Operational Lead Early Years, EAST | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Are you an experienced band 6 AHP looking for your next step?

Are you passionate about shaping and delivering high-quality services for children in their early years?

We’re looking for a well organised, motivated allied health professional to take a key leadership role within our CYPIT service for a 12 month FTC.

As Operational Lead, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of our Early Years Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Speech & Language Therapy services. This includes supporting the under-5 autism assessment pathway and developing the JAC clinic model to strengthen integrated working across teams. Whilst leading the team you will also have the opportunity to continue with some clinical work.

This is a great opportunity for someone looking to develop their management and leadership skills whilst having the opportunity to interpret data to inform service development.
• Provide operational leadership, ensuring services run smoothly and performance targets are achieved.

• Line manage and support a defined team of staff, promoting development and best practice.

• Work closely with the CYPIT leadership team and clinicians to plan, coordinate, deliver, and evaluate services.

• Lead service development in your area of responsibility, collaborating with senior managers and professional leads.

• Build and maintain effective partnerships with wider agencies to meet the needs of pre-school children.

• Support tribunal work and contribute to decision-making at SEN panels, working closely with local authority SEN and legal teams.

• Hold a small clinical caseload where required.

• Deputise for the CYPIT Early Years and School Age Leads when needed.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

The “must haves” for this role:
• An allied health professional with experience in service delivery and leadership.
• Skilled in partnership working, with excellent communication and organisational abilities.
• Confident in leading teams, driving service improvement, and ensuring high-quality outcomes for children and families.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Gemma West on View phone number on findajob.dwp.gov.uk or email: View email address on findajob.dwp.gov.uk who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

This advert closes on Wednesday 27 May 2026

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Disability Confident

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .