Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Join our North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust community team as a Band 7 Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and utilise your skills to develop our Neurodevelopmental Pathway. The closing date is 14 July 2026.

This rewarding leadership role offers you a direct route to funded, formal qualification in gold standard assessment tools, including full certification in both ADOS-2 and ADI-R.

Working alongside a dedicated team of paediatricians, speech and language therapists, and specialist nurses, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our diagnostic service by participating in a new project to create joint assessment clinics with CYPMHS colleagues and building relationships with colleagues in educational settings.

In this position, you will participate in complex autism assessments for children and young people, utilising your advanced clinical reasoning to provide accurate differential diagnoses as part of a team.

We are looking for a practitioner with current HCPC registration and RCSLT membership who possesses a deep passion for neuro affirming practice. You should bring advanced skills in evaluating complex communication needs, paired with the confidence to make collaborative clinical decisions within a fast paced MDT environment.

In return, we offer a competitive NHS Band 7 salary, comprehensive pension benefits, generous annual leave, structured clinical supervision, and flexible working options to support your work life balance.

To complete social communication assessments as part of the Neurodevelopmental assessment pathway, contribute to MDT discussions to make decisions about possible diagnosis, write reports with advice, and signpost to appropriate support.

• Assess and diagnose within the highly specialist clinical area.
• Produce detailed reports reflecting specialist knowledge regarding patients' needs and summarise proposed treatment plans.
• Contribute to legal documents such as Education, Health and Care Plans, annual reviews, and individual education plans.
• Demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and outcome measures.
• Adapt practice to meet individual patients' circumstances, including due regard for cultural and linguistic differences.
• Maintain up to date and accurate case notes in line with RCSLT professional standards and local trust policies.
• Share information with carers and other professionals, observing data protection guidelines.
• Communicate complex information from specialist assessment to patients, carers, and other professionals.
• Demonstrate empathy, manage conflict, and respond sensitively to challenging or distressing situations.
• Provide specialist assessment and advice on optimising the patient's communication environment.
• Provide supervision and specialist advice, support and second opinions for therapists and other professionals.
• Manage complex caseloads independently and discharge appropriately, informing other professionals.
• Gather statistical data punctually and participate in departmental research and audit projects.
• Identify personal and professional development in a Personal Development Plan and engage in appraisals.
• Attend specialist short courses and advanced training to maintain skills and update HCPC and RCSLT registration.
• Develop and deliver specialist training to others in the area of clinical expertise.
• Provide full student placements, including assessment of the placements.
• Lead service/policy developments as appropriate and advise line manager on clinical issues of service delivery.
• Monitor and evaluate own specialist service delivery, provide progress reports, and maintain professional accountability.

• Demonstrable experience assessing children/young people with social communication difficulties.
• Experience of managing large caseloads, prioritisation, and planning workloads.
• Experience of monitoring service outcomes.

• Ability to travel independently across Bridgewater Trust.
• Ability to work flexibly in accordance with service needs, including occasional evenings.

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy degree qualification or equivalent.
• Health Care Professions Council registration.
• RCSLT licence to practice and membership of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Membership of relevant Clinical Excellence Networks.
• Evidence of additional training and continuing professional development in specialist area (e.g., AODS/ADI training).

• Knowledge of the Code of Practice and principles of clinical governance/audit.
• Previous experience of NHS IT systems.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening, empathy.
• Negotiation and problem solving skills.
• Good analytical, presentation, and written communication skills.
• Good organisational skills and auditory skills to transcribe speech phonetically.
• Ability to be a good team member and apply expert assessment tools.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check to verify no previous criminal convictions.

North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all sections of society.

Unfortunately, we do not hold a sponsor licence for working visas.