Speech-Language Pathologist (Growth Opportunity)

Speech-Language Pathologist (Growth Opportunity)

Structured path to leadership position at ASST

Position Title: Speech-Language Pathologist (Leadership Track)

Reports To: Practice Owner

Supervises: Students, Clinical Fellows; increasing team-lead responsibility

Path: Structured 6–12 month leadership development program

Compensation: $85,000–$100,000 base salary, dependent on experience, plus quarterly individual performance bonuses and a practice-wide clinic performance bonus. A leadership differential is added upon officially stepping into a leadership role.

The Opportunity

Arizona Speech and Swallow Therapy is a private practice in Scottsdale serving motivated adults who are investing in their voice, swallowing, and communication recovery. We're a small, high-trust team with a strong clinical culture, and we're building the next layer of leadership.

This role is for a clinician who wants both. You'll carry a caseload of adult patients using evidence-based care, and you'll simultaneously participate in a leadership development program. As Clinic Director, you will be the person who runs day-to-day clinical operations, leads the team, and works directly with the owner on the business side of the practice.

Most SLPs never imagine having a real seat at the business table. Here, every clinician's career path is something we build with them. We just wrapped individual career development conversations with our full team, and every one of them is on a unique path built around what they actually want int heir career. 

Basic Objectives

The purpose of this position is twofold. First, to manage patient engagement and oversee each patient's course of care throughout their speech therapy journey while fostering a warm, supportive, and motivating relationship with patients and families so that meaningful progress can be made. Second, to train alongside the practice owner and outgoing Clinic Director to take on clinical leadership: team scheduling and coverage, onboarding and mentoring clinicians, tracking practice Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), stewarding referral relationships, and helping shape the culture that makes ASST work.

Success in this role requires the same clinical excellence we expect of every SLP on our team, plus the judgment, initiative, and interpersonal skill to eventually lead that team.

Clinical Duties and Responsibilities

• Complete comprehensive speech-language and swallowing evaluations, establish individualized plans of care, and update goals in accordance with patient needs and clinical best practices.
• Provide direct evidence-based therapy for adults with communication, cognitive, voice, and swallowing disorders.
• Maintain accurate, timely, and thorough documentation in compliance with state licensure standards, ASHA guidelines, and company policies.
• Communicate effectively with patients, families, and caregivers to promote understanding, support carryover, and foster engagement throughout treatment.
• Collaborate with referring physicians and other healthcare providers to ensure continuity and quality of care.
• Provide patient and family education, home exercise programs, and strategies to support progress outside of therapy sessions.
• Participate in quality assurance by tracking patient progress, plan-of-care adherence, and therapy outcomes.
• Serve as a mentor and resource for clinical fellows or students.
• Uphold a safe, ethical, and patient-centered clinical environment.

Leadership Track Responsibilities

These responsibilities are introduced progressively during the training period, at a pace matched to readiness. You will not be handed all of this on day one.

• Team scheduling and coverage oversight, ensuring clinical capacity is covered and patient access isn't disrupted.
• Onboarding and mentorship of new clinicians as the team grows.
• Tracking and reporting practice KPIs to the owner (visit volume, plan-of-care completion, productivity, and team-level metrics).
• Building and maintaining relationships with referral sources (physicians, ENTs, neurologists, oncologists, SNFs, discharge planners) alongside the owner.
• Co-leading team meetings and helping steward the clinical culture that makes ASST a place clinicians want to stay.
• Learning the operating fundamentals of running a small private practice, including how clinical decisions connect to scheduling, referral flow, and the business itself.
• Other leadership responsibilities as assigned and as training progresses.

Desired Outcomes

Clinical Outcome: a patient helped. 

This means:

• Buys into and commits to their plan of care during the initial evaluation.
• Shows up to every therapy appointment during their plan of care.
• Reaches all of their goals and achieves a fully recovered state.
• Successfully discharges from therapy services.
• Tells their friends, family, and community how much Arizona Speech and Swallow Therapy helped them and promotes our practice.

Leadership Outcome: a team that runs well without the owner in the room. 

This means:

• The team has a clear, trusted point of contact for scheduling, coverage, and day-to-day questions.
• New clinicians onboard smoothly and reach productivity faster.
• The owner has reliable visibility into practice KPIs without having to chase them down.
• Referral relationships are actively maintained, not just inherited.
• Culture and retention are things you actively shape, not things that just happen on their own.
• You develop a second skill set (business and operations) most clinicians never get access to.

Key Performance Indicators

Clinical KPIs

• Total Visits Completed = People Helped
• Initial Evaluations = New Patients Impacted
• Patient's Arrival Rate = Patient Impact
• Completed Plan of Care % = Patient Impact
• Average Frequency Per Week = Patient Impact Potential

Leadership Track KPIs (introduced progressively during training)

• Onboarding Time-to-Productivity = New Clinician Impact
• Team Coverage Reliability = Operational Stability
• Referral Relationship Touch-Frequency = Referral Pipeline Health
• Team Retention = Culture Strength

Job Requirements:

Minimum Education Requirements

• Master's degree (or higher) in Speech-Language Pathology from an accredited program.

Licensure Requirements

• Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from ASHA (not a Clinical Fellowship position).
• Current state license to practice Speech-Language Pathology.
• Completion of continuing education as required by ASHA and state regulatory board.

Experience Requirements

• Minimum 2 years of clinical experience within one department or setting.

Leadership Track Indicators

We aren't expecting prior management experience. We are looking for evidence of these, from clinical or non-clinical settings:

• Has mentored, trained, or onboarded others in a prior role (CFs, students, new hires, or outside healthcare).
• Has taken initiative to build or improve their department, or actively pursued leadership development opportunities.
• Asks how the business/operational side of a practice works, not just the clinical side.
• Comfortable giving and receiving direct feedback.
• Track record of follow-through on commitments without close oversight.
• References that speak directly to these leadership qualities.

Benefits

Full-time employees are eligible for the following:

• Group health insurance
• PTO
• Paid holidays; Clinic closed
• Paid clinic closure the week surrounding Christmas, separate from PTO.
• SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with up to a company match.
• Quarterly performance bonuses, up to $10,000 per year.
• ASST pays your annual ASHA CCC dues and your state SLP license for the state you practice from.
• ASST-paid continuing education
• Parental leave
• Flexible scheduling

Equal Opportunity

Arizona Speech and Swallow Therapy is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

How to Apply

*If interested in this role, please contact our Founder, Caroline Waldschmidt, at View email address on click.appcast.io with your resume, references, and cover letter.