Citizens Advice Mid Mercia
23,810 - 24,750 per year
Church Gresley (DE11 9NR)
Part-time
Thank you for your interest in working at Citizens Advice Mid Mercia. The following information should give you all that you need to apply for this role and an idea about what it means to work at our organisation. Job Title Autism Project Officer Salary £23,810 - £24,750 p/a (depending on experience) Hours of work 37.5, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm (on occasion work outside of these hours may be needed in order to attend events) Hybrid Working – a minimum of 3 days per week from one of our offices or in the community and 2 days a week working from home. Our offices are in Church Gresley (DE11 9NR) and Derby city (DE24 8BF). There may also be occasional travel across Derbyshire and Derby for which travel expenses will be paid. Fixed Term Contract – 31st March 2026 with possible extension dependant on funding. When position is filled. TBC ASAP Location Status Closing date Interview date Start date TO APPLY Please send a copy of your CV with a cover letter, explaining why you would be suitable for this role. This is to be sent as soon as possible to: staff@citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk (We reserve the right to end early should a candidate be successful) The Autism Service For the past five years, we have designed, developed and delivered several contracts relating to autism and neurodivergence within the East Midlands. This has enabled us to further develop our knowledge and experience of supporting autistic and neurodivergent individuals and their families and carers, as well as working collaboratively with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to develop the right support for individuals within our local communities. Citizens Advice Mid Mercia currently have three autism services that support the neurodivergent community across Derby and Derbyshire. These services include the Autism Information and Advice Service, The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Hubs (ND Hubs) and The Community of Practice (CoP). Please see more information about each service below: The Autism Information and Advice Service The Autism Information and Advice Service is a service commissioned by Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council to provide information and guidance to autistic individuals, their families, carers and professionals living or working within Derby city or Derbyshire county. The service provides this support through their free helpline service which can be accessed every weekday from 9am to 5pm, as well as via email for those with differing communication needs. Support can also be accessed face to face at our regular drop-in events which take places three times a month within community locations across Derby city and wider Derbyshire. The service also delivers free autism awareness training to professionals and provides free parents/carer workshops to help raise awareness of autism in the locality for specific groups working with or supporting the autistic community. In addition to this, the service also runs a regular online Autism Alliance once a month that provides the autistic community with a platform to share experiences and access peer support from other members of the autistic community. The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Hubs (ND Hubs) The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Community Hubs is a free service commissioned by the NHS/Joined Up Care Derbyshire to provide information and guidance (IAG) to children, young people and families in the South Derbyshire area that may be neurodivergent. No diagnosis is needed to access the service, as the service is designed to support families that are currently awaiting assessment to ensure they can access holistic support and information whilst they wait. Clients can access face to face support at our weekly hubs which take place in the local community every Monday or can also access support through our phoneline or email service which is open every weekday from 9am to 5pm. The Community of Practice The Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a concern or passion regarding autism, learning disability and neurodiversity. The aim of the CoP is to better understand current services and gaps in provision. It enables originations and those with lived experience to come together to co-produce solutions to any identified issues. It is intended to be a new way of commissioning services by the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board who can also allocate funding for new services (work packages). We are now recruiting for a 37.5 hour per week Autism Project worker to join our existing team to support with the above projects. Role Summary The Autism Project Officer is responsible for working across all projects to support the day to day running of all autism services at Citizens Advice Mid Mercia (including any new projects we may have in the future). This currently includes overseeing the Autism Information and Advice service, The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Community Hub Service and our Community of Practice (CoP). This will include overseeing the phonelines and inboxes, delivering drop-ins and training sessions, attending, co-hosting and hosting events and meetings and completing stakeholder engagement and social media on behalf of all services. Please see a breakdown of the roles and responsibilities below: Roles and Responsibilities: The Autism Information and Advice Service Helpline and Email Support: To support with the management of the autism service inbox, ensuring all queries are answered/clients receive support from an advisor within service KPIs. To oversee the autism service live phoneline, ensuring all calls are answered and clients are supported within service KPIs. To interview clients over the phone using sensitive listening and questioning skills to allow clients to explain their problem(s) and empower them to set their own priorities about the support they would like to receive from the service. To ensure all clients are supported with their issues, using up-to-date information and guidance, signposting to a range of