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Our Senior Leadership Team

Our leadership structure positions us so that we can grasp the opportunities for occupational therapy and for us as a membership body. We are focused on our members' needs, delivering on our strategic priorities and living our values. Here you can meet our Senior Leadership Team.

Steve Ford
Chief Executive

Steve Ford Profile

‘I love hearing OTs tell me about their work – and I now want everyone to hear about the impact of occupational therapy!’

Steve’s role is to help us all achieve our vision that people everywhere value the life-changing power of occupational therapy. So that’s about ensuring that together we deliver our new, exciting strategy and live up to our powerful values.

More about Steve

Steve has more than 30 years’ leadership experience in the health and social care sector and a strong record of transforming organisations both strategically and culturally.

Before joining RCOT, Steve was Chief Executive at Parkinson’s UK for 15 years. During that time, he led the charity through a time of significant growth, developing the services and support that are available to people affected by Parkinson’s, as well as building a new and innovative approach to research.

Steve enjoys playing tennis and watching sport, especially Chelsea, and loves spending time with his three young grandchildren. He also loves his smoker BBQ and will happily spend weekends experimenting with various recipes and techniques.

Karin Bishop
Director of Movement Building and Membership

Karin B Profile

‘Do your best every day, to make yourself proud.’

Karin’s role is to understand, grow and activate our membership, bringing our profession together into a powerful movement for change across the UK. Her focus is on creating a thriving membership body that builds communities and supports our members to be as effective as possible, individually, and collectively.

More about Karin

Trained in Cardiff, Karin is an occupational therapist who has worked predominantly with children. Much of her career was spent at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where she worked in various clinical and managerial roles across South London and the Southeast Thames region. Karin has worked in several different roles at RCOT, starting as the Consultancy Service manager, then leading the Professional Practice team and most recently as the Director of Professional Operations.

A good day for Karin would be a picnic by the river, watching her children attempt to paddleboard and a family meal out. Karin really enjoys cooking and seems to spend a disproportionate amount of time making celebratory cakes for family occasions.

Clare Cochrane
Director of Brand and Marketing

CCochrane Profile

‘I’m excited to be leading our work to make sure that occupational therapy is well-known and understood – let's show world the power of OT!’

Clare’s role is to transform awareness of occupational therapy, so it is recognised, understood and respected across the UK. Her focus is on building the profile of our profession, engaging a wide range of public and policy-influencing audiences with insight-led and creative approaches. 

More about Clare

Clare has significant leadership experience in all areas of brand, marketing and communications across a range of sectors and has a strong track record in helping professional bodies and membership associations to grow and transform. Before joining RCOT, Clare led the brand transformations for a number of organisations, developed marketing strategies that significantly raised awareness and grew membership numbers, and shaped and delivered several successful commercial and digital transformation programmes.    
 
In addition to being with family and friends, Clare enjoys spending time on Brighton beach and going to the cinema and theatre – particularly if she can watch something scary! She also loves a pub quiz.  

Karin Orman
Director of Practice and Innovation

KOrman Profile

‘I love being an occupational therapist. Supporting people to accept, adapt and achieve so they can make the most of life – who wouldn’t want to be an OT?’

Karin leads the Practice and Innovation team that ensures we and our profession have a strong voice and presence nationally and internationally. We’re working with members, external stakeholders and partners to strengthen the evidence base that shows the impact of occupational therapy; promote a culture of research and service innovation; and drive forward and support undergraduate education pathways to build a resilient and sustainable workforce.

More about Karin

Karin has worked at RCOT for over ten years in several roles, most recently heading up the Professional Practice team. Karin is a registered occupational therapist. Before joining the team at RCOT, she worked in mental health for 22 years in a variety of settings from inpatient to community-based services. Karin has also worked for the South East Strategic Health Authority and delivered training and supervision services as an independent practitioner.

Besides spending time with family and friends, Karin loves being outdoors. Whatever the weather or season, she enjoys walking in the countryside or swimming in local rivers and reservoir.  

Satvinder Reyatt
Director of People, Finance and Governance

Sat Profile

‘I’m passionate about the people agenda and firmly believe that people are the heartbeat of a successful organisation.’

Satvinder’s role is about driving a forward-looking, inclusive and values-led culture that enables our people to thrive. She intends to develop sector-leading culture initiatives, collaborative ways of working, learning opportunities and professional development that attract and retain the very best people. Her focus is to create a truly people-led and purposeful place to work.

More about Satvinder

Satvinder is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a qualified executive coach. With significant HR leadership experience in health and social care and higher education, Satvinder has successfully shaped, led and delivered strategic priorities such as major transformational change programmes. 

Satvinder loves cooking and enjoys yoga and travelling and exploring new cities and their cultures.

Rob Smyth
Director of Strategy, Technology and Transformation

RSmythe Profile Photo

‘We’re on an exciting journey and I am looking forward to working with everyone to help deliver a great experience for members and colleagues.’

Rob’s role will focus on delivering our strategy and helping transform the business to become an agile, membership-centred organisation with technology at its heart.

More about Rob

Rob has significant leadership experience in strategy delivery and business transformation. He was previously Executive Director of People, Digital & Change at Silva Homes, an independent, not-for-profit housing association operating across Southeast England. In this role, Rob led the Technology, HR, and Strategy & Change teams. He’s also been responsible for delivering a range of business transformation projects.  

Before that, Rob was Assistant Director at Dacorum Borough Council, where he focused on digital initiatives to improve the customer experience.