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Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust; Worthing; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Training opportunities

Living Wage Employer

Job summary

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an Advanced Speech and Language Therapist (Band 7) to lead the Coastal Adult SLT Team in Worthing and surrounding areas. The role blends clinical leadership with expert SLT care across inpatient and community settings.

As Clinical Lead, you will drive service development, governance, and workforce planning while supervising therapists and supporting professional development within a multidisciplinary environment.

Responsibilities

• Clinical Practice: Manage complex specialist caseload with advanced assessment and intervention.
• Leadership and Service Delivery: Lead Coastal SLT service delivery and supervise the team.
• Governance and Quality: Lead audits, risk management and service evaluation.
• People Management and Development: Provide line management and professional development.
• Operational Leadership: Deputise for Operational Team Lead and support KPIs and capacity planning.

Job description

Advanced Speech & Language Therapist | Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced and motivated Advanced Speech and Language Therapist (Band 7) to join our Adult SLT Service as Clinical Lead for the Coastal Team covering Worthing and surrounding towns and villages.

This is a dynamic leadership role where you will shape and deliver high-quality, patient-centred care across both inpatient and community settings, supporting patients in Worthing and surrounding areas. You will play a key role in driving service development, strengthening multidisciplinary working, and ensuring excellent clinical outcomes.

As a senior clinician, you will also deputise for the Operational Team Lead when required, contributing to operational oversight, service performance, and workforce development. This is an ideal opportunity for someone looking to combine strong clinical expertise with leadership and service improvement.

This is afull-time position, however we would be happy to considerpart-time hours.

This is a fantastic opportunity to take on a visible clinical leadership role within a supportive and forward-thinking service, where you can make a real difference to patient care and service development.

In this role, you will:

• Act as the Clinical Lead for the Coastal Adult SLT Team, providing specialist clinical guidance and leadership
• Deliver a highly specialist SLT service to adults with communication and swallowing disorders across acute and community settings
• Hold clinical responsibility for complex caseloads, ensuring evidence-based assessment, treatment, and outcome measurement
• Lead and support a multidisciplinary team, promoting collaborative, integrated care
• Support service development and transformation, identifying opportunities to improve patient pathways and experience
• Deputise for the Operational Team Lead in their absence, contributing to service delivery, workforce planning, and operational decision-making
• Provide clinical supervision, teaching, and mentorship to therapists, support staff, students and apprentices.
• Ensure effective governance, including audit, risk management, and quality improvement initiatives
• Monitor demand and capacity, ensuring safe, responsive, and sustainable service delivery

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?

• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staff
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

You will be responsible for delivering both clinical excellence and strong leadership, including:

Clinical Practice

• Manage and prioritise a complex specialist caseload, providing expert assessment and intervention
• Apply advanced clinical reasoning to support patients with complex communication and swallowing needs
• Act as an expert resource within the team and wider SLT service
• Ensure care is person-centred, evidence-based, and outcome-focused

Leadership and Service Delivery

• Lead the day-to-day clinical delivery of the Coastal SLT service
• Support the operational management of the team, including performance, workforce planning, and resource allocation
• Contribute to service transformation and innovation, aligning with Trust strategy
• Maintain strong working relationships with MDT colleagues and system partners

Governance and Quality

• Lead on clinical audit, risk management, and service evaluation
• Ensure adherence to Trust policies, professional standards, and regulatory requirements
• Contribute to data collection and analysis to inform service improvements

People Management and Development

• Provide line management and supervision to designated staff
• Support staff development through training, competency frameworks, and appraisal processes
• Promote a culture of learning, psychological safety, and continuous improvement

Operational Leadership

• Deputise for the Operational Team Lead as required
• Support delivery of key performance indicators (KPIs) and service objectives
• Contribute to managing demand, capacity, and service pressures effectively

This advert closes on Sunday 13 Sep 2026