Children & Young People Autism Assessment Pathway Navigator

Ncic; Lowca; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27-day holiday scheme

NHS Discounts

Salary Sacrifice schemes

Vivup counselling service

Job summary

NCIC is recruiting an Autism Pathway Navigator to support families across east and west Cumbria during the diagnostic autism assessment process. The role sits within the Community Paediatric Service, managing the waiting list and acting as a key contact for parents and carers throughout the pathway.

The post includes advocacy for children and families, collaboration with the MDT, and ensuring information is accessible and up to date.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting children, families and carers of autism.
• Able to work autonomously and as part of a multi‑disciplinary team.
• Lived experience with children with autism and learning disabilities.
• Experience of multi‑agency working (childcare, health, social care).
• Experience of community/voluntary/parent/partner agency links.

Responsibilities

• Manage waiting list for the autism pathway within the Community Paediatric Service.
• Be a point of contact / liaison for parents and families awaiting assessment.
• Perform welfare checks and keep families up to date on progress.
• Support understanding of the Autism Pathway for children/young people and carers.
• Lead advocacy for the child, young person and family within the MDT.
• Establish a contact point for families and carers.
• Liaise with clinical colleagues for action (reports/appointments).
• Ensure Autism Tracker reflects current position for reporting.

Skills

Flexibility

Interpersonal skills

Relationship building

Difficult situations

Interprofessional collaboration

Travel frequently

Education

NVQ Level 4 or equivalent

Job description

Would you like to join a centre of excellence in rural and remote healthcare?

NHS AfC: Band 4

Main area 203320 Specialist Child North Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (Mon - Fri Office Hours) Job ref 262-A-26-8244433

Site North Cumbria Town West Cumberland Hospital Salary £28,392 - £31,157 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

We are recruiting a Autism Pathway Navigator, to support and guide families across east and west Cumbria during the diagnostic Autism assessment process.

The Autism Pathway assessment is the process for children and young people who are being assessed for an autism spectrum disorder. The pathway begins with an Early Support Offer whilst patients and their families wait for an autism assessment, and is completed when family carers and the young person have been offered opportunity to discuss the outcome of the assessment. The role of the Pathway Navigator has been developed specifically to support family carers during the pathway and to ensure a better experience in response to feedback from family carers that the Pathway is difficult to understand and navigate.

Our team provide an effective system of support and supervision, which may include 1:1, pair or group supervision, covering management, clinical and safeguarding supervision.

You will work closely with the Pathway Navigator's already working around the county, to provide equity of service for families across Cumbria.

Main duties of the job

As an integral and highly valued member of the Autism Pathway team, the Pathway Navigator, they will support the Autism Pathway team , working within the Community Paediatric Service to manage the waiting list for the autism pathway, being a point of contact / liaison for parents and families whose children are awaiting assessment. This will include performing welfare checks and ensuring families are kept up to date with their children’s progress along the pathway.

The Pathway Navigator will support children/ young people and family carers understanding of the Autism Pathway through the provision of information and advice and enhance connection to local communities.

The Pathway Navigator will take a lead role in advocating for the child, young person and family carers within the service and wider MDT Team, and will also support the understanding of the autism assessment process with external agencies, partner organisations and referrers.

The post holder will establish and facilitate a point of contact for families and carers supporting children / Young People who are being assessed for Autism.

Liaise with clinical colleagues when specific cases need action i.e. pursuing reports, appointments etc

Ensure Autism Tracker is updated to correctly reflect current position for reporting.

Working for our organisation

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time’:

Being a clinically led organisation

Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust

A positive patient experience every time

A great place to work

Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligiblevacancies.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £6.50 = £28.00 Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £6.50 = £56.00 Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

• 27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years
• NHS Discounts*
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*
• Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date

Person specification

Qualifications

• Evidence of ability to study successfully at NVQ level 4 or equivalent
• Information technology skills sufficient to the undertaking of the post

Experience

• Experience of supporting children / family / carers of those with autism.
• Managing own workload with effective liaison with others.
• Able to work autonomously and as a member of the multi-disciplinary team
• Lived experience with children with autism, and learning disabilities
• Experience of multi-agency working, preferably including childcare, health and social care
• Experience of community / voluntary / parent / partner agency links

Knowledge

• Knowledge of strategies and interventions relevant to children and young people with autism
• Knowledge of issues affecting families and parenting needs of children
• Knowledge of available support services and referral routes
• Knowledge of legislation and developments relevant to the field of children and autism.
• Up to date knowledge and awareness of safeguarding matters

Skills and Aptitudes

• An ability to be flexible and adapt to the changing needs of the developing service.
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to build relationships and trust with family carers
• Ability to deal with difficult situations and/or individuals in a calm, fair but effective manner
• Understanding of different professional roles and perspectives
• Ability to travel frequently to different work bases.

personal circumstances

• Full driving licence

Other Requirements

• Demonstrate importance of Equality and Diversity

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.