Senior Speech & Language Therapist

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO8/9 subject to evaluation - £61,476 - £69,807
Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36 hours per week

Application Deadline: 02/11/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): w/c 9th November 2026
Reference: 2386

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method. About the role:

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Speech and Language Therapist to lead and develop the speech, language and communication offer within Waltham Forest’s new Experts at Hand team. This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in delivering SEND reform, improving outcomes for children and young people and embedding communication-inclusive practice across education settings and children's services.

Working at both strategic and operational levels, you will be the Council's senior specialist adviser on speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), responsible for implementing Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC), leading service development, workforce growth and evidence-based practice across the local area.

Why join us?

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape a growing service at a time of significant SEND transformation. Through Experts at Hand, you will have the opportunity to:

• Influence local policy and practice.
• Develop sustainable support models for schools and families.
• Lead a skilled and expanding workforce.
• Build capacity across education and children's services.
• Make a lasting difference to the lives of children and young people with SEND.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<Key Responsibilities:

We are looking for a highly experienced Speech and Language Therapist who is passionate about inclusion, early intervention and system-wide improvement.

As Senior Speech and Language Therapist, you will:

• Lead the speech, language and communication element of the Experts at Hand service.
• Provide professional and clinical leadership across the service.
• Drive the development of speech, language and communication pathways as part of our SEND transformation programme.
• Undertake highly specialist assessments and contribute to multidisciplinary assessment and diagnostic processes.
• Design and oversee early intervention support pathways.
• Lead the implementation of Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) principles.
• Develop and quality assure training and workforce development programmes.
• Supervise and develop Speech and Language Therapists and a team of Language Assistants.
• Work collaboratively with schools, families, health partners, educational psychologists and social care colleagues.
• Use data, outcomes and evidence to drive continuous service improvement and innovation.

Qualifications and Requirements:

You will bring:

• Extensive post-qualification experience supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.
• Advanced knowledge of assessment, intervention and differential diagnosis.
• Strong understanding of SEND legislation, the SEND Code of Practice and Education, Health and Care processes.
• Experience of leading, supervising and developing practitioners and support staff.
• A track record of influencing practice, building partnerships and leading change.
• Excellent analytical, communication and organisational skills.
• The ability to balance strategic leadership with direct clinical expertise.

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

• A degree or postgraduate qualification in Speech and Language Therapy.
• Current HCPC registration as a Speech and Language Therapist.
• Membership of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Evidence of substantial postgraduate professional development.
• Training in clinical supervision.

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
• Satisfactory DBS check;
• Continued professional body registration;
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Ellie Miller, Programme Manager at Ellie.Miller@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Fraud Awareness NoticeThe London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.