Technical Instructor
At a glance
- Band
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Pattern
- Full-time
- Posted
- 18/09/2026
- Closes
- 04/10/2026
Sponsorship verdict
This advert explicitly states that sponsorship is not offered.
The source advert contains explicit wording ruling out sponsorship for this specific role. Consider other live roles at the same band from sponsorship-friendly trusts.
Role summary
This role is for a Band 4 Technical Instructor at Wathwood Hospital, joining the occupational therapy team on The Lodges ward. The primary responsibility is to provide a catering service to patients and support them in developing catering and independent living skills. The role involves menu planning, allergen awareness, food hygiene, and facilitating therapeutic activities within a secure mental health setting. It operates on a 7-day service with two shift patterns: production kitchen and 9-5 activity support.
Essential criteria
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation
- Physical Requirements
- Ability to undertake relevant mandatory training and engage in the management of violence and aggression
- Occasional requirement to exert moderate physical effort throughout the period of work to respond to incidents
- GCSE/GCE English Language and Maths or equivalent
- Catering qualification i.e. City & Guilds 706/1/2 or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Food hygiene qualification
- Training
- Training specific to the area of expertise (catering or vocational areas)
- Willingness to complete and engage in further training appropriate to the area of expertise
- Training specific to mental health care
- Experience of working in a catering environment
- Experience of organising and facilitating group and individual patient sessions
- Experience of daily organisation and planning of practical tasks with others to deliver a service
- Experience and understanding of working in a team setting and communicating with a range of other colleagues and services
- Experience of working in forensic mental health/learning disability settings
- Experience of working in Occupational Therapy teams
- Experience of providing skill specific supervision and training to colleagues
- Experience of developing services
- Experience of working within a food safety management system (HACCP)
- Knowledge of catering environments
- Understanding of the purpose of rehabilitation, recovery and occupational therapy
- Knowledge of health and safety within the workplace and patient clinical risk issues
- Awareness of confidentiality and professional boundaries in a healthcare setting
- Understanding of Wathwood Hospital medium secure unit and its purpose
- Knowledge and awareness of special diets and allergens
- Ability to demonstrate a non-judgmental and positive attitude towards working with mentally disordered offenders
- Ability to motivate others
- Ability to work independently and prioritise own workload
- Ability to work effectively without direct supervision
- Good verbal and written communication and ability to communicate in a range of forms
- Good IT skills to enable effective delivery of services
- Ability to identify risk in a catering/kitchen setting and adhere to relevant policy and procedure
- Other skills relevant to the post
- Contractual Requirements
- Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service
- Requirement to work occasional evenings, weekends and bank holidays on a rotational basis
- Values and Behaviours
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation
- Physical Requirements
- Ability to undertake relevant mandatory training and engage in the management of violence and aggression
- Occasional requirement to exert moderate physical effort throughout the period of work to respond to incidents
- GCSE/GCE English Language and Maths or equivalent
- Catering qualification i.e. City & Guilds 706/1/2 or equivalent
- Food hygiene qualification
- Training
- Training specific to the area of expertise (catering or vocational areas)
- Willingness to complete and engage in further training appropriate to the area of expertise
- Training specific to mental health care
- Experience of working in a catering environment
- Experience of organising and facilitating group and individual patient sessions
- Experience of daily organisation and planning of practical tasks with others to deliver a service
- Experience and understanding of working in a team setting and communicating with a range of other colleagues and services
- Experience of working in forensic mental health/learning disability settings
- Experience of working in Occupational Therapy teams
- Experience of providing skill specific supervision and training to colleagues
- Experience of developing services
- Experience of working within a food safety management system (HACCP)
- Knowledge of catering environments
- Understanding of the purpose of rehabilitation, recovery and occupational therapy
- Knowledge of health and safety within the workplace an
Useful to know
Agenda for Change 2024/25 pays Band 4 at £26,530 – £29,114 a year, across England.
This advert: £28,392 – £31,157 — outside the standard scale; check for HCAS/London weighting.
Posted 1d ago · Closes in 16d
Plenty of time to prepare a strong application.
Full advert · preview
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Technical Instructor
The closing date is 04 October 2026
Job summary
We have a very exciting opportunity available for a band 4 technical instructor at Wathwood Hospital! We are looking for a motivated individual to join the occupational therapy team, based on The Lodges ward.
This unique role provides a catering service to patients at The Lodges and support patients with developing their skills regarding catering and independent living. The Lodges is a 22-bed ward. The technical instructor team at The Lodges provides a 7-day service where the role caters for up to 10 patients.
You must have relevant catering qualification or equivalent experience and application of this in the workplace. You must have awareness of food safety in the workplace.
The occupational therapy service is well established and provides a comprehensive range of interventions to promote rehabilitation and mental health recovery. The hospital has excellent facilities for patients and provides a wide range of leisure, sport, craft, vocational and educational opportunities. There is also a large horticulture area which provides great links with the local community.
Wathwood Hospital is a purpose-built, 78 bed adult, male, medium secure hospital in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Main duties of the job
To support the catering provision on The L
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