Neurodiversity Navigator | Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust; Salford; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare provider in Salford is seeking a Neurodiversity Navigator to support neurodiverse young people and their families. This role includes signposting to services, ensuring updated information online, and engaging in co-production activities. The ideal candidate should have experience with autism/ADHD and excellent communication skills. This is an opportunity to contribute to a vital service for the community.

Qualifications

• Lived experience of autism/ADHD is essential.
• Effective communication skills with neurodivergent young people and families.
• Experience working in a team with various neurodiverse peers.

Responsibilities

• Signpost families and young people to appropriate support.
• Help families understand the Local Offer.
• Ensure local websites have updated information.

Skills

Lived experience of autism/ADHD

Experience in effective communication with neurodivergent youth

Excellent organisational skills

Empathy for neurodivergent challenges

Tools

IT skills

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to be the first Neurodiversity Navigator in Salford, joining the existing team of navigators across MFT CAMHS. The postholder will support neurodiverse young people and their families. This includes those on the waiting list for assessment, and those who have received a diagnosis of autism/ ADHD. The role will involve answering queries, signposting young people and their families to relevant services, ensuring information about support is up to date on local websites, supporting parent carer events and taking a lead on co-production. The postholder will work within Salford’s Neurodevelopmental Pathway alongside the CAMHS and community Paediatric teams, as well as other community services, and Intensive Support teams for Learning Disabilities and Autism in CAMHS.

Responsibilities

• Signposting families and young people who are neurodivergent to the right support
• Helping families understand the Local Offer
• Ensuring local websites have up to date information
• Taking a lead in co-production for CAMHS related projects
• Supporting developments for young people and their families that might be happening at a GM level as appropriate
• Liaising with and signposting professionals from other services, e.g. local authority, schools, health professionals to relevant support

Essential and Desirable Criteria

Essential

• Lived experience of autism/ ADHD
• Experience of how to communicate effectively with neurodivergent young people and their families
• Experience of working in a team and alongside neurotypical and neurodivergent colleagues
• Understanding of Trust procedures regarding information governance and safeguarding
• Ability to present information clearly in verbal and written formats
• Excellent organisational skills
• Excellent IT skills
• Awareness of and empathy for the challenges that neurodivergent people and their families face
• Willingness to make reasonable adjustments e.g. with communication style

Desirable

• Experience of working with neurodivergent young people and their families
• Experience of managing telephone queries in calm manner
• Experience of advocacy/ accessing local services
• Understanding of local offer
• Knowledge of statutory processes

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of over £3bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts.We’recreating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000workforceto pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trustsseekto emulate soyou’llbenefitfrom a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We’vealso created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We’reproud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage andfacilitatehigh-quality research programmes.What’smore,we’reexcited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging,provideequal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experienceyou’llneed,take a lookat the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the ‘Supporting Documents’ heading. So thatyou’reeven more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us,you’llneed to take time to read the ‘Candidate Essentials Guide’ that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how ‘we care for you as you care for others’.Most importantly, it alsocontainscritical informationyou’llneed to be aware of before yousubmitan applicationform.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity andeliminatingany form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have anyspecial requirementsto help you with your application, email our team [e-mail].

We’relooking forward to hearing from you!

This advert closes on Monday 29 Sep 2025