Groups Coordinator
17 hours ago
Birmingham
About Resources for Autism (RfA) We have been around since 1997 when we started as a small playgroup set up by parents dismayed at the lack of provision for their autistic children. Since then, Resources for Autism (RfA) has grown into a major deliverer of services and support in London and the West Midlands with a turnover of around £2.5m per year. Our mission is to support and enable autistic people to live happy and fulfilling lives. We want to change society’s attitude to autism whilst also providing essential services and enriching opportunities to autistic people. We are a values-driven organisation which employs values-driven people who want to make a difference. Our values are: Inclusion, Creativity, Compassion, Courageousness and Expert. You will play a vital part in ensuring that we can resource and sustain this amazing work. As an organisation, we pride ourselves on our openness, commitment to our community, and supporting each other. Many of us enjoy the benefits of flexible working, and our staff turnover is remarkably low – which some attribute to being part of a productive, supportive, non-political and warm working culture. Our practice as an organisation is founded on the fundamental ethos of acceptance for an individual exactly as they are and from that place we work with their environment (be it parents, teachers, professional networks) in order to ensure the individual is appropriately understood and supported to be the best version of themselves they could ever be. We do not see an individual’s behaviour as challenging per se but we see their behaviour as challenging services. Our aim goes beyond developing resilient parents or resilient children but to creating resilient services that are aware and inclusive of neurodivergence. Our Services All of our services across children and adults and parent/carers, mirror the wider organisational mission of providing safe, fun and meaningful support that enables personal development. We provide this support by ensuring our staff are skilfully trained, meet the highest safeguarding expectations and are encouraged to develop and upskill throughout their career with Resources for Autism. The Role The role of the Autism Group Coordinator is key within the services team, responsible for overseeing, delivering and shaping provisions within our groups and community service and providing supervision and support to our excellent team of support workers. As part of the role, you will be leading groups and supporting the development and delivery of groups while ensuring high quality and holistic support to the individuals accessing those services. As we are entering our new 5 year’s organisation strategy 2025-2030, and are developing this service and role, we are looking for a values driven candidate, for a 6-month secondment to help us deliver and develop this service while working closely with the service manager and excellent team of coordinators. We are looking for a candidate with experience running groups, knowledge of autism and ability to flex their communication style to meet the needs of the people who use our service, their families, our staff and our volunteers. Main Responsibilities: The role will combine leading groups for autistic children and young people with a range of needs, supporting the delivery of others as needed and developing and co-ordinating the support and its delivery. Your time will be dedicated to admin related tasks, overseeing and co-ordinating groups, ensuring a high-quality delivery and supporting the development of our teams. More specifically: Leadership & Line Management: · Lead groups supporting children and young people with ranging needs. · Ensure groups offer high-quality and safe, person-centred environments for autistic young people and support them to have fun and build their confidence in an environment where they can be their true selves. · Provide supervision, support, and performance management to support workers and leaders across the group services. · Build a cohesive, motivated team culture where staff are supported, accountable, and aligned with RfA’s values and where staff are effectively line manged and developed to deliver high quality and person-centred services. Service Delivery & Development: · Oversee and be part of the delivery of group services for children and young people, including term-time and holiday programmes. · Ensure services are running at full capacity, including proactive recruitment of autistic individuals and advertising of available spaces. · Monitor service quality, ensuring activities are well-planned, inclusive, and meet the needs of individuals with both complex and lower support needs. · Analyse service data and feedback to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities for development. · With Services, develop processes and procedures to develop the services. · Lead and deliver autism sessions, including session planning, meaningful activities and set up of resources and equipment. · Facilitate pre and post session team meetings to reflect on the session, activities, and young people’s need. · Oversee staff-child ratios, individual support plans and medical plans. · Offer high quality autism specific support based on the young people’s interests and needs. Safeguarding, Risk & Behaviour Support: · Work closely with the Safeguarding Lead to ensure all safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented and embedded across services. · Ensure risks are identified, assessed, and managed effectively, with clear processes in place for staff and volunteers. · Collaborate with the Behaviour Support Team to ensure individuals are supported in line with RfA’s person-centred approach. · Promote a culture of safety, dignity, and respect in all service settings. Training, Quality & Compliance: · Ensure all staff and volunteers, are well trained and ensuring compliance with RfA policies and sector standards. · Ensure robust quality assurance systems are in place and continuously improved in collaboration with other managers. · Support staff to implement consistent standards for planning, delivery, and evaluation of services. Finance, Monitoring & Reporting: · Work collaboratively with the Finance Team to ensure services are delivered within financial parameters. · Monitor delivery against funder KPIs and reporting requirements, ensuring accurate and timely submissions. Stakeholder Engagement: · Develop and maintain relationships with referrers, families, and external agencies to ensure services are accessible and responsive. · Represent RfA at external meetings and forums, advocating for the needs of autistic individuals and their families. Strategic Contribution · Work alongside the Director of Services to shape the strategic direction of RfA’s services. · Lead or contribute to organisational workstreams and initiatives that promote innovation, inclusion, and sustainability. Person Specification Essential Skills Experience of leading groups Experience of working in youth and play work settings Experience supporting autistic people with complex needs, including using autism specific strategies and skills for communication and, sensory differences Passionate and values driven. Strong communication skills adaptable to different populations including: colleagues, external professionals, service users, families, volunteers, donors. Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills. Good understanding of safeguarding. Previous management experience of staff and/or volunteers Project management experience Desirable Skills Experience of conducting risk assessments Experience and understanding of Mental Health Standard skills expected of all staff Strong organisational and prioritisation skills IT skills: proficient with Office 365 & Excel Self-starter and able to work independently, using own initiative Non-judgemental, compassionate Confidentiality You will have access to confidential information concerning families and other service users and will be required to maintain confidentiality at all times. Staff Benefits 90% of our staff say that Resources for Autism is “a great place to work”. Not only will the work you do ensure we are making vital differences and inspiring others, but our other benefits also include: · Flexible working patterns with the option to work in a hybrid way (only available for some roles) · 25 days of leave (pro rata for part time roles) each year plus 8 bank holidays and an additional 3 Celebration days that could be used between Christmas and new year, but may be used for other religious days or significant days such as your birthday. · Access to ongoing training and progress in the areas that interest you · Access to our wellbeing initiatives and an Employee Assistance Programme · Enrolment on to our pension scheme · A supportive, warm and fun working environment made up of values driven people who are passionate about changing the world for autistic people To discuss the role informally, please email: We particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates, LGBTQIA+ candidates and disabled candidates, because we would like to increase the representation of these groups at Resources for Autism. We want to do this because we know greater diversity will lead to even greater results for our community. As you would expect, we are a neuro-affirming employer, with a strengths and rights based approach to neurodiversity which affirms neurodivergent identity – we don’t want to “fix” or “cure” autism, and we don’t see it as a “disability” however we do recognise it can be “disabling”. We are working to improve the ways in which we recruit and support neurodiverse employees and those with lived experience of neurodiversity. RfA is a Disability Confidant employer and candidates who meet the minimum essential criteria, that have a disability will be guaranteed an interview.