Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Band 7 FTC Oct 2026

Integrated Care System; Tadworth; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading charity specializing in rehabilitation for children with acquired brain injury seeks a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. This role focuses on providing high-quality, evidence-based therapy, developing individualized care plans, and contributing to an integrated multidisciplinary service for children with complex communication needs.

Benefits

Adoption pay

Enhanced paternity leave

Time off for gender reassignment

Additional annual leave for long service

On-site parking

Subsidised cafeteria

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years clinical experience post basic qualification.
• Two years working in Dysphagia and/or tracheostomy care.
• Experience managing children and families.

Responsibilities

• Provide evidence-based speech and language therapy for children and young people.
• Support multidisciplinary team collaboration and training.
• Conduct assessments and develop individualized intervention plans.

Skills

Assessment of speech and language

Dysphagia management

Advanced communication skills

Clinical reasoning

Leadership and team management

Education

RCSLT recognised degree or postgraduate diploma in Speech and Language Therapy

HCPC registration

Tracheostomy Competency

Job description

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Band 7 FTC Oct 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to provide high quality evidence-based speech and language therapy, which promotes the participation, function and safe care of children and young people accessing The Childrens Trust.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to provide high quality evidence-based speech and language therapy, which promotes the participation, function and safe care of children and young people accessing The Childrens Trust.

Your aim is to deliver child and family focused goal led interventions supporting those with speech, language and communication needs and to those with dysphagia needs.To support the service for those children and young people with tracheostomies, within the limits of skills and competencies.

You will also support our Multidisciplinary Team, delivering training

About us

About Us

The Childrens Trust isthe UKs leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providingexpert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialistcentre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via ourBrain Injury Community Service.

Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, weare located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of:Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.

The work we do ishighly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuablerange of benefits, including, adoption pay, time off for fertility treatment,enhanced paternity leave, paid carers leave, time out days for thoseexperiencing menopause symptoms, time off for gender reassignment.

We also offeradditional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlementsranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your lengthof service.

Other benefits includefree on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton trainstations to Tadworth Court, subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation(subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (whereapplicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and theopportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborativeenvironment.

Job responsibilities

ClinicalSkills and Responsibilities:

o Support the provision of high quality,evidence informed speech and language therapy assessments and interventions forchildren and young people attending The Childrens Trust, in partnership withother members of the multi-disciplinary team.

o Devise suitable, individual, plans thatfit within the childs daily routine, whether to be carried out by therapists,parents or members of the Multidisciplinary team; these should be monitored,evaluated and adjusted appropriately according to the needs of the child.

o Facilitate involvement of family andcarers in the rehabilitation process, including day-to-day activities, and thehanding over of practical skills and care.

o Be an autonomous practitioner withresponsibility for assessment, treatment and planning for an allocated caseloadof children/young people. Work closely with all members of theMultidisciplinary team, as well as the child and family, to provide a fullyintegrated approach to the overall management of the child. This will includeany home/school visits, professional child related meetings and / orappointments, as required.

o Liaise with all appropriate medicalstaff, whether employed by The Childrens Trust, visiting consultants or atoff-site clinics, and attend clinics with the child as required.

o Contribute to the assessment anddiscussion of new referrals to The Childrens Trust, carrying out on virtualand off-site referral assessments around the United Kingdom, as required.

o Contribute to child related reports,including looked after children and annual review reports as required, andassist with the collation of these as and when required, in a timely manner andin line with organisational targets.

o Utilise patient reported andstandardised outcome measures for each allocated child/young person andcomplete in a timely manner.

o Assess, evaluate, and recommenddischarge/transition plans for children/young people within themultidisciplinary team framework.

o Provide clinical cover across theservice during episodes of staff shortage/heavy workload, in order to ensureeffective service delivery.

o Work flexibly in terms of hours, inorder to meet the needs of the service, including an early evening (maximum oneper week) and weekend day (maximum one per month).

o Represent the Therapy Team and TheChildrens Trust when appropriate, deputising for the Head of Therapy -Rehabilitation, as required.

o Actively participate in and support therunning of relevant meetings.

o To undertake other or additional dutiesthat are within your skills and abilities, as the organisation may reasonablyrequire from time to time.

