Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
At a glance
- Band
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Pattern
- Part-time
- Posted
- 26/08/2026
- Closes
- 10/09/2026
Sponsorship verdict
This contract type is not eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship.
NHS Trusts cannot issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for part-time, bank, locum, zero-hours, job-share or short fixed-term (under 12 months) contracts under current Home Office rules. This applies even when the wider Trust holds a Skilled Worker licence.
Role summary
This role is for a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist within the Cleft Lip and Palate SLT Team at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The successful candidate will provide highly specialist assessment, diagnosis, and therapy for patients with Cleft Lip and Palate/VPD and related conditions. The position involves working across multiple sites and providing advice to community personnel and other therapists. It requires experience in speech sound disorders and offers an opportunity to contribute to national reporting of outcomes.
Key responsibilities
- Provide a highly specialist speech and language therapy service, including assessment, complex differential diagnosis, diagnostic management, and therapy for patients with Cleft Lip and Palate/VPD and related conditions.
- Offer high-level specialist advice on assessing, devising, and demonstrating therapy programmes and recommendations to community personnel, including teachers, SENCOs, and other speech and language therapists.
- Contribute to the auditing of children with cleft lip and palate and the national reporting of outcomes to the Cleft CRANE Registry, undergoing pre-requisite training.
- Potentially work in other specialities within the Surgical Speech and Hearing Service.
Essential criteria
- Combined Values
- Academic/Professional qualification/Training
- Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree or equivalent
- Registered Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- Health Professions Council license to practice
- Training in clinical and student supervision
Desirable criteria
- Accredited postgraduate courses in cleft palate speech difficulties and/or speech sound disorders at masters equivalent level
- SLT Clinical Master's Degree
- Experience/Knowledge
- Experience of assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of communication disorders associated with cleft palate/velopharyngeal dysfunction, structural anomalies
- Experience of working in an advisory role with other therapists
- Experience of formal presentations
- Evidence of teaching SLTs and other professions
- Experience in student clinical supervision
- Experience of interdisciplinary team working
- Experience of using informal and formal speech and language assessment and intervention strategies and tools for children across a range of age groups.
- Knowledge of the impact of cultural and bilingual issues for SLTs working with this caseload
- Knowledge of the process of Statements of Educational Need
- Experience of multidisciplinary cleft lip and palate clinic
- Knowledge of a broad range of assessment and treatment tools relevant to the specialist client group including non-invasive and invasive investigations of velopharyngeal competence and therapeutic tools
- Skills/Abilities
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including listening, sustained concentration and empathy with patients and relatives who themselves may have a range of complex communication impairments
- Able to manage the emotional consequences of working with patients with a range of communication disorders
- Negotiation, analytic and problem-solving skills
- Skills in enabling local Speech and Language Therapists and other relevant professionals to develop and implement individual therapy programmes
- Excellent auditory skills, including phonetic transcription
- Demonstrable ability for team-working
- Sound knowledge of IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office software
- Formal presentation skills training
- Combined Values
- Combined Values
- Academic/Professional qualification/Training
- Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree or equivalent
- Registered Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- Health Professions Council license to practice
- Training in clinical and student supervision
- Accredited postgraduate courses in cleft palate speech difficulties and/or speech sound disorders at masters equivalent level
- SLT Clinical Master's Degree
- Experience/Knowledge
- Experience of assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of communication disorders associated with cleft palate/velopharyngeal dysfunction, structural anomalies
- Experience of working in an advisory role with other therapists
- Experience of formal presentations
- Evidence of teaching SLTs and other professions
- Experience in student clinical supervision
- Experience of interdisciplinary team working
- Experience of using informal and formal speech and language assessment and intervention strategies and tools for children across a range of age groups.
- Knowledge of the impact of cultural and bilingual issues for SLTs working with this caseload
- Knowledge of the process of Statements of Educational Need
- Experience of multidisciplinary cleft lip and palate clinic
- Knowledge of a broad range of assessment and treatment tools relevant to the specialist client group including non-invasive and invasive investigations of velopharyngeal competence and therapeutic tools
- Skills/Abilities
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including listening, sustained concentration and empathy with patients and relatives who themselves may have a range of complex communication impairments
- Able to manage the emotional consequences of working with patients with a range of communication disorders
- Negotiation, analytic and problem-solving skills
- Skills in enabling local Speech and Language Therapists and other relevant professionals to develop and implement individual therapy programmes
- Excellent auditory skills, including phonetic transcription
- Demonstrable ability for team-wor
Useful to know
Agenda for Change 2024/25 pays Band 7 at £46,148 – £52,809 a year, across England.
This advert: £58,133 – £65,261 — outside the standard scale; check for HCAS/London weighting.
Posted 5d ago · Closes in 11d
Plenty of time to prepare a strong application.
Full advert · preview
Job summary
If you have postgraduate experience in the specialist assessment and management of both speech sound disorders and communication difficulties in paediatrics as well as an enthusiasm for cutting-edge evidence-based practice, patient and family focused care, collaborative team working, quality improvement and innovation and digital transformation, we would very much like to hear from you!
The Cleft Lip and Palate SLT Team is part of the wider Outpatient Surgical Speech and Hearing Service (SSH) which also includes Craniofacial, Cochlear Implant, Complex Airway/Voice SLT Teams. The team is part of a multi-disciplinary service that delivers tertiary level care to children, young people and adults within the North Thames Region who have cleft lip and palate/ a variety of conditions associated with cleft/VPD.
You will join our innovative and supportive team of 6 Cleft SLTs who work across a number of sites (Great Ormond Street Hospital, Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, expansion to North London anticipated). The post is based primarily at Great Ormond Street Hospital with meetings and cross cover provided to the multi-site service, as required.
The Speech and Language Therapy Service has a Professional Lead and additional leadership from the Head of Therapies and the Trust's Chief AHP. We work jointly with our AHP colleagues to support Research, Education, Quality A
Join the community to read the full pack, responsibilities and person-specification in one place.
Your seat is reserved — activate it
CareerHive is included with your CareerHive Skool community membership. If you haven't claimed your account yet, join the community (or sign in with the same email you joined with) to unlock the full advert, the apply link, HiveMind AI interview & application suite, your private vault, and daily sponsorship alerts.