Practice Educator - Speech & Language Therapy

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

NHS Band 7 Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 per annum 

Hours Per Week: 37.5 (Full-Time)

Contract Type: Permanent

This role sits within the trusts therapies department - comprised of Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. The department treats patients across the entirety of the acute trust. The Practice Educator will provide professional leadership for clinical education, workforce development and student learning across Speech and Language Therapy services. Working closely with the Speech and Language Team, Therapies Leadership Team, Higher Education Institutions and the Trust and department Practice Education Team, the post holder will lead the development, delivery and evaluation of high-quality education programmes that support pre-registration students, apprentices, support workers and registered Speech and Language Therapists as well as service development.

The post holder will promote excellence in learning and development, ensuring educational opportunities support high-quality patient care, workforce sustainability and professional standards. They will act as an expert resource for practice-based learning, clinical supervision, competency development, service development and quality improvement initiatives across SLT services.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a professional role model, promoting best practice and maintaining high standards of clinical education and clinical practice across Speech and Language Therapy services.
• Support the Therapies Senior Leadership Team with service development and decision making. 
• Support the development of a learning culture that enables staff, students and apprentices to achieve their full potential.
• Lead the planning, delivery and evaluation of education, training and development programmes for the SLT workforce.
• Coordinate and support student placements across adult and paediatric SLT services, maximising placement capacity and quality.
• Provide leadership and support to staff involved in education and training activities.
• Provide leadership support to the Speech and Language Therapy Team.
• Work closely with the Therapy Senior Leadership Team to support the department.
• Act as a mentor, coach and clinical supervisor to support professional and leadership development.
• Support and lead quality improvement initiatives relating to education and workforce development.
• Use audit, feedback and evaluation data to improve educational provision and learner outcomes.
• Establish effective working relationships with colleagues across the Trust and external partner organisations.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance on education, training and professional development matters.
• Communicate complex information effectively to a wide range of audiences.
• Support the resolution of professional and educational issues with sensitivity and professionalism.

For full job details, please refer to enclosed Job description.

Essential

• Current registration with either the NMC or HCPC
• BSc Degree in relevant field (Desirable - Master’s degree or evidence of working towards) 
• Demonstrable experience as a Band 6 within speciality
• Evidence of on-going professional development with post reg. qualifications within specialism
• Recognised teaching qualification with demonstrable experience
• Mentorship, supervision and assessment qualification with experience of supporting learners in practice
• Management / leadership course or qualification

Desirable

• Masters’ qualification

Experience

• Experience in delivering Education.
• Experience of leading a team.
• Experience of undertaking programme evaluation and audit.
• Experience of collecting and evaluating data.
• Experience of acting as a mentor/ clinical supervisor

Skills and Knowledge

• Essential specialist clinical knowledge and up to date experience and competence to work in an acute clinical environment.
• Ability to manage and co-ordinate the creation of new training materials and courses based on sound analysis of training needs and evaluation.
• Able to establish credibility and effective working relationships with a range of staff.
• Able to lead and work as a team, managing and motivating others e.g. faculty and administration staff.
• Able to deliver training in a clinical and Non-Clinical environment with an understanding of risk management and clinical governance.
• Possess advanced computer skills which enable the use of electronic blended learning tools.
• Excellent analytical problem-solving skills for all aspects of training.
• Excellent communication and facilitation
• Excellent influencing and negotiation skills, able to influence course leads and stakeholders
• Customer focused and able to create, build and maintain relationships at all levels.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with ability to use initiative.
• Knowledge and experience of implementing health and safety policies within the workplace, including COSH, Manual Handling and Infection Control.
• Understanding of the principles and application of effective budgetary management.
• Understanding of the principles and application of effective staff / HR management
• Understanding of the theory and application of Clinical Governance.
• Demonstrable experience of effective management and supervision of staff and taking charge of ward /unit
• Managing recourses and contributing to departmental budget
• Evidence of developing policy, guidelines and managing resources

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and DisAbility, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs. 

For more information, please see our People and OD Strategy 2026