Physical Therapist (Full-Time + Benefits!) - Durham, NC

Thrive Therapies Group is a pediatric healthcare organization on a mission to revolutionize the care of children with disabilities and those facing barriers to access. We provide results-driven services and intelligent tools to support children’s development, well-being, and health. At the heart of this mission are the people who change the trajectories of children’s lives. We work for them.

We work exclusively in K–12 schools — because school is where clinical care becomes transformative. Roughly half of all children identified with a disability receive their services in schools, not in healthcare settings. For many of those children, the school-based clinician is the care. Thrive is built around that reality.

We work exclusively with historically under-resourced, neurodiverse K–12 communities. Equity isn’t a tagline — it’s the core of why we exist. Our school partners request Thrive by name because they want better outcomes for students with disabilities.

There are organizations that place clinicians in schools. Thrive is something different. We are a pediatric healthcare organization built around a singular belief: that school is where clinical care becomes transformative — that a therapy goal in a clinic is a therapy goal, but a therapy goal in a school becomes a friendship on the playground, a kid who feels they belong, a child who gets to participate in the full arc of childhood. Everything we build — our technology, our workload model, our clinical community — exists to protect that work and the clinicians who deliver it.

Thrive uses a workload model that accounts for the full scope of PT work — evaluations, adaptive equipment, direct service, and documentation — and sizes your assignment to be sustainable for the long haul.

Our AI-powered tools were built by clinicians who were tired of losing evenings to documentation. They handle evaluation report generation, session notes, paperwork, and progress summaries — and they give our clinicians 10+ hours back every week. The tools are continuously improved based on clinician feedback. They belong to you as much as anyone.

You have a community here and are never alone. You have clinical supervision through a role-alike leader, quarterly professional development, monthly role-alike communities of practice, and peers across the organization you can reach every day.

As a Thrive PT in the Durham, NC region, you will deliver school-based physical therapy services to students K–12 whose disabilities affect their ability to access and navigate the educational environment. Working within the educational model, you will evaluate gross motor function, recommend adaptive equipment, write IEP goals, and collaborate with interdisciplinary school teams. You are a full member of the community.

• Conduct comprehensive PT evaluations to determine educational need and IDEA eligibility, including assessment of gross motor skills, functional mobility, gait, balance, coordination, and physical access to the school environment

• Administer and interpret standardized assessment tools (GMFM, BOTMP, PDMS-2, and others) as appropriate to the referral

• Write evaluation reports that are clinically rigorous, educationally framed, and accessible to IEP team members and families

• Participate in eligibility determination meetings and translate PT findings for educational planning purposes

• Conduct re-evaluations (triennials) in accordance with IDEA timelines

• Develop individualized PT IEP goals targeting functional mobility, gross motor skill development, and physical participation in educational activities

• Deliver direct individual therapy sessions using evidence-based PT approaches including NDT, motor learning principles, gait training, and strengthening programs

• Evaluate for and recommend adaptive equipment — including wheelchairs, walkers, orthotics, and positioning devices — and train students, staff, and families in their proper use

• Provide consultative services to teachers and paraprofessionals on physical access accommodations and safe transfer and mobility support techniques

• Maintain accurate, timely service logs and progress notes — supported by Thrive’s AI documentation tools

• Partner with OTs, SLPs, BCBAs, school psychologists, and special education teachers on integrated, student-centered IEP teams

• Collaborate with school facilities and administration on accessibility modifications when indicated by student need

• Train teachers, paraprofessionals, and families on safe handling, mobility support, and transfer techniques

• Coordinate with occupational therapists on overlapping motor, positioning, and adaptive equipment goals

• Contribute to RTI/MTSS by providing universal gross motor screening and physical access consultation

• DPT or MPT from an accredited physical therapy program

• NPTE board exam passage; active state PT license in good standing, or documented initiation of licensure transfer prior to start date

• Knowledge of IDEA, IEP process, and the educational model of PT

• 1+ years of school-based PT experience

• Training in NDT, motor learning theory, or pediatric PT specialty frameworks

• Experience with adaptive equipment evaluation and recommendation

• Experience serving students with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, or acquired motor disabilities

$4,000 —paid 25% at 30 days,25% at 90 days,50% at 6 months

Our sign-on bonus is a signal: we’re committed to you from the moment you say yes, and we want you to feel that.

Paid annually afterexceeding performancemetrics

When you go above and beyond for students, we notice. Our performance bonus is how we say we see you, we value what you’re doing, and this work matters.

$65,000 – $78,200,based on experience

A salary that reflects the expertise you bring. W-2 employment means full benefits, paid time off, retirement match, disability coverage, and malpractice insurance — all on us. Your total compensation is built to reflect what this work is worth.

$49-$59/hr/hr

If flexibility is what fits your life, we built that in. Our 1099 option puts you in control of how you work — with a competitive hourly rate, full professional supports, and your career mobility fully intact.

Up to $2,000 —paid after completing your first full school year

We’re building Thrive around the people who commit to this work and to each other over the long haul — because that’s who our kids and schools depend on. Every year you come back, we reward it. And it grows with you.

$750 your first year →growing up to $2,000after five years

Your practice is the whole thing. The more you grow as a clinician, the better the care our kids get. We put real dollars behind your continuing education, and it grows with your tenure. Investing in your expertise is investing in our mission.

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance — Thrive covers 100% of employee premiums

• Coverage begins day one

• Choice of HSA-eligible high-deductible plan or traditional PPO; nationwide PPO network

• Dependent and family coverage available

• 401(k) with up to 5% company match

• Optional voluntary benefits: supplemental life, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and FSA

• School-year calendar — school holidays off, amounting to 30+ paid days annually

• PTO and Sick days

• Malpractice and professional liability insurance — fully covered by Thrive; no personal policy required

• Quarterly professional development led by clinical leadership — school-based, substantive, and paid

• Paid Summer Intensive — pre-year clinical PD that brings the full Thrive team together annually

• No non-compete agreement — your professional mobility is yours to keep

• State PT licensure renewal and APTA dues reimbursed annually

  careers@thrivetherapiesgroup.com  ·  thrivetherapiesgroup.com/careers  ·  615-652-2344