ADOS Autism Assessor for Children and Young People

Paloma Health; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

A healthcare organization specializing in autism assessment is seeking qualified professionals to join their multidisciplinary team. You will be responsible for conducting high-quality child observations as part of the autism assessment process in a supportive and dynamic environment. The role requires professional registration with HCPC, NMC, or Social Work England, and offers flexible working options and competitive compensation of £300 per observation. Join a mission-driven team dedicated to enhancing children's healthcare access.

Benefits

Clinical supervision

Competitive compensation

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• At least 1 year of experience delivering children’s observations in an autism assessment.
• Enhanced DBS with barred list check required.

Responsibilities

• Conduct high-quality child observations for autism assessments.
• Follow the Safeguarding Policy, including risk assessments.
• Maintain professional qualifications and complete CPD.

Skills

Professional Registration (HCPC, NMC, Social Work England)

Time management

Parent and patient communication

Child observation

Education

Recognized ADOS-2 course completion

Relevant degree (Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, etc.)

Job description

Paloma's mission is to make children's autism and ADHD assessments and care available on the NHS within 4 weeks of GP referral. We are making this happen by redesigning care pathways, building new software & AI tools, and training up a specialist clinical workforce.

Mark & Darshak founded Paloma as they were frustrated that families are waiting 2-10 years for NHS children's autism and ADHD assessments. Learn more about the crisis in NHS children's neurodevelopmental services from the Children’s Commissioner for England: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/childrens-commissioner-warns-of-invisible-crisis-as-delays-and-inequalities-laid-bare-among-children-with-neurodevelopmental-conditions/.

We are growing incredibly fast to meet the need for autism and ADHD care, and we have:

• Raised £5m pre‑seed funding from leading healthcare investors (Triple Point Ventures and Heal Capital)
• Grown our fantastic team to 80 people, and are hiring ~100 more over the next 12 months

How is Paloma Health different from other Neurodevelopmental providers?

• We are clinically‑led, Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered, and rigorous in recording our outcomes and family experiences.
• Our in‑house product & engineering team ensures we can:
  • Give families a more consumer‑like experience of healthcare
  • Free our clinicians from documentation to focus on supporting families
• Our strong culture, including transparency, a sense of community, and supporting staff career development
• The experience of our founders (Dr Mark Jenkins & Darshak Shah), who have previously built tech‑enabled NHS obesity and ophthalmology services. Combined, their previous companies have treated over 1 million NHS patients in the last 15 years!
• Being backed by leading healthcare investors (Triple Point Ventures and Heal Capital) allows us to move fast

The Opportunity

Paloma Health has developed a new gold‑standard autism assessment pathway and our own Patient Record software system, which allows us to offer:

• An exceptional service and timely assessments, as well as clear strengths and needs‑based outcomes, regardless of whether an autism diagnosis is made.
• High assessor role satisfaction by improving the experience of delivering assessments. For example, we are building an AI tool to streamline diagnostic report writing, which we know is a pressure of the role.

You will work as a member of a multidisciplinary assessment team, delivering:

• In‑person child observations at our London clinic
• Peer MDT diagnostic decision‑making, with the support of the senior clinical MDT where required

From a cultural perspective, you are:

• Comfortable working in a dynamic environment and embracing change
• Excited about using new technologies in your role
• Always looking for ways to improve our staff and patient experience

We commit to supporting your development and well‑being through quarterly development check‑ins with your line manager.

Responsibilities

• Conduct high‑quality child observations as part of an autism assessment.
• Act in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy, including conducting a risk assessment where necessary.
• Keep up to date with mandatory training and your professional qualification requirements, including CPD.

Required

• Professional Registration with any of: HCPC, NMC, or Social Work England
• Typically, job titles of people with the relevant skills are:
  • Psychologist, including Clinical Psychologist and Educational Psychologist (HCPC)
  • Occupational Therapist (HCPC)
  • Speech and Language Therapist (HCPC)
  • Nurse, including Mental Health, Learning Disability and Children’s Nurse (NMC)
  • Social Worker (Social Work England)
• Completion of a recognised ADOS-2 course is required for NMC, HCPC and Social Work England registered applicants. Clinical Psychologists would be considered without having completed an ADOS-2 course.
• At least 1 year of experience delivering children’s observations within an autism assessment process. This can be EITHER working with children 5 to 18 years of age OR children 2-4 years of age, OR the full 2-18 age range.
• Good time management skills, including caseload management
• High‑quality parent and patient communication skills
• Enhanced DBS with barred list check (as you will be working with children)

Desirable

• Experience in conducting risk assessments within an autism assessment service
• Evidence of Safeguarding training (Level 3 and above)

Join us and be part of our journey to revolutionise access to NHS Children’s Autism Assessments in England!

You will be part of a mission‑driven organisation that’s transforming access to Autism Assessments in England. We support our self‑employed assessors with:

• Clinical supervision where needed
• Very competitive compensation of £300 per observation
• Flexible working options, including weekday morning, afternoon or evening clinics

Equality & Diversity

Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.

We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need so we can adapt our interview process.

Safer Recruitment & Pre-Employment Checks

Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority across all areas of the organisation. As part of our pre‑employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on your role within the business, this will be at either an Enhanced, Standard, or Basic level. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure we appoint individuals who are aligned with our values and who will contribute to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for everyone we work with.