Job Description

The Service & Team:

This post is within the Autism in Schools Team, which is part of the Educational Psychology Service. This specific role is within the East of the county. The successful applicant will work alongside the existing Autism Advisors and Autism Support Workers and be line managed by an Autism Advisor or a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. The team works to meet the needs of autistic children and young people throughout Cornwall, in order to improve their access to the full curriculum and improve outcomes.

We are a proudly neurodiverse team and welcome applications from neurodivergent applicants with relevant skills, experience and qualifications. We recognise the value of lived experience.

The Role:

The role will include proactive work with children, young people, families and education providers, as well as collaboration with health colleagues and other colleagues across Cornwall’s SEND and Inclusion system.

The successful applicant will champion inclusive practice and ethos, upskilling the workforce to meet needs effectively. They will facilitate neuroaffirming practice in schools and settings to improve the wellbeing, engagement and aspirations of autistic children and young people and their families.

Key aspects of the role include:

Carrying out individual casework with children and young people under the direction of an Autism Advisor

Carrying out group work with children and young people

Co-delivering training for school staff, and workshops for groups of parents/carers

Training in and beginning to deliver therapeutic approaches (e.g. VIG, Overcoming) and accessing supervision to support this

Prioritising child voice and advocating for children's needs

Diary management and organisation to make best use of time

Maintaining and updating knowledge through relevant CPD

Being aware of boundaries of own role and seeking support / signposting as appropriate

This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.

Working Pattern:

This is a permanent position starting in September 2026. There are 20 hours available, and the working pattern can be mutually agreed within these hours.

The role will involve face-to-face work with schools and families across the East of Cornwall. The successful applicant will need to be able to travel independently around this area of the county and occasionally to other locations within Cornwall, taking into account that many of our schools are remote and difficult to access by public transport.

We have a number of key office bases around the county which the successful applicant could use alongside hybrid working. Our main bases in the East are in Bodmin and Liskeard. A mutually-agreed base will be identified.

What you’ll need to succeed:

The successful candidate will have knowledge and experience with autism and with the UK school system.

We are also looking for:

Qualification at NVQ Level 3 or equivalent, ideally in a relevant subject such as Childcare and Education

Knowledge of autism and neurodiversity and experience of working with autistic children and young people

A commitment to working in a neuro-affirming way, demonstrating respect to children and adults of all neurotypes

Knowledge, skills and experience in effective communication with autistic young people, including alternative and augmentative forms of communication such as visual support strategies

Ability to communicate information to individuals and groups both in writing and verbally

Experience of promoting children and young people’s voices and supporting them to advocate (this could be professional and/or lived experience)

Understanding of safeguarding and experience of working within organisations with safeguarding procedures in place.

Please read the role profile for the full details of this role attached below in this advert

What you’ll get in return:

Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

· a competitive salary.

· a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions

· a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to purchase additional leave.

· A national award-winning employee health and wellbeing programme

· Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services.

Additional Information:

Cornwall Council is unable to offer visa sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.

The full role profile is attached here

We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to an interview.

For more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Lucy Yeomans on lucy.yeomans@cornwall.gov.uk

Application Process

Please attach a supporting statement to your application, you can add your Education & Qualifications details manually using the application form timeline or you can upload your CV. Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points marked as ‘Application’ on the Role Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Please note that applications cannot be edited after they have been submitted, please contact careers@cornwall.gov.uk if you have any queries or require assistance with your application.

Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.

Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Working here - Cornwall Council

We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender reassignment status, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.