ARIZONA SPEECH AND SWALLOW THERAPY
Scottsdale, AZ
Speech-Language Pathologist (Leadership Track)
Structured path to Clinic Director
Position Title: Speech-Language Pathologist (Leadership Track)
Reports To: Practice Owner (serving as Clinic Director during transition)
Supervises: Students, Clinical Fellows; increasing team-lead responsibility as Director training progresses
Path: Structured 6–12 month track to Clinic Director role, based on demonstrated readiness
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 the Clinic Director role.
The Opportunity
Arizona Speech and Swallow Therapy is a private practice in Scottsdale serving motivated adults who are investing in their communication and swallowing recovery. We're a small, high-trust team with a strong clinical culture, and we're building the next layer of leadership. Our current Clinic Director is relocating out of state and will personally train her successor before she leaves. You'll get direct, hands-on knowledge transfer from someone who's already proven the role works.
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 train into the Clinic Director role. 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. This is not a role posted with a vague promise of "growth opportunities." There is a specific person leaving a specific seat, a specific runway to fill it, and a specific person (the owner, and initially the outgoing Director) invested in training you into it.
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.
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
KPI = What Does This Measure?
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
Productivity = People, Purpose, and Profits
Leadership Track KPIs (introduced progressively during training)
KPI = What Does This Measure?
Onboarding Time-to-Productivity = New Clinician Impact
Team Coverage Reliability = Operational Stability
Referral Relationship Touch-Frequency = Referral Pipeline Health
Team Retention = Culture Strength
Job RequirementsMinimum 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 (or Clinical Fellowship completion in progress).
- 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.
Training and Transition
This position includes a structured 6–12 month training path to Clinic Director, timed to individual readiness rather than the calendar. Training will be led jointly by the practice owner and the outgoing Clinic Director through the transition period.
Benefits
- Health insurance.
- Paid time off (PTO).
- Paid holidays.
- Paid clinic closure the week surrounding Christmas, separate from PTO.
- Flexible scheduling.
- Simple IRA retirement account with company match.
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 [email protected] with your resume, references, and cover letter.
Pay: $40.00 - $50.00 per hour
Expected hours: 40.0 per week
Benefits:
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Mileage reimbursement
- Opportunities for advancement
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
Application Question(s):
- Do you hold a current CCC-SLP certification from ASHA?
- Do you hold, or are you eligible to obtain, an active Arizona SLP license?
- Do you have a minimum of 2 years of clinical experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist within one department or setting?
- Are you interested in learning the business/operational side of running a practice (scheduling, KPIs, referral relationships) in addition to clinical work?
- Have you mentored, trained, or onboarded another clinician, student, or new hire in a prior role?
Work Location: In person
