About Resources for Autism (RfA)
Since 1997 when we started as a small playgroup set up by parents dismayed at the lack of provision for their autistic children, RfA has grown into a major deliverer of services and support in London and the West Midlands with a turnover of around £2.5m per year. Our mission is to support and enable autistic people to live happy and fulfilling lives. We want to change society’s attitude to autism whilst also providing essential services and enriching opportunities to autistic people. We are a values-driven organisation which employs values-driven people who want to make a difference. Our values are: Inclusion, Creativity, Compassion, Courageousness and Expert. You will play a vital part in ensuring that we can resource and sustain this amazing work.
The Role
The role of the Service Delivery Lead is central within the Services Team, responsible for maintaining operational oversight, ensuring high-quality delivery and shaping the ongoing development of our children and adult provisions. The post holder provides proactive leadership and support to Area Coordinators, Leaders and Support Workers, ensuring consistent, values-driven practice across all services.
Working closely with the Service Manager, the Service Delivery Lead will oversee the operational planning and coordination of services, including staffing, allocations, waiting lists, service administration, quality assurance, performance monitoring, safeguarding and resource management. The role is responsible for ensuring services are delivered efficiently, at capacity, safely and effectively whilst meeting organisational, contractual and funder requirements.
As we progress with our new organisational strategy for 2025-2030, we are seeking a values-driven individual who can combine operational practice with compassionate leadership to support the development, growth and continuous improvement of our services.
Main Responsibilities
Service Delivery
- CYP services: Lead the day-to-day operational delivery of our CYP groups and holiday schemes (short breaks), ensuring services are well-organised and that staffing, resources, equipment and session logistics are effectively planned and in place for smooth, high-quality delivery.
- Adult services: Provide operational oversight of our adult groups, supporting the Adults Area Coordinator to ensure services are well-organised and delivered effectively.
- Oversee service allocations, waiting lists and booking processes across CYP and Adult services, ensuring fair access, efficient utilisation of capacity and effective communication with families and participants.
- Support with operational planning for term-time groups, holiday schemes and adult services, ensuring venues, equipment, resources, staffing and logistics are coordinated effectively.
- Maintain oversight of attendance records, registers, participant information, medical information and support plans, ensuring records are accurate, accessible and up to date.
- Ensure systems including MyRFA App, databases and service records are maintained effectively and used consistently across all provisions.
- Support procurement and replenishment of equipment, resources and materials required for service delivery.
- Maintain a visible and engaged presence within frontline services, providing operational support where required, developing a strong understanding of service delivery, and building familiarity with service users and their individual needs.
Service Development & Improvement
- Ensure services meet funder requirements, organisational targets and intended outcomes, working with the Service Manager to monitor impact, evaluate delivery and contribute to reporting requirements.
- Work with the Service Manager to review service data, participant and family feedback, and emerging trends to identify opportunities to strengthen and develop our services.
- Work with the Service Manager to develop and refine processes, procedures and operational systems that strengthen service delivery and support RfA’s 2025–2030 strategy.
- Support the development and launch of new CYP/Adults groups and services, ensuring staffing, resources, operational processes and quality standards are in place from the outset.
Staff Leadership & Support
- Provide operational leadership and support to teams, ensuring staff feel supported, supervised and equipped to deliver safe, engaging and high-quality services.
- Monitor staff inductions, supervision schedules, mandatory training and service meetings, ensuring compliance with organisational requirements.
- Support the coordination of volunteers and agency staff involved in service delivery
Quality, Safeguarding & Practice
- Maintain operational oversight of safeguarding across services, ensuring risks are identified, assessed and appropriately managed, and that staff and volunteers consistently follow RfA’s policies and procedures.
- Support consistent standards across services, identifying areas of good practice and addressing any gaps in quality, safety or service delivery.
- Ensure policies, procedures, risk assessments and operational documentation remain current and accessible to staff.
Flexible working
This role requires flexibility to work weekday evenings and weekends as required, as well as during school holiday periods, to support the effective delivery of our services.
Person Specification
Essential Skills
- Experience working with autistic people, including those with a range of support needs and behaviours that may challenge
- Experience running group activities or sessions with positive outcomes.
- Experience supervising or supporting staff teams and contributing to high‑quality service delivery.
- Experience of coordinating and organising services such as holiday schemes, youth groups, clubs or structured short‑breaks provision
- Experience managing staff, volunteers or agency staff.
- Understanding of risk assessments and managing risks in group environments.
- Knowledge of person‑centred practice and how to deliver inclusive, meaningful activities.
- Experience managing operational systems, databases, bookings, waiting lists or service administration.
- Experience collecting, monitoring and analysing service data and performance information.
- Ability to adapt quickly, be flexible, and work proactively in a team in a developing service.
Desirable Skills
- Experience supporting service development, reviewing data/feedback, and improving processes
- Awareness of behaviour support approaches that promote dignity, respect, and wellbeing.
Standard skills expected of all staff
- Excellent communication skills
- Strong organisational and prioritisation skills
- Good understanding of Safeguarding
- IT skills: proficient with Office 365
- Self-starter and able to work independently, using own initiative
- Non-judgemental, compassionate
Confidentiality and Safeguarding
You will have access to confidential information concerning families and other service users and will be required to maintain confidentiality at all times.
All staff have the following safeguarding responsibilities:
- Actively promote the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children, young people and vulnerable adults accessing our services.
- Follow organisational safeguarding policies, procedures and codes of conduct at all times.
- Maintain clear professional boundaries and model safe, respectful and appropriate behaviour.
- Recognise and respond appropriately to safeguarding, welfare or behaviour-related concerns, reporting these promptly and in line with organisational procedures.
- Work in a way that reduces risk and supports positive behaviour, emotional regulation and individual communication needs.
- Contribute to a culture where safeguarding concerns are shared appropriately, listened to, and taken seriously.
Staff Benefits
90% of our staff say that Resources for Autism is “a great place to work”.
- Not only will the work you do ensure we are making vital differences and inspiring others, but our other benefits also include:
- flexible working patterns with the option to work in a hybrid way (only available for some roles)
- 25 days of leave (pro rata for part time roles) each year plus 8 bank holidays and an additional 3 Celebration days that could be used between Christmas and new year, but may be used for other religious days or significant days such as your birthday
- access to ongoing training and progress in the areas that interest you
- access to our wellbeing initiatives and an Employee Assistance Programme
- enrolment on to our pension scheme
- a supportive, warm and fun working environment made up of values driven people who are passionate about changing the world for autistic people
Application process:
In order that we adhere to Safer Recruitment processes, all applicants are required to complete an application form which must include your full employment history with clear details, any gaps in employment need to be outlined and explained. You are also required to provide details of your full education history.
Regulated activity roles statement (anyone working directly with children or vulnerable adults such as support workers, group leaders): This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. All applicants will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, including a check of the relevant Barred List(s), in line with DBS eligibility criteria and the DBS Code of Practice.
As you would expect, we are a neuro-affirming employer, with a strengths and rights based approach to neurodiversity which affirms neurodivergent identity – we don’t want to “fix” or “cure” autism, and we don’t see it as a “disability” however we do recognise it can be “disabling”. We are working to improve the ways in which we recruit and support neurodiverse employees and those with lived experience of neurodiversity.