Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

As a result of an internal secondment, we are looking for a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to join our established team working within mainstream schools in Central Beds and also within our pre-school complex needs team across Central Bedfordshire and Luton.
This is a fixed term post until the end of December 2027.
We need:
Confident, motivated and enthusiastic therapists.
Experience of working with children with a wide range of SLCN.
Someone looking to develop their clinical knowledge and skills.
You will:
Manage a caseload providing targeted, evidence-based assessment and therapy.
Work closely with colleagues in Health and education.
Participate in training to parents and other professionals around SLC needs.
Support junior staff within the service.
As a Service we provide:
A welcoming and supportive team.
Formal and informal training, including shadowing opportunities.
Regular robust clinical supervision and a mentoring system
Regular whole team in house CPD days as well as in service and external courses.
Collaborative working with system partners including 0-19 team, Community Paediatrics and education settings.
Reflective clinical forums and buddying systems.
Career development opportunities including clinical and professional development.
Please contact us if you are seeking permanent roles as we may have opportunities available
If there are high number of applications we reserve the right to close this vacancy after 04-05-2026, The post holder will provide specialist clinical input to children attending mainstream schools and pre-school children with complex needs.
Working as part of these teams, you will provide speech and language therapy support to children with a wide range of SLC needs including statutory provision.
You will provide training to enable parents and other professionals to support children's language and communication needs.

Working for our organisation
Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.
There's one reason why our services are outstanding - and that's our amazing staff - who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.
If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development., To independently identify, assess and diagnose speech, language and communication impairments and select appropriate patients and type of therapy for effective treatment.
To make a differential diagnosis based on evidence from assessment, and design appropriate treatment based on analysis of profile of need seeking advice as appropriate.
Be responsible for delivering specialist speech and language therapy input to school age children and pre-school children, covering a range of disorders of communication.
To provide training to enable parents and other professionals to support children's language and communication needs.
Make independent decisions about caseload management, including discharge.
To plan, organise and prioritise own workload, clinical and non-clinical.
To use clinical skills to generate appropriate strategies for caseload management for complex clinical issues.
Gain extensive clinical experience and expertise to improve and further develop specialist skills through training, support and study.
To have appropriate knowledge or an awareness of low tech AAC, for example picture exchange.
To have knowledge of and contribute to the EHCP process within the given timescales, including preparing reports with outcomes and targets for the initial report and for annual reviews as required.
To provide second opinions and shadowing opportunities for less experienced colleagues.
To seek out second opinions from more experience colleagues as required.
To make referrals onto specialist services as required, including Health, Education and / or Social Services.
To participate in the development and delivery of training (formal and informal) to others with and without support and reflect on and evaluate training provided.
To contribute to the support of newly and recently graduated SLT Staff.
To support and take part in the induction and training of new staff to the service.
Equal Opportunities - We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Disability Confident Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification). All sites are Smoke Free.
If you need this application in an offline format, please let us know.
Immigration Status - East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is a diverse employer and welcomes all job applications. However, potential applicants should note that although the Trust is registered with the Home Office as a sponsor organisation for migrant workers, sponsorship can only be offered against eligible roles. If you are an applicant from outside the UK and do not already hold a self-gained right to work, we recommend you check the Home Office eligibility requirements before making an application.
Please note: Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for some job roles, and this will be identified through filtering questions at the start of any job application on the Trac recruitment system.
Our safe recruitment pre-employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA.
Redeployment - Please note that in the first instance priority for this vacancy will be given to staff who are on the Trusts Redeployment Register.
Closing and Interview Dates -This vacancy may close early if sufficient applicants are received.
Data Protection - A privacy notice detailing how we will handle your data is attached to this advert as a document. Your application will be transferred to our recruitment management system (Trac) once the advert has closed and you will receive notification then detailing how Trac will handle your data.
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Our safe recruitment pre-employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA.
In submitting an application, you authorise East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed.
ALL CORRESPONDENCE will be via the e-mail address on your application form. If you have not been invited to interview within 2 weeks of the closing date, you unfortunately haven't been successful on this occasion, but keep an eye on our vacancies as a job that's just right for you may appear!

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust delivers expert healthcare in people's homes, community hospitals and local settings across the East of England.
Our nurses, therapists, clinicians, support teams and partners work together to provide coordinated care that supports independence, recovery and wellbeing. We believe people are best cared for close to home, in the communities where they live and belong.
By combining professional expertise with strong local relationships, we help people stay well, feel supported and access the right care at the right time. Expert healthcare, close to home, trusted by our communities.
Different ideas, experiences and backgrounds make us stronger and more creative and applications from all walks of life are welcomed. Our processes ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.
East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is committed to creating a modern and inclusive work environment. We actively promote flexible working opportunities where possible to meet the needs and wishes of our workforce and maintain and improve their wellbeing. We also offer flexible working patterns and we would encourage you to discuss this with the recruiting manager before or during the application process if this would interest you.
We welcome applications from people who share our values and can help us deliver outstanding care in our local community.