-paced work environment where patients, admitted from ED or direct from the community are comprehensively assessed to determine if ongoing inpatient care is required or if the patient can be discharged home.

• Fantastic opportunity for an Occupational Therapist who is adaptive to change, resourceful, flexible to service needs and future development and has a genuine passion for working across both inpatient and community settings
• Support the early assessment, intervention, and coordination of services to support improved patient outcomes and patient flow within our hospital.

View position description.

About you

You will:

• have competency with te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori or a commitment to starting your journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth
• have experience in projects/initiatives which give effect to Te Tiriti principals and frameworks, and the application of Mātauranga Māori and Kaupapa Māori approaches, particularly as they apply in healthcare settings
• have the proven ability to adapt to change and be flexible within the working environment with a desire to create change for the better of our service users
• have advanced comprehensive clinical assessment and problem-solving skills
• have the ability to direct and delegate to rehabilitation assistants
• have excellent communication skills to liaise with health professionals, both within the in-patient services and in the community setting.
• have recent experience of working with the older adults in acute, rehabilitation or community settings
• be a registered health professional with a current APC
• have ideally two years post registration in an appropriate setting
• have a full clean New Zealand driver's licence.

Salary range

This role belongs to the PSA/DHBs Allied, Public Health and Technical Multi-Employer Collective Agreement and falls between Step 1 ($77,087 p.a) and Step 8 ($110,210 p.a pro-rata) of the Degree-Based Allied, Public Health and Technical scale.

 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 Sunday, 15 February 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact James Boyd 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.

We only accept online applications. Please apply via our website.