local and national organisations where appropriate using holistic assessment and internal referrals are made to Citizens Advice Mid Mercia where appropriate. To maintain confidentiality, use discretion and sound judgement in undertaking all areas of responsibility and ensure safeguarding procedures are always followed. To support other team members as requested by the service manager, considering the capacity of the team and using the calendar to ensure smooth service delivery. To ensure all clients are sent their resources and signposting information following their appointment via email and within service KPIs. To ensure all clients are offered follow-up appointments after their initial appointments/contact with the service to ensure no further support is required and feedback is collated regarding service outcomes. Drop-ins and Celebration Events: To oversee/support with the booking of drop-in events on behalf of the service manager, ensuring these are booked for the year ahead and added to the diary with any issues being reported to the service manager. To deliver/support with three face-to-face drop-in events per month ensuring all clients are offered the appropriate level of support for their queries and showed compassion and respect. To plan, facilitate and deliver a face-to-face drop-in service event during World Autism Acceptance Month to promote autism awareness and acceptance in partnership with other providers and organisations. To plan, facilitate and deliver any other celebration events linked to World Autism Acceptance Week and other autism and neurodiversity events relevant to the service as requested by the service manager. To support with the marketing of all drop-ins and celebration events to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of daily stakeholder engagement. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring all drop-in and event attendees are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. To ensure all clients are sent their resources and signposting information following any support received at drop-ins via email and within service KPIs. To ensure all clients are offered follow-up appointments after any support received at drop-ins or events to ensure no further support is required and feedback is collated regarding service outcomes. To ensure drop-in and event posters are sent to venues ahead of time to advertise the event, as well any local organisations such as schools, GPs and VCSEs. Autism Awareness Training: To deliver three online Autism Awareness courses per month via Microsoft teams to professionals within Derby and Derbyshire (number of sessions may be subject to change due to contract and service). To deliver two in-person Autism Awareness parent/carer workshops to parents and carers at different locations across Derby city and wider Derbyshire (number of sessions may be subject to change due to contract and service). To deliver any additional Autism Awareness sessions to any stakeholders that have requested ad hoc training sessions for their organisations or clients (to be delivered both in-person at locations across Derby city and wider Derbyshire and online at the request of the client). To deliver any other training sessions relating to autism and neurodiversity, both in-person in different locations across Derby city and wider Derbyshire and online as requested by the service manager. To ensure all training attendees receive an email after the training is completed with copies of the slides, a certificate of attendance and a link to the feedback form. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring all attendees are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. Autism Alliance: To support with the facilitation of monthly Autism Alliances including writing agendas, chairing meetings, writing minutes and comms. To support with the facilitation of any ad hoc Autism Alliance sessions including writing agendas, chairing meetings, writing minutes and comms as requested by the service manager. To create resources and social media posts advertising the Alliance, as well as the creation of support documents based on the themes of each month’s Alliance, co-produced by the Autism Alliance community to be distributed to members and the mailing list each month. Community Engagement and Social Media: To liaise with stakeholders and attend meetings and events on behalf of the service that would be beneficial for service promotion or the support of clients (including out of office hours where required). To work with stakeholders in local authorities to develop joined up approaches to service delivery and the development of new provision and take a leading role on their execution with support from the service manager. To build good working relationships with large stakeholders, such a hospitals, universities, colleges, schools, and so on, with the goal of both promoting the service and developing collaborative working initiatives including referral pathways and possible partnership opportunities. To take detailed notes at all meetings and feedback to the service manager, ensuring spreadsheets are updated following each meeting. To work with local providers and organisations to better identify and support the autistic community. To oversee/support with the marketing of all service elements to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of stakeholder engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, taking responsibility for making new contacts and ensuring existing contact lists are updated. To ensure all stakeholder engagement targets and KPIs are met and recorded each day. To develop promotional literature and resources for all elements of the service (including: IAG, drop-ins and celebration events, training and any other areas as requested by the service manager), ensuring these are disseminated to stakeholders and out in the community to ensure intake and engagement meets service KPIs. To create media content and marketing materials to promote all elements of the service including IAG, drop-ins and celebration events, training and any other areas as requested by the service manager. To produce and post social media posts each day (including service