• Part time, fixed term parental cover positions available, based at Christchurch Health Campus
• Please indicate your preference in your cover letter; 0.6FTE (24 hours per week) until May 2027, or 0.8FTE (32 hours per week) until Nov 2027
• Provide Occupational Therapy assessment and therapeutic interventions to service users and improve the health and wellbeing of the Canterbury community!

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

We have exciting opportunities to join the supportive Occupational Therapy team at Christchurch Hospital in these fixed-term parental cover roles. As part of a large and dynamic team, there are often further opportunities that arise, including secondments, parental leave cover, and new roles created to support increased service demand providing potential for ongoing employment.

Please indicate your preferred role in your cover letter; 0.6FTE until 2nd May 2027, or 0.8FTE until 19th November 2027

Occupational therapists work across multiple clinical areas at Christchurch Hospital including:

Trauma, Orthopaedics, General Medicine, Surgery, Neurology, Acute Stroke, Respiratory, Cardiology, Paediatrics, ICU, ED, Burns & Plastics, Oncology, Hand Therapy, Home Visit team. These positions are ward based and where you will be working will depend on your current skills and the overall needs of those who access our service.

In these role, you will be responsible for:

• Working to provide comprehensive inter-disciplinary and specific occupational therapy based assessments, patient centred goal setting, therapeutic interventions, and education to whānau and friends and IDT colleagues
• Working with patients from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and working collaboratively with whānau, the wider multidisciplinary team to ensure the best outcomes
• Delegation of clinical tasks to Allied Health Assistants
• Identifying service needs and contributing towards quality improvement initiatives
• Being involved in patient-centred discharge planning
• Mentoring and supervision of other colleagues within the wider Occupational Therapy service
• As part of the team, you will also contribute to the weekend roster on a regular basis

About You

Please note this role is open only to current staff of Health New Zealand. Please do not apply if you are not currently employed by Health New Zealand.

You will have a passion and desire to work in acute care within a team environment and want to grow and develop professionally as an occupational therapist.

You can expect to be well supported in your role. You will receive mentoring, supervision and professional development so that you can grow as an occupational therapist and progress in your career.

Your skills/ experience will include:

• Recent Clinical experience working within the acute hospital environment (Essential)
• Sound clinical assessment and problem-solving skills
• The ability to work autonomously and collaboratively, to develop positive interpersonal relationships, and work flexibly within the inter-disciplinary team, with a team player attitude
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong clinical reasoning skills and use of evidence informed practice
• Effective time management, organisational and prioritisation skills
• Experience with discharge planning
• A willingness to learn and to share your learning
• Registration with the NZ Occupational Therapy Board and current Annual Practicing Certificate
• Knowledge of te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori or a commitment to starting your journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth

Working for 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 view the position description and/or apply for the role please click “apply now.” All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal before 11:59pm on 16th Oct. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Recruitment Partner Courtney Bell at or Clinical Manager Bronwyn Suzana on