Communication:

o Facilitates effective communication withfamilies and members of the multidisciplinary team, supporting others to embedthe advice regarding management of needs around communication and eating anddrinking and tracheostomy care.

o Recognises barriers to communication and be able to reducethese as appropriate.

o Communicates regularly and effectivelywith the Heads of Therapy.

o Maintains clear and concise documentsand records, in accordance with The Childrens Trust Policy.

o Ensures documents are managedconfidentially at all times.

o Use a range of advanced communicationskills, to share specialised information and discussions with a range ofaudiences, with different levels of knowledge and expertise.

o Attend, contribute and chairMultidisciplinary Team meetings, to discuss individual children/ young people.

o Develop and promote relationships withexternal networks, including professionals, stakeholders and specialistcentres, in order to ensure excellence of care, whilst representing theorganisation and reflecting The Childrens Trust core values.

o Manage informal complaints, in line withThe Childrens Trust polices and contribute to the resolution of writtencomplaints and as they occur, taking immediate action where necessary.

Managementof Self and Others:

o Working alongside the Heads of Therapyto develop the speech and language therapy contribution to the rehabilitationservice.

o Participate in the overall day-to-daymanagement and development of the Speech and Language Therapy Service, toensure an efficient and safe service for all.

o Provide day-to-day leadership, supportand supervision for junior staff, technicians, volunteers and students, withinarea of responsibility, providing direction, motivation and support to achievekey objectives.

o Represent the Therapy Team on behalf ofthe Head of Therapies for Rehabilitation, when requested.

o Take on the role of Lead Professional orCoordinating Therapist, following team discussion or as requested by the Headof Therapy, in accordance with the current profile description.

o Participate in the annual PerformanceDevelopment Review and monthly supervision sessions, as required by TheChildrens Trust, both as Appraiser and Appraise.

o Advise the Head of Therapy, regardingresources and equipment needs, including shortfalls.

o Manage time effectively, prioritisingand delegating work, as required.

o Assess needs, decide priorities andorganise, monitor and evaluate the provision of an efficient and effectiveTherapy service, in liaison with the Head of Therapy.

Governance:

o Read and implements all policies,procedures and risk assessments, pertinent to working practice and keeps up todate with policy changes as they occur.

o Critically evaluate new interventionmethods and implement where appropriate.

o Critically evaluate practice throughclinical audits and by appraisal of the information gained, in combination withcurrent knowledge of evidence-based practice; identify opportunities forservice improvement and development.

o Recognise and critically appraisesituations where the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of the service arecompromised and take appropriate action to resolve the situation.

o Critically reflect on own performanceand that of other staff; use this evaluation to enhance the effectiveness,efficiency and quality of future practice.

o Actively participates in local clinicalgovernance activities.

o Undergo The Childrens Trust RiskAssessor training, to ensure that all activities are risk assessed anddocumented in the most appropriate format. Ensure that detailed riskassessments are completed, as required.

CareerLong Learning, Education and Research:

o Undertake all mandatory training, inline with The Childrens Trust policies.

o Independently advance personalknowledge, understanding and skills, in line with identified learning needs, bymaking appropriate use of a variety of learning and development resources andopportunities, e.g. by attending courses/ lectures, contact and involvementwith relevant special interest groups, and/ or visiting other departments.

o Develop and deliver external trainingcourses in area of specialism, where potential demand is identified.

o Disseminate and ensure the embedding ofrelevant new practice, through attendance at and contributing to in-serviceeducation, Literature Reviews, mentoring and shared sessions.

o Record outcomes of learning activities,in a format that reflects personal preferences and professional requirement, inline with the RCSLT competencies.

o Take an active part in the training ofjunior colleagues and lead the development of Reflective Practice in others.

o Participates in in-service competencytraining programmes and teaching sessions, as appropriate.

o Continuously updates knowledge of theexternal environment and highlights any issues that will impact upon existingpolicies and procedures.

o Participates in in-service competencytraining programmes and teaching sessions, as appropriate.