promotion and autism awareness posts), responding to messages in the inbox in a timely manner and reporting any negative messages or complaints, ensuring all contacts are recording on the relevant spreadsheets. To support with the production of our newsletter, providing current and engaging content for the autistic community, ensuring this is distributed to the mailing list each quarter (or as requested by the service manager). Administration: To accurately record details of all client contact, appointments and next steps onto the organisation’s case management system (Casebook) and internal logs such as Excel sheets, ensuring these are completed by the end of each day and within organisation KPIs. To ensure all spreadsheets relating to service delivery (including client contacts, drop-ins, training and stakeholder engagement) are completed by the end of each day to ensure these are kept up to date for our records and reports. To oversee the autism service mailing list, ensuring all new contacts are added to the spreadsheet and any clients that request to unsubscribe are removed in accordance with GDPR. To ensure all service KPIs and daily/weekly targets are met, and these are recorded on the spreadsheet with any issues being communicated to the service manager. To keep detailed records of all work completed and produce monthly and quarterly reports summarising work completed for the service. To complete monthly client and professional case studies for The Autism Information and Advice Service and any other case studies that might be needed as requested by the service manager. To support with the production of helpline resources for the service such as call handling procedures, escalation procedures and helpline scripts. The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Community Hubs Service ND Hub (Drop-ins): To oversee/support with the booking of weekly ND Hub drop-ins in at least two locations across South Derbyshire on behalf of the service manager, ensuring these are booked for the year ahead and added to the diary with any issues being reported to the service manager. To deliver/support with weekly (at least one per week) face-to-face ND Hub drop-in events ensuring all clients are offered the appropriate level of support for their queries and showed compassion and respect. To oversee/support with the booking of weekly satellite hub drop-ins at existing groups within the local community such as school coffee mornings, parent and child group etc, ensuring these are booked for the year ahead and are added to the diary with any issues being reported to the service manager. To deliver/support with weekly (at least once per week) face-to-face ND Hub satellite drop-ins within the local community, events ensuring all clients are offered the appropriate level of support for their queries and showed compassion and respect. To support with the marketing of all ND Hub drop-ins to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of daily stakeholder engagement. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring all drop-in attendees are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. To ensure all clients are sent their resources and signposting information following any support received at drop-ins via email and within service KPIs. To ensure all clients are offered follow-up appointments after any support received at drop-ins or events to ensure no further support is required and feedback is collated regarding service outcomes. To ensure drop-in and event posters are sent to venues ahead of time to advertise the event, as well any local organisations such as schools, GPs and VCSEs. Helpline and Email Support: To support with the management of the ND Hubs service inbox, ensuring all queries are answered/clients receive support from an advisor within service KPIs. To oversee the ND Hubs service live phoneline, ensuring all calls are answered and clients are supported within service KPIs. To interview clients over the phone using sensitive listening and questioning skills to allow clients to explain their problem(s) and empower them to set their own priorities about the support they would like to receive from the service. To ensure all clients are supported with their issues, using up-to-date information and guidance, signposting to a range of local and national organisations where appropriate using holistic assessment and internal referrals are made to Citizens Advice Mid Mercia where appropriate. To maintain confidentiality, use discretion and sound judgement in undertaking all areas of responsibility and ensure safeguarding procedures are always followed. To support other team members as requested by the service manager, considering the capacity of the team and using the calendar to ensure smooth service delivery. To ensure all clients are sent their resources and signposting information following their appointment via email and within service KPIs. To ensure all clients are offered follow-up appointments after their initial appointments/contact with the service to ensure no further support is required and feedback is collated regarding service outcomes. Training and Workshops: To oversee/support with the booking of internal training sessions and workshops with external providers in relation to neurodiversity at the direction of the service manager, ensuring these are booked for the year ahead and added to the diary with any issues being reported to the service manager. To oversee/support with the bookings of clients onto training and workshops delivered by the ND Hubs and external providers, ensuring numbers are inline with our internal policies and procedures and health and safety policies are followed. To oversee/support/deliver internal training and workshops with external providers as requested by the service manager, ensuring the training is engaging, informative and that clients are fully supported. To ensure all training attendees receive an email after the training is completed with copies of the slides, a certificate of attendance and a link to the feedback form. