Package Description: As a Band 7 Highly Specialist Autism Practitioner, you will be part of our valued team in Essex, receiving access to exclusive rewards and benefits including: Band 7 salary with NHS Pension and full Agenda for Change terms and conditions Free tea, coffee and milk at your base location Membership of My Reward Hub, giving you access to discounts on every day purchases like grocery shopping as well as cashback and voucher offers for treats for you and those special to you Access to your wages as you earn them to help cover life’s emergencies and avoid overdraft fees or high interest rates Online and face to face help with your mental and physical wellbeing – from healthy recipes and activity challenges through to post trauma support, legal, debt and life management help, as well career coaching and counselling Access to eLearning, bespoke career pathways and opportunities for continuing professional development through our ‘Outstanding’ learning and development team, The Learning Enterprise An open, just culture where you’re encouraged to have and implement ideas which can help us deliver our purpose: changing lives through transforming health and care – backed up by at least £100,000 of ringfenced innovation funding each year The pride of working for an organisation committed to the highest clinical and quality standards: with the majority of our rated services holding “good” or “outstanding” ratings from the Care Quality Commission Job Introduction We are looking for a motivated and skilled Clinical Psychologist, registered Allied Health Professional or Nurse to join our JADES (Journey of Autism Diagnosis and Early Support) Team on a permanent basis within HCRG Care Group. This is an exciting opportunity to join a supportive and experienced multidisciplinary team working within the Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service. Our JADES team includes a Senior Clinical Psychologist, Community Paediatricians, Specialist Speech and Language Therapists, an Occupational Therapist, Specialist Neurodevelopmental Nurse and ADHD Nurse, alongside other dedicated colleagues. We work closely together to provide high-quality autism assessments for children and young people, drawing on a range of professional perspectives and areas of expertise. This role offers the opportunity to develop and apply specialist skills in neurodevelopmental assessment within a friendly and inclusive team, with access to regular supervision, team discussion and continuing professional development. Main Responsibilities Contribute to multidisciplinary autism assessments for children and young people, using information from formal and informal sources. Undertake assessment activities including direct assessment, developmental history taking, educational observations, formulation, and multidisciplinary discussions. Deliver assessments across a range of settings, including Child Development Centres, Family Hubs, and educational settings where required. Work closely with children, young people, and families, ensuring clear, compassionate communication and appropriate support throughout the assessment process. Share specialist knowledge and evidence-informed practice with colleagues and partner agencies. Support and supervise junior colleagues, contributing to the wider multidisciplinary team. Collaborate with wider services including Community Nursing, Healthy Family Teams, Community Paediatrics, and therapy services. Engage in regular clinical supervision, team meetings, and ongoing professional development. The Ideal Candidate Registered Health and Care Professions Council Allied Health Professional or Nursing and Midwifery Council Nurse, with experience supporting children and young people with neurodevelopmental needs, including autism. Strong clinical assessment skills, sound clinical judgement, and a good understanding of this client group. Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team, contributing to assessment and diagnostic decision-making. Excellent communication skills, with a thoughtful and compassionate approach to clinical practice. Desirable: Experience within autism assessment services and familiarity with standardised tools such as ADOS-2 ( Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition ). Commitment to ongoing professional development, with willingness to develop specialist assessment skills through training and supervision. If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact Sarah Eaton via email: sarah.eaton@hcrgcaregroup.com. We welcome applicants who may be interested in either part-time or full-time roles. About the Company We change lives by transforming health and care. Established in 2006, we are one of the UK's leading independent providers of community health and care services, working with health and care commissioners and communities to transform services with a focus on experience, efficiency and improved outcomes. We deliver and transform adult and children community health services, primary care services including urgent care, sexual health, dermatology and MSK services as well as adult social care and wellbeing services. Across England, we support communities of many millions and directly help more than half a million people each year - guided by our simple values: we care, we think, we do. We're committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from a broad, diverse range of people who want to join our team. We’re a Disability Confident Committed company, so we work to provide facilities, work environment adjustments and technical solutions to be as inclusive of everyone. While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes a role is very popular, and we’ll need to close it earlier than the date we’ve shown here. If you’re keen to join our team, we’d love to hear from you so please apply as soon as you can. As you’d expect, safeguarding and protecting the children, young people and vulnerable adults that we work with is of the utmost importance so we have policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices and everyone who joins the team is subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. Finally, we need to let you know that the company you’ll work for is part of HCRG Care Group Holdings Limited and by applying for this job we’ll need to process and hold information about you. 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