Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Speech & Language Therapist

The closing date is 21 September 2025

Job summary

The Children's Speech and Language Therapy service have some exciting Band 5 opportunities within our friendly and enthusiastic teams. These roles would be ideal for newly qualified therapists seeking their first post as well as SLTs already working as Band 5s who wish to extend their experience and skills at this level.

We are offering the Band 5 roles as two-year fixed term contracts, with the opportunity to apply for a Band 6 position at the end of the two-year period. These are ideal posts to help you transition from student to therapist and develop a wide range of therapeutic skills to carry forward into your career.

We currently have opportunities in the Central Sussex and Brighton & Hove areas across a range of different teams, including Special Schools, Mainstream Schools, and Early Years.

We have well-established supervision arrangements to support you as a newly qualified therapist, or as a Band 5 who is further developing their skills. You would also have access to further education, continuing professional development opportunities and funding within the Trust.

If you join us, you will have access to:

  • A friendly, encouraging and supportive team of therapists and therapy assistants
  • Structured support and clinical supervision
  • A range of training and development opportunities
  • A wide range of resources
  • Support from the admin team

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about the service and the Band 5 opportunities. We look forward to hearing from you!

Main duties of the job

You will work as part of a supportive and friendly team to:

Assess children's speech language and communication needs (SLCN) and the functional impact of these

Advise families and settings on how they can help reduce this impact and facilitate communication skills

Provide individual or group therapy where appropriate, demonstrating to parents/carers and setting staff how they can use strategies and techniques

Provide training to parents/carers and setting staff so that they are empowered to identify and manage their child's communication needs.

Write reports and intervention plans, sharing information and setting targets with parents/carers and setting staff

Measure the success of your actions and report your outcomes

Maintain your clinical and professional development to be the best therapist you can be and progress in your career

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?o Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staffo Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Details

Date posted

09 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

2 years

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

150-CP1960-PC

Job locations

Horsham Community Hospital

Horsham

RH12 2DR


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for more detailed information about the Band 5 SLT roles and main responsibilities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for more detailed information about the Band 5 SLT roles and main responsibilities.

Person Specification

Qualifications and professional registration

Essential

  • Professional qualification such as a degree or equivalent in Speech and Language Therapy
  • Current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as a Speech and Language Therapist

Experience

Essential

  • Relevant postgraduate or undergraduate experience in the clinical field

Skills and knowledge

Essential

  • Experience of using assessment tools relevant to client group
  • Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care for individuals
  • Good communication and negotiation skills
  • Ability to plan and prioritise a caseload efficiently
  • Knowledge of clinical governance, clinical audit, risk management and clinical supervision
  • Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to the clinical setting
  • Demonstrate ability to reflect and learn from situations
  • Demonstrate co-operative team working and awareness of the roles of other professionals
  • Demonstrates a commitment to learning and development with documented evidence of CPD
  • Ability to demonstrate knowledge / understanding of boundaries of role

Other requirements

Essential

  • Ability to travel
Person Specification

Qualifications and professional registration

Essential

  • Professional qualification such as a degree or equivalent in Speech and Language Therapy
  • Current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as a Speech and Language Therapist

Experience

Essential

  • Relevant postgraduate or undergraduate experience in the clinical field

Skills and knowledge

Essential

  • Experience of using assessment tools relevant to client group
  • Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care for individuals
  • Good communication and negotiation skills
  • Ability to plan and prioritise a caseload efficiently
  • Knowledge of clinical governance, clinical audit, risk management and clinical supervision
  • Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to the clinical setting
  • Demonstrate ability to reflect and learn from situations
  • Demonstrate co-operative team working and awareness of the roles of other professionals
  • Demonstrates a commitment to learning and development with documented evidence of CPD
  • Ability to demonstrate knowledge / understanding of boundaries of role

Other requirements

Essential

  • Ability to travel

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 (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

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.

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 (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Horsham Community Hospital

Horsham

RH12 2DR


Employer's website

https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Horsham Community Hospital

Horsham

RH12 2DR


Employer's website

https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Operational Team Lead

Kate Saunders

kate.saunders1@nhs.net

07484023912

Details

Date posted

09 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

2 years

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

150-CP1960-PC

Job locations

Horsham Community Hospital

Horsham

RH12 2DR


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)