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring all attendees are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. Celebration Events: To plan, facilitate and deliver celebration events linked to neurodiversity or relevant to the service as requested by the service manager. To support with the marketing of celebration events to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of stakeholder engagement. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring event attendees are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. Community Engagement and Social Media: To liaise with stakeholders and attend meetings and events on behalf of the service that would be beneficial for service promotion or the support of clients (including out of office hours where required). To build good working relationships with large stakeholders, such a hospitals, universities, colleges, schools, and so on, with the goal of both promoting the service and developing collaborative working initiatives including referral pathways and possible partnership opportunities. To take detailed notes at all meetings and feedback to the service manager, ensuring spreadsheets are updated following each meeting. To work with local providers and organisations to better identify and support neurodiverse children and families living within South Derbyshire. To oversee/support with the marketing of all service elements to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of stakeholder engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, taking responsibility for making new contacts and ensuring existing contact lists are updated. To ensure all stakeholder engagement targets and KPIs are met and recorded each day. To develop promotional literature and resources for all elements of the service (including: ND Hubs drop-ins and satellites, the ND Hubs helpline, training and workshops, celebration events and any other areas as requested by the service manager), ensuring these are disseminated to stakeholders and out in the community to ensure intake and engagement meets service KPIs. To create media content and marketing materials to promote all elements of the service including ND Hub drop-ins and satellites, the ND Hubs helpline and email support, training and workshops, celebration events and any other areas as requested by the service manager. To produce and post social media posts each day (including service promotion and neurodiversity awareness posts), responding to messages in the inbox in a timely manner and reporting any negative messages or complaints, ensuring all contacts are recording on the relevant spreadsheets. To support with the production of our newsletter, providing current and engaging content for the neurodiverse community, ensuring this is distributed to the mailing list each quarter (or as requested by the service manager). Administration: To accurately record details of all client contact, appointments and next steps onto the organisation’s case management system (Casebook) and internal logs such as Excel sheets, ensuring these are completed by the end of each day and within organisation KPIs. To ensure all spreadsheets relating to service delivery (including client contacts, drop-ins, training and stakeholder engagement) are completed by the end of each day to ensure these are kept up to date for our records and reports. To oversee the ND Hubs service mailing list, ensuring all new contacts are added to the spreadsheet and any clients that request to unsubscribe are removed in accordance with GDPR. To ensure all service KPIs and daily/weekly targets are met, and these are recorded on the spreadsheet with any issues being communicated to the service manager. To keep detailed records of all work completed and produce monthly and quarterly reports summarising work completed for the service. To complete monthly client and professional case studies for The South Derbyshire Neurodevelopmental Community Hubs service and any other case studies that might be needed as requested by the service manager. To support with the production of helpline resources for the service such as call handling procedures, escalation procedures and helpline scripts. The Community of Practice (CoP): COP Service: To support with the planning and facilitation of monthly CoP meetings including writing agendas, chairing meetings, writing minutes and comms. To support with the planning and facilitation of special event CoP meetings relating to work packages including writing agendas, chairing meetings, writing minutes and comms. To support with the management of the CoP inbox ensuring all clients receive support from an advisor within individual service KPIs. To support with the collation of feedback, ensuring all attendees and members of the CoP are asked for feedback using various methods and formats agreed by the service manager, ensuring this is recorded on the relevant spreadsheet. Community Engagement and Social Media: To liaise with stakeholders and attend meetings and events on behalf of the service that would be beneficial for service promotion and growing the CoP community (including out of office hours where required). To support with the marketing of the CoP to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of daily stakeholder engagement. To create and post social media and resources for the CoP, ensuring all resources are up to-date and use neuro affirming language based on the service’s core values as agreed by the service manager. To build good working relationships with large stakeholders, such a hospitals, universities, colleges, schools, and so on, with the goal of both promoting the service and developing collaborative working initiatives including new members and attendees to our monthly meetings. To take detailed notes at all meetings and feedback to the service manager, ensuring spreadsheets are updated following each meeting. To work with local providers and organisations to better identify and support the needs of autistic individuals and people with learning disabilities living in Derby city and wider Derbyshire. To oversee/support with the marketing of all service elements to stakeholders and organisations through the completion of stakeholder engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, taking responsibility for making new contacts and ensuring existing contact lists are