Title: Clinical Lead Neonatal Speech and Language Therapist
Advert location: Leeds
Postcode: LS1 3EX
Country: GB
Advertised salary: Band 8a - £57,528-£64,750
Contract: Permanent
Native advert metadata: Apply for job Job reference: 001994 Salary: Band 8a - £57,528-£64,750 Closing date: 15/09/2026 Department: Paediatric Acute Speech Therapy - LTH Location: Leeds General Infirmary Division: Childrens CSU Hours Per Week: 22.5

For questions about this job, contact:
Victoria Watson
Clinical SLT Manager
vickywatson@nhs.net

Shortlisting Date: 15th September
Interview Date: 22nd September

Job Summary
Thanks to significant new NHS England funding, an exciting opportunity has arisen to join our expanding neonatal workforce as a 0.6 WTE 8a Neonatal SLT Clinical Lead within Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. We are seeking dynamic, enthusiastic and highly motivated Speech and Language Therapists to lead on the delivery of expert care to infants and their families across our neonatal services. Working within a Family Integrated Care (FiCare) model, you will provide specialist support and SLT leadership across our two neonatal sites at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s University Hospital, making a meaningful difference to the lives of babies born across Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region. You will lead the neonatal SLT team and will work alongside specialist colleagues to further develop and strengthen Speech and Language Therapy provision across our busy Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) and wider neonatal services.

This role offers an excellent opportunity to enhance your specialist neonatal skills while contributing to the ongoing development of a progressive and innovative service. We are a dedicated and cohesive neonatal AHP team delivering high quality, evidence based developmental care for babies and their families. Recent investment offers an exciting opportunity to expand our workforce and strengthen AHP provision within neonatal services across St James's University Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary. As we progress through a period of transformation, we are enhancing developmental pathways, improving outcomes and embedding collaborative, family centred practice. This is an exciting time to join our fantastic team and be part of meaningful service improvement. We are committed to supporting professional growth and offer excellent opportunities to become involved in service development, quality improvement initiatives and research activities, helping shape the future of neonatal care both locally and regionally. If you are passionate about neonatal care, thrive within multidisciplinary teams and are looking to be part of an ambitious and forward-thinking service, we would love to hear from you.

Why you should join our Team
Leeds Children’s Hospital provides care across the region and is a well established teaching hospital. Leeds Teaching Hospital it is one of the largest acute health providers in the UK.Our hospitals provide a diverse and exciting range of specialist services, including Neurology, Neurorehabilitation, Neonatal Care, Cardio-Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology, Long-Term Ventilation, Critical Care, Surgery, Oncology and Haematology. Based in Leeds, one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant cities in the North, the Trust benefits from excellent transport links and a thriving city-centre location. Joining our team offers a unique opportunity to develop your clinical expertise within a highly skilled and supportive Speech and Language Therapy service. You will be part of a well-established SLT team with access to a broad range of acute specialties, including Neonates, Tracheostomy, Long-Term Ventilation, Critical Care and Videofluoroscopy. We are committed to supporting your professional growth through a structured induction programme, robust supervision framework and extensive opportunities for joint working, shadowing and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Continuous professional development is at the heart of our service. Alongside regular individual and group supervision, we host a monthly Clinical Hour, providing protected time for staff to share learning, discuss current evidence and research, and develop best practice together.You will be based in a modern, purpose-designed workspace that supports a variety of working styles, with excellent facilities and personal lockers. Staff wellbeing is a key priority within the Trust. We foster a positive and inclusive team culture, with access to staff wellbeing initiatives, internal support networks, wellbeing champions and Mental Health First Aiders within the SLT team. We also recognise the importance of work-life balance, offering flexible working opportunities and a vibrant social programme throughout the year.The successful candidate will join an innovative and forward-thinking Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Service that values collaboration, learning and excellence in patient care. Alongside comprehensive supervision and a well-established Continuing Professional Development programme, you will benefit from regular team meetings and the opportunity to contribute to ongoing service development and innovation.

What you will bring to the role
To fulfil the role of Neonatal Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist, you will be an expert practitioner with substantial experience working at an advanced level in the assessment, differential diagnosis and management of neonatal feeding and swallowing difficulties and early communication and interaction within a tertiary neonatal setting.

You will demonstrate practice consistent with RCSLT Neonatal Competency Framework Level D, providing clinical leadership for highly complex neonatal dysphagia and communication needs across the service. You will possess highly developed specialist skills in the assessment, treatment and management of infants presenting with complex feeding and swallowing disorders, including those requiring tracheostomy management, instrumental assessments such as videofluoroscopic swallow studies (VFSS) and Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), and multidisciplinary decision-making regarding feeding and airway management. You will be an autonomous practitioner with advanced clinical reasoning skills, capable of managing highly complex and unpredictable clinical situations. As the clinical lead for neonatal speech and language therapy, you will provide professional and operational leadership for the neonatal SLT service, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, evidence-based and family-centred care. You will lead service development initiatives, quality improvement programmes, audit, research activity and implementation of national standards and best practice guidance, ensuring compliance with relevant clinical drivers and governance requirements. You will hold responsibility for a complex clinical caseload whilst providing expert advice, supervision and support to SLTs, neonatal colleagues and the wider multidisciplinary team. You will lead the development and delivery of training programmes for clinical staff and contribute to workforce development, competency frameworks and succession planning within the service.

Please see the attached job description for further information about this vacancy.

About Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
Our Trust values
The Leeds Way is working together to support each other and deliver the best possible care to patients.

We are….
Responsible
Open and Honest
One Team
Kind

Our Trust priorities
Our purpose: Excellent, safe and sustainable care for every patient every time

Our priorities:
People
Improvement and Innovation
Partnerships
Outcomes

Sponsorship Eligibility
To comply with UK Government regulations on Skilled Worker sponsorship, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust is unable to provide sponsorship to applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria or the salary threshold concessions set out under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please take this into consideration before submitting your application. Full guidance on these concessions, including details of who may qualify, can be found here.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we receive a high number of suitable applications.