Limitsof Authority and Problem Solving:

o In addition to The Childrens Trustpolicies, the Specialist Speech and Language Therapist is governed by, andshould adhere to, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Standards ofProficiency for speech and language therapists and the Royal College of Speechand Language Therapists Quality Assurance Standards.

o Make day-to-day decisions regardingspeech and language requirements for children and young people, based on caseload, including recommendations for specialist equipment.

o Responsible for day-to-day timemanagement and prioritisation of workload, taking into account the needs of thewhole service.

o Monthly formal supervision.

o Provides formal supervision monthly tojunior Speech and Language Therapists and/or Multidisciplinary Technicians.

o Contribute to the strategic planningregarding dysphagia and tracheostomy care within The Childrens Trust.

o Deputises for the Head of Therapy forRehabilitation as required.

o Support recruitment processes, asrequested by the Head of Therapy.

Professionalism

o Takes action and raises concerns.

o Adhere to the policies and procedures ofThe Childrens Trust.

o Maintainprofessional boundaries and professionalism at all times.

o Committed todemonstrating the organisations values and behaviours at all times.

Healthand Safety

o Adheres to all Health and Safetyguidelines, principles, and regulations to perform your role and comply withThe Childrens Trust policies and procedures.

o Provide evidence of all vaccinations (ormedical exemption) required for the post.

o Adhere to manual handling procedures andcomplete mandatory manual handling training.

o Promotes the health and safety ofothers.

o Uses the incident reporting and riskassessment system (IRAR), to identify and report risks and incidents/actions ifdirected.

o Responsible for identifying andmitigating risk within the work environment.

Wellbeingand Emotional Resilience

o Maintains a positive approach andoutlook when dealing with change and overcoming challenges and problems.

o Recognises own limitations, developsrealistic goals, and uses support network resource when or if necessary.

o Treats challenges and problems as alearning experience.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• RCSLT recognised degree or postgraduate diploma in Speech and Language Therapy
• HCPC registration
• Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy
• Evidence of successful completion of specialist courses e.g. Advanced Dysphagia or Tracheostomy management
• Dysphagia competency to Level C (RCSLT Competencies)
• Willing to participate in any relevant training identified to develop skills required to carry out duties including extended role activities
• Maintains a portfolio of CPD in line with regulatory body standards
• Tracheostomy Competency - trained to meet Core Competencies and Paediatric competencies (RCSLT)

Experience

• Minimum of five years clinical experience post basic qualification
• Minimum clinical experience of two years working in Dysphagia and/ or tracheostomy care
• Experience in any one or a combination of the following; Neuro rehabilitation; adults or paediatric and Children or adults with complex medical needs.
• Competent and experienced in managing Children and/or adults with dysphagia
• Worked within a multidisciplinary team
• Competent and experienced in managing Children and/or adults. with tracheostomies
• Worked with children and families
• Experience of service development and quality improvement

Skills & Abilities

• Assessment of speech, language, communication, and ability to devise and carry out intervention plans
• Assessment of dysphagia and ability to devise and manage relevant eating and drinking plans
• Ability to meet the physical demands of a speech and language therapy
• Professional integrity, particularly in clinical governance
• Commitment to working flexibly to meet the needs of the service
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills
• Analytical and creative problem-solving skills in unpredictable situations, synthesising a variety of evidence and presenting this in a relevant format e.g. report; presentation
• Workload management including delegation of tasks and day-to-day team leadership
• Advanced verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex or potentially distressing information to parents/carers and managing conflict when appropriate
• Reflective practice skills able to give clear and effective feedback and support others to develop
• Develop and lead clinical audit within specialist clinical area

Personal Qualities

• Commitment to the vision and values of The Childrens Trust.
• Flexible and can do attitude to competing commitments in workload.
• Highly motivated and reliable.
• Ability to cope working in a demanding environment.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of dysphagia assessment and management
• Knowledge of current research, clinical audit and service evaluation methods
• Clinical assessment and intervention skills relevant to children and/or adults people with neuro-disability
• Clinical reasoning skills in predictable situations, analysing a variety of evidence and presenting this in a relevant format e.g. report; presentation
• Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding children and young people with complex disabilities
• Commitment to the vision and values of The Childrens Trust
• Highly motivated and reliable
• Understanding of physical, communication, behavioural and emotional changes after acquired brain injury (ABI)
• Knowledge of tracheostomy impact on speaking; secretions and swallowing; and knowledge of management of tracheostomy care and weaning

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£52,401 to £59,129 a year(dependent upon experience)