Gheel Autism Services has been supporting autistic adults to live meaningful lives since 1971. Across Dublin, North Kildare, and Wicklow, we provide day, residential, supported living, and community supports to over 300 people. Our approach is grounded in a simple belief: autistic people are valued community members with rights, preferences, and futures. We work in partnership with the people we support, their families, and our teams to build lives, not services.
We are growing our Transition Service - a new model of community-based support built on self-managing teams, neuro-affirmative practice, and the belief that the most meaningful changes in people’s lives come through genuine relationships, not programmes.
Benefits
This is not a standard social care post. As a Transition practitioner, you will work with autistic adults to map their existing connections and interests, build community networks, and create the conditions for genuine belonging. You will carry your own caseload within a self-managing team of six to eight practitioners. The team manages its own scheduling, decision-making, and peer accountability, supported by a team coach rather than a traditional line manager.
The practice model rests on four approaches: the core economy of natural supports, community asset-based development, person-centred planning rooted in what matters to the individual, and the organisational structure of self-managing teams drawn from the Buurtzorg model. If you already know this language, you will recognise what we are building. If you don’t, and what you’ve just read sounds like the work you’ve been waiting to do, we want to hear from you.
What You’ll Do
Hold a personal caseload, working with each person to understand their life, their interests, and the relationships and community connections that matter to them.
Map community assets in your local area - clubs, groups, spaces, people - and connect the people you support to the ordinary life of their neighbourhood.
Develop and strengthen natural support networks around each person, working with families, friends, neighbours, and community members.
Work within a self-managing team using the Buurtzorg model: shared decisions, rotating roles, peer reflective practice, and collective accountability for outcomes.
Document your work clearly and honestly, contributing to a shared understanding of what is working and what needs to change.
Engage in structured reflective practice, supervision, and continuous professional development, including the twelve-module Buurtzorg programme and autism-specific training.
Full, clean driving licence and access to your own car for work. This is a community-based role and driving is essential.
Experience of building genuine relationships with people, not just delivering services to them.
A values base that is neuro-affirmative - you see autism as a difference to be understood and respected, not a deficit to be managed.
The ability to work with autonomy within a team - managing your own caseload and time while contributing to collective decisions.
Comfort with honest, reflective practice. We ask our teams to talk openly about what is working and what isn’t.
Short application: CV and a few lines about values.
A conversational, values-based interview. We want to hear how you think about relationships, community, and what good support looks like.
A chance to meet the team. We will offer every shortlisted candidate a conversation with two or three current Transition practitioners.
A shadow visit. Before you accept, we want you to see the work in practice - a community meeting, a network conversation, an ordinary afternoon in the life of a Transition team. The best way to decide if this is right for you is to see it.
You Might Be Right for This If…
You think about people in terms of their relationships and connections, not their support plans. You believe the most meaningful changes in someone's life come through belonging, not programmes.
You see a person with strengths first approach. You want real autonomy - your own caseload, collective decision-making, and the trust to do the work well. You are honest enough to reflect openly on what isn't working.
You are qualified in social care, community development, youth work, counselling, education, or a related discipline, with at least three years of professional experience. You don't need to come from disability services. We recruit through two pathways - Social Care Worker and Autism Practitioner - because this work draws on more than one professional tradition.
Two Pathways, One Role
Both pathways lead to the same role, the same team, and the same pay scale. The difference is in your starting point, not your destination.
Essential for Both Pathways
Salary and Placement
The Transition scale runs from €37,837 to €54,370 (subject to increase as per WRC agreement). If you are moving from another organisation, we will place you at the scale point that reflects your substantive professional experience - including experience in community work, youth work, counselling, and education. We do not ask experienced practitioners to start at the bottom of the scale.
Where You’ll Be Based
We are recruiting across three counties. Teams are based in Dublin, Kildare, and Wicklow. Your day-to-day work will be in the community - in people’s homes, local groups, clubs, and public spaces - not in a service building. You will attend team meetings at a local base, but most of your week is spent in the places where the people you support actually live their lives.
What Happens When You Apply
How to Apply
Send a cover letter and up-to-date CV to [email protected].
Closing date: 20/07/26 at 5pm.
Garda Vetting is a requirement of the recruitment process. A panel may be formed and future vacancies arising over the next twelve months may be filled from this competition.
Informal enquiries: [email protected]
Gheel Autism Services CLG | Registered Charity No. 20015787 | Company Registration No. 53565
