Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; Chadwell St Mary; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A community-focused healthcare organization in the UK is looking for a speech and language therapist to provide services to children in various settings. This role promises a flexible working environment and opportunities for professional development. Ideal candidates are those with a recognized qualification in speech and language therapy and relevant experience in the field. Join a diverse and supportive team dedicated to improving children's communication skills.

Benefits

Employee assistance programme

Health and wellbeing support

Flexible working opportunities

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

Qualifications

• Registered with the appropriate professional body.
• Knowledge of formal and informal assessments and therapeutic interventions.
• Significant relevant experience working with clients who have speech, language, and communication needs.

Responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive Speech and Language Therapy Service.
• Organise and prioritise workload effectively.
• Deliver training and support for parents and education staff.
• Participate in multidisciplinary support for clients.

Skills

Excellent interpersonal skills

Observation skills

Listening skills

Empathy

Education

Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification

Job description

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

Are you a qualified speech and language therapist seeking a new role?

At NELFT, we have the perfect opportunity for you. And we flex to suit you, let us know if we can accommodate a flexible working arrangement to suit your personal circumstances.

We are looking for a speech and language therapist to join our diverse Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Team in the London borough of Redbridge. Redbridge is a great place to live and work - a thriving community with an abundance of amenities and good transport links. You can find out more about the area and the services that we provide to local residents on our careers website – .

You will be working as part of a friendly, diverse and supportive team to provide a service for children presenting with a range of speech, language, communication and feeding difficulties within pre‑school settings, community clinics and schools. As part of your role, you will provide assessments as well as delivering intervention and training to upskill parents, carers and education staff. You will have lots of opportunities to develop and specialise in a number of areas relating to the caseload, including Autism and AAC.

This post will ideally suit an established Band 5 speech and language therapist looking for a new challenge or an experienced Band 6 speech and language therapist ready to diversify their career.

Main duties of the job

Speech and Language Therapists are core to the efficient service delivery that we provide to our patients.

As a Speech and Language Therapist in our Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Team, you will deliver care to service users in the community, clinics and education settings.

The main responsibilities of the post

• To provide a comprehensive Speech and Language Therapy Service to clients referred with social communication needs and speech and language disorders in a range of settings such as schools, community clinics and the child development centre to include assessment, diagnoses and treatment.
• To be responsible for organising and prioritising own workload in the day‑to‑day allocation of work.
• To deputise when required in the team manager’s absence and delegate appropriately to junior colleagues.
• To contribute to multidisciplinary support for clients with a range of speech, language and communication difficulties.
• To provide feedback and advice to parents / carers, family members, and members of the multidisciplinary team regarding communication needs and strategies to facilitate development.
• To develop and deliver training and support packages.
• To regularly attend supervision and commit to the supervision process as a means for developing reflective and clinical decision‑making skills.

Working for our organisation

Our Values 2025 - 2030

Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co‑produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.

They are :

• We are kind.
• We are respectful.
• We work together with our communities.

These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.

Starting with NELFT

NELFT places a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop‑in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period.

High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points‑based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High‑Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.

Use of AI

Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent and professional registration.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of formal and informal assessments and therapeutic interventions.

Experience

• Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy.
• Significant relevant experience at undergraduate/postgraduate level working with clients who have a range of speech, language and communication needs.

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy.

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT :

• A long‑standing and award‑winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long‑term / chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work‑life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.