East London NHS Foundation Trust
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist -Early Years
The closing date is 22 November 2026
Job summary
Are you an experienced, innovative, creative speech and language therapist? Would you like to bring your skills and ideas to help us deliver change and new services?

We have an exciting opportunity in our growing Speech and Language Therapy Service within our Early Years' service for children aged 0-5 years of age. The post is an integral part of the delivery of early identification, early support and early intervention for children with a range of speech, language and communication needs.

The Early Years' team offers specialist assessment, intervention and advice for younger children. This includes children with social communication difficulties, developmental language disorder, speech disorder, dysfunction and language delay.

The post holder will provide specialist assessment and intervention within clinics, Family hubs and children's centres, nurseries and education settings. There will be opportunity to deliver groups interventions and be involved in providing training and workshops for parents and Family hub staff and implementing evidence based early language programmes including ELSEC.

Main duties of the job

• To provide specialist assessment, differentially diagnoses and plan therapeutic approaches for children with speech language and / or communication difficulties.
• To coach these approaches to parents/ carers and professionals working with the child across a number of early years settings including clinics, Family hubs, nurseries and school settings.
• To independently manage a large and diverse clinic caseload, liaising with other colleagues in clinic where necessary and reporting directly to the Clinical Lead when required.
• To provide a service which takes account of the needs of clients from a range of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.

About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Details
Date posted: 12 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £45,953 to £54,254 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 363-SS8278844-A
Job locations: SCYPS West Ham Lane Child Development Service, 84 West Ham Lane, London, E15 4PT, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• To work jointly with more senior colleagues and other agencies to set up and deliver services through Family Hubs / Children Centres promoting Early Communication skills.
• To provide a specialist level of assessment, therapy and recommendations to children with a range of speech, language and communication difficulties in a variety of settings
• To work jointly with more senior colleagues and other professionals to take account of the specific communication needs of these children and plan therapy accordingly.
• To independently manage a caseload of children who have a diverse range of communication difficulties. This includes screening, assessing, providing therapy, training others and reviewing progress.
• To co-ordinate and take a lead in the joint planning and delivery of SLCN interventions including parent workshops, drop-ins, groups and staff training within the family hubs and early years.

Person Specification
Education/ Qualifications
Essential: Recognised Speech and Language Therapy degree qualification or equivalent; Health Professions Council - Licence to Practice; Completion of RCSLT NQP competencies; Evidence of successful completion of specialist short courses
Desirable: Registered Member of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists; Membership of relevant Special Interest Groups / CEN
Experience
Essential: Relevant experience at undergraduate/post graduate level; Relevant experience post-registration in Early Years settings; Relevant experience working in Early Years Settings such as Children Centres, nurseries; Relevant experience running parent workshops
Desirable: Relevant experience in complex needs
Knowledge and Skills
Essential: Negotiation and problem-solving skills; Demonstrates good analytical and reflection skills; Good presentation skills, both written and verbal, including ability to write clear and concise reports; Good organisational skills; Prioritisation skills; Working knowledge of relevant information technology; Demonstrates ability to be a good team member; Ability to work independently as appropriate; Awareness of the roles of other professionals relevant to the client group; Ability to work in partnership with other professionals and other agencies; Well established knowledge of assessment tools relevant to the client group; Skills in planning, assessing and implementing intervention for the client group; Well established knowledge of national policies and procedures (relevant to the client group); Well established knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions (relevant to the client group); Understanding of the principles of clinical governance/audit; Awareness of standards of record keeping; Awareness and sensitivity to the needs of clients from a range of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: East London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer's website: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Head of Childrens Therapies, Marion Levine, marionlevine@nhs.net, 07741704013

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