Schools Engagement Officer

At Ambitious about Autism, we stand with autistic children and young people. Our Time for Ambition strategy envisions a world where every autistic young person can be themselves and realise their goals. Yet too often, they face misunderstanding, isolation, and poor mental health at school — with exclusions for autistic children tripling in the past decade.

In 2022, with support from Zurich UK and the Zurich Foundation, we launched Autistic and OK – a pioneering programme empowering autistic pupils to understand themselves, take control of their wellbeing, and feel supported in education. We're now entering Phase 2, expanding the programme to more schools, colleges, and communities across the UK.

We're seeking a Schools Engagement Officer to play a vital role in making this next chapter a success. As a delivery focused role, you will provide hands-on support to schools implementing the Autistic and OK Schools Toolkit.  You will coordinate activities for the piloting of our new Whole School Approach and ensure feedback from schools is captured and shared with the wider team. You will also contribute to dissemination activities, helping to raise awareness of the programme and demonstrate its impact.

About the Role:
As part of the delivery team, you'll:

• Support schools to implement our Autistic and OK Toolkit.
• Coordinate pilot activities for our new Whole School Approach.
• Act as the first point of contact for schools, offering practical advice and support.
• Gather feedback and stories from schools to showcase the programme's impact.
• Work alongside our Youth Engagement Officer to ensure autistic young people's voices shape everything we do.

About You:

• Experience of working in or with schools, colleges, or the wider education sector.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Great communication skills, with confidence engaging teachers, leaders, and young people.
• A genuine passion for inclusion and improving outcomes for autistic young people.

In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD), flexible, hybrid working and more!

This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.

If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.

Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.