updated. To ensure all stakeholder engagement targets and KPIs are met and recorded each day. Administration: To ensure all spreadsheets relating to the CoP are completed by the end of each day to ensure these are kept up to date for our records and reports. To oversee the CoP mailing list, ensuring all new contacts are added to the spreadsheet and any clients that request to unsubscribe are removed in accordance with GDPR. To ensure all service KPIs and daily/weekly targets are met, and these are recorded on the spreadsheet with any issues being communicated to the service manager. To keep detailed records of all work completed and produce monthly and quarterly reports summarising work completed for the service. To complete case studies for the CoP as requested by the service manager. General Administration (All Services) To ensure that all communications are professionally written to a high standard. To use various IT packages for record keeping. To be a point of contact for volunteers in the team. To support with service queries from volunteers, knowing when to escalate information to the Autism Service Manager (e.g., safeguarding). To ensure all work conforms to CAMM’s systems and procedures. To carry out any other tasks which may be within the scope of the post to ensure the effective delivery and development of the service. To undertake relevant training in accordance with the role. To be willing to support colleagues and other services within CAMM should that be required. To agree to support any services in CAMM and any other business needs. To abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues, including completing risk assessments ahead of events. To dedicate time to complete individual/team development, service development, administration and reporting, and attendance at required meetings. To abide by safeguarding, GDPR, and health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety, that of colleagues and clients. To have an empathetic and professional manner when supporting clients, always upholding the Citizens Advice Mid Mercia CORE values either face to face or over the phone. Professional Development To keep up to date with legislation, policies and procedures and undertake appropriate training – especially in relation to understanding autism and neurodivergence. Prepare for and attend supervision sessions/team meetings/staff meetings/external meetings as appropriate. Person Specification Essential: Excellent organisational skills to ensure smooth service delivery. Experience of providing advice or information through various channels including over the telephone. Knowledge of the issues and barriers experienced by autistic and neurodivergent individuals. Experience of coordinating group sessions or activities. Experience of adapting approaches, communication and information to a varied group of people. Experience of delivering services in compliance with GDPR and data protection legislation. Knowledge of client recording systems or databases. Proven experience of delivering training to groups, teaching, or mentoring. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Ability to use a variety of IT/digital systems and packages including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Experience of managing time against competing priorities and a varied workload. The ability to monitor and maintain service delivery against agreed targets in a busy environment. Experience of assisting others to identify knowledge gaps and aid their personal development. Experience of managing time, against competing priorities and a varied workload with the ability to monitor and maintain service delivery against agreed targets in a busy environment. Good interpersonal skills and client care skills. Commitment to Citizens Advice Mid Mercia’s Core Values. Ability to successfully work as part of a team. Ability to be flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the service Have a full UK driving licence, have access to own vehicle and have business insurance. Desirable: Good understanding of the Autism Act 2009 and autism strategies and how this relates to the lives of individuals living with autism and neurodivergence. Experience of working with and/ or mentoring volunteers. Be an Expert by Experience (including autism and other types of neurodivergence). Experience of working with autistic and neurodivergent people, including advising and/or advocating. Experience of working with children and families, including advising and/or advocating. Experience of working with people with learning disabilities, including advising and/or advocating. Want to chat about this role? In accordance with Citizens Advice national policy, the successful candidate will be screened by the DBS. If you want to chat about the role further, you can contact Anna Tyson (Autism Service Manager) by calling 07495391526. Probation Period: 9 months – with possible extension if performance review is required. Benefits: 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays pro rata. (FTE - 3 days to be taken over the Christmas period) Up to 5% pension contribution dependent on salary. Positive Employment: We welcome applications from people with disabilities and a variety of backgrounds Our CORE Values Communicate: We will be consistent, positive, passionate, and listen. Ownership: We will be accountable, make a difference, meet deadlines, keep promises and have solutions. Respect: We will be honest, work with integrity, trust each other, be fair, tolerant and stand for equality. Effective: We will deliver quality, focus on detail and be professional. Overview of Citizens Advice Mid Mercia Citizens Advice Mid Mercia is an independent member of the Citizens Advice network, which is made up of the national charity and a network of local Citizens Advice members. Citizens Advice Mid Mercia delivers free, impartial, independent and confidential advice, training, peer support and advocacy services. Services are delivered across South Derbyshire, Derby City, East Staffordshire (Burton-upon- Trent and Uttoxeter) and Tamworth. Citizens Advice Mid Mercia has over 60 members of staff and many volunteers delivering services from four main offices and community venues.