Lead Occupational Therapist - Paediatrics & Therapy Assistance

Why LaunchPod?

LaunchPod is growing, and we’re building something genuinely different. Through in-home Therapy Assistance, our developing Occupational Therapy service and playful Online Social Skills programs, including Minecraft, we help neurodivergent children build confidence, connection and everyday life skills in ways that feel meaningful to them.

Our Therapy Assistants work one-to-one with children in their homes, bringing individually tailored strategies into everyday life under appropriate clinical guidance.

We currently support approximately 100 children each week across our Therapy Assistance and Online Social Skills services. Therapy Assistance is delivered across Perth and the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, while our Online Social Skills sessions connect participants from around Australia. You’ll be joining an established service with a meaningful reach and plenty of opportunity to help us make it even stronger.

Relationships are at the heart of everything we do. We bring fun and passion to our work, walk alongside families with compassion and hope, treat people with honour, care about the everyday details that make a real difference, and stay curious enough to keep learning and trying new ideas.

Joining LaunchPod at this stage gives you the chance to use your senior experience across mentoring, assessment, program development, report writing and direct OT work. Your contribution will make a difference not only to individual children and families, but also to the Therapy Assistants supporting them week after week.

The opportunity

This is a senior clinical role with genuine influence - and an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of LaunchPod.

As our Lead Occupational Therapist, you’ll be LaunchPod’s senior OT and the overall clinical lead for Therapy Assistance, drawing on discipline-specific clinicians whenever their expertise is needed. You’ll combine clinical leadership with meaningful participant work. Your main focus will be Therapy Assistance and Occupational Therapy, with input into Online Social Skills where your expertise is relevant.

You’ll also be a permanent member of LaunchPod’s Clinical Governance Committee, working alongside our Clinical Governance Advisors for Speech Pathology and Early Childhood Intervention. You’ll bring an occupational therapy perspective to clinical quality, emerging risks and practical service improvement.

Working closely with the Managing Director, you’ll progressively assume day-to-day clinical leadership for Therapy Assistance and help develop our Occupational Therapy service, keeping quality, relationships and meaningful outcomes at the centre.

Although much of the role is home-based, it is highly connected. You’ll collaborate closely with Therapy Assistants, Clinical Governance Advisors, our administration team, children, families and the other clinicians involved in their support.

A varied clinical week

At 0.4 FTE, this role gives you the opportunity to draw on the full breadth of your senior experience. We anticipate an indicative starting split of around four hours across clinical leadership, supervision and service development, with the remaining 11.2 hours focused on participant-specific Therapy Assistance and Occupational Therapy work.

You’ll move between big-picture clinical thinking and work that makes an immediate, practical difference - whether that means helping a Therapy Assistant feel confident, making sense of a child’s needs or turning assessment findings into support that works in everyday life.

As the Occupational Therapy caseload grows, participant-specific time will naturally include more direct and ongoing OT appointments. The balance is indicative and will evolve with participant needs and LaunchPod’s services.

Where you’ll make a difference

• Serve as LaunchPod’s senior clinical lead for Therapy Assistance, mentoring and supervising TAs with clear delegation and discipline-specific guidance so they can work confidently, safely, and responsively with each child.
• Lead Therapy Assistance work from initial consultations and assessments through to implementation plans, reviews, participant-specific guidance and reporting.
• Deliver Occupational Therapy consultations, assessments, Functional Capacity Assessments, reports and intervention, with direct OT work increasing as the caseload grows.
• Bring practical OT insight to the Clinical Governance Committee and help LaunchPod respond thoughtfully to complex situations, clinical concerns and opportunities to improve.
• Work closely with families, Therapy Assistants and other clinicians, respecting professional boundaries and drawing on discipline-specific expertise when needed.
• Help strengthen and grow Therapy Assistance and Occupational Therapy while keeping relationships, quality and meaningful outcomes at the heart of the work.

This is primarily a clinical leadership role, allowing you to focus on excellent practice, supervision and participant outcomes while scheduling and formal employment decisions remain with the Managing Director or the operational team.

About you

You’re an experienced paediatric OT who still enjoys meaningful clinical work but is ready to use your experience in broader ways. You get real satisfaction from helping others grow, making sense of complex situations and turning clinical thinking into clear, practical support.

Just as importantly, you’re relational. You enjoy working with people, take the time to build trust and value genuine collaboration. Fun is part of LaunchPod’s DNA, so you’ll enjoy bringing energy, playfulness and joy to the team and to your work with participants and families.

You’ll bring:

• A recognised occupational therapy qualification and current general registration with AHPRA.
• Substantial paediatric OT experience. Around five years or more may be a useful guide, but your capability, clinical maturity and fit for the role matter more than a precise number.
• A genuinely child- and family-centred, neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-focused approach.
• A strong working knowledge of the NDIS and experience completing high-quality Functional Capacity Assessments, clinical documentation and reports that are evidence-based, clear and genuinely useful.
• Natural and encouraging leadership qualities. You don’t need to have held a formal leadership title, but you’ll enjoy clinically supervising Therapy Assistants, delegating appropriate activities, helping others grow and working collaboratively with colleagues.
• The ability to communicate clearly and warmly with children, families and professionals, whether you’re in a meeting, writing a report or connecting through telehealth.
• Confidence working autonomously from home while remaining an active and connected member of a collaborative team.

It would be an added bonus if you have experience:

• Serving in a clinical leadership, senior clinical or service development role.
• Developing or improving Therapy Assistance programs, supervision approaches or multidisciplinary services.
• Supporting geographically dispersed teams and participants through telehealth.
• Using play, technology or online environments to engage children.

Before commencing, you’ll need full Australian working rights and the relevant NDIS Worker Screening and child-safety checks, or the ability to obtain them. You’ll also need reliable internet, a suitable confidential workspace, a current driver’s licence and capacity for agreed participant-related travel.

How to apply

If you’re reading this and thinking, “This sounds like me,” we’d love to hear from you!

You can apply directly through SEEK or email your CV and a brief cover letter to Ruan Van der Merwe, Managing Director, at ***email_hidden***. Tell us what draws you to the role and how you’d like to use your experience at LaunchPod.

If you’d like a confidential conversation before applying, or would like to find out more about the role, you’re welcome to email Ruan directly.

Applications close Sunday, 6 September 2026.

To view the full position description, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N1yLlV5U0pQpraVBq4IpeCk3i_gTug26/view?usp=sharing