Job summary
Children's Speech and Language Manager - Eating/Drinking Lead

Are you passionate about shaping outstanding services for children and young people with complex needs? Do you want the opportunity to combine specialist clinical expertise with service leadership and innovation? If so, this could be the perfect next step in your career.

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Speech and Language Therapist to take on a newly established leadership role as our Eating, Drinking and Complex Needs Lead. This is a unique opportunity to influence the future direction of specialist service provision, developing and embedding pathways that support excellent outcomes for children and families. As a brand-new post, you will have the freedom to help design, develop and shape this specialist area of practice.

Our Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service is a close-knit, welcoming team of skilled clinicians providing health-funded support to children and young people across home, clinic and community environments. We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality, family-centred care and fostering a culture that values collaboration, professional curiosity and clinical excellence.

The post is based within our purpose-built Child Development Centre, where you will work alongside an experienced multidisciplinary team committed to improving outcomes for children and families. The location offers excellent transport links and easy access to both Surrey and central London.

INTERVIEW DATE TBC

Main duties of the job

• Croydon's Children's Speech and Language Therapy team has two Band 8A Management posts. Each post leads on different areas of clinical specialism with joint responsibility for the overall management of the SLT service.
• You will take overall responsibility to developing the service provision in the following clinical specialisms: Eating and Drinking, Complex Needs and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) service.
• You will be jointly responsible for the day to day running of the Children's speech and language Therapy team alongside the SLT Therapy Manager responsible for the Early Years, Stammering & Deaf Service.
• You will be responsible for jointly delivering the teams KPIs and performance targets with support from the Head of Children's Therapies.
• You will provide clinical support, supervision and line management of the speech and language therapy team in your designated areas of specialism
• You will be responsible for ensuring high quality, evidence-based therapy pathways are in place with appropriate outcome measures in your designated areas of specialism.
• You will be jointly responsible for ensuring that clinical audit, staff development and quality improvement becomes truly embedded within the service and part of daily clinical practice.
• You will provide high quality assessment and treatment to CYP within a defined clinical caseload.

About us
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust provides hospital and community services across Croydon through a range of clinics and specialist centres. Formed in August 2010 from the integration of Croydon Community Health Services and Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust, we employ around 4,100 staff serving a diverse population of over 360,000 people.

Our main site, Croydon University Hospital, is one of the busiest in London. We are also leading the way in delivering more healthcare in community settings and people's homes. Our district nursing teams, Allied Health Professionals and community matrons care for people of all ages across the borough.

Like the wider NHS, we are working hard to meet increasing demand. With the right people on board, we continue to innovate and transform our services to provide the highest quality care for local residents. We place strong emphasis on education, training and career development for all staff.

If you want to make a real difference, challenge yourself and be part of a Trust that's shaping local healthcare, Croydon Health Services could be the place for you.

Details
Date posted: 14 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £63,665 to £70,887 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 199-8084977-NP
Job locations: Crystal Child Development Centre, Malling Close, Croydon, CR0 7YD, United Kingdom

Person Specification
Education & qualifications
Essential

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy qualification
• Master's or equivalent level of training or relevant work experience
• HCPC SLT Registration
• Postgraduate training to support infants with eating and drinking difficulties under the age of one
• Evidence of successful completion of specialist SLT short courses

Desirable

• Training in word processing, databases and computer presentation packages

Experience & Skills
Essential

• Experience of managing a paediatric caseload to a clinically competent standard
• Significant, relevant post-qualification experience of managing children with dysphagia needs
• Significant, relevant post-qualification experience of assessing and treatment of children with complex special needs and AAC needs
• Working with parents/carers/teachers in different settings and using a range of approaches
• Multi-disciplinary working and skill-sharing
• Autonomously managing a caseload
• Experience of clinical supervision and appraisals
• Experience of high-quality service development initiatives and clinical audits
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including observation, listening and empathy skills
• Excellent time and workload management skills
• Excellent presentation skills, both written and verbal
• Excellence leadership and team player skills
• Ability to be assertive, adaptable and use initiative
• Ability to successfully manage change
• Able to work on team core day

Desirable

• Experience of developing clinical pathways and protocols
• Managing staff, including performance management and change management
• Broad clinical experience in paediatric settings
• Experience of Interagency working

Knowledge
Essential

• Knowledge of a range of evidence-based intervention approaches and outcome measures with a paediatric caseload
• Knowledge of frameworks for delivering speech and language therapy training to others
• A good understanding of the current evidence-based intervention within children's SLT and best practice outcome measures
• In-depth knowledge of national policies, legislation and procedures in relation to children, young people and families
• A good understanding of clinical governance and measuring effectiveness
• A good understanding of Complex Needs assessment tools for babies and children
• A good understanding of bilingualism and multicultural issues
• Knowledge of AAC systems and assessment tools

Desirable

• Knowledge of change management theory

Additional information
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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
Address: Crystal Child Development Centre, Malling Close, Croydon, CR0 7YD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.croydonhealthservices.nhs.uk/recruitment/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Head of Children's Therapies
Fiona Kingsley
fiona.kingsley1@nhs.net
07757158856