With a goal to help transform lives, change attitudes, and create a society that works for autistic people, the UK's leading autism charity, the National Autistic Society is now looking for three new Trustees to join the board to help navigate their future challenges.

Applications close Monday 24th March.

Who we are.

The National Autistic Society (NAS) is the UK’s leading charity for autistic people and one of the country’s major charities, with a turnover of around £95 million. Since 1962, we’ve been transforming lives, changing attitudes and helping to create a society that works for autistic adults and children.

We are active across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and have a network of volunteer-run branches across the UK. As well as adult services and schools, we run a range of programmes, have dedicated diagnostic services and run specialist helplines. We also work closely with businesses, local authorities, and the government to help them provide more autism-friendly spaces, deliver better services and improve laws. And we improve public understanding of autism and the difficulties many autistic people face.

We’re continuing to advocate on longstanding issues such as social care funding and campaign for what autistic people need to see in the forthcoming autism strategy in England and its equivalent in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We’re also growing our branch network – including national online branches – and we are working on a new mental health programme combining research, digital guidance and policy influencing.

This is a truly transformational and vital time to be part of our charity. We are in the latter stages this year of our Vision to Reality Strategy for 2023-2026, which sets out the role of NAS in creating a society that works for autistic people.

We’re proud of what we’ve achieved – but there’s always more to be done. As the economic, social, and political landscape changes, our strategy must evolve to reflect changes. We need to ensure we continue to increase our fundraising and commercial activities to deliver the scale of impact required.

We’re looking for three new trustees to join our board to help us navigate future challenges.

Who we are looking for.

We are looking for three new Trustees to join the board; in particular, we are looking for someone with a wealth of knowledge and experience in HR, organisational development, people and culture who has operated in complex environments and will Chair our newly formed People Committee.

We are looking for a Trustee who brings a committed and contemporary mindset and will offer strategic insights, philanthropic ideas, valuable introductions, and opportunities. You will have an enlightened approach that fits with the values of the National Autistic Society. Through the contribution and support of this Trustee, we will continue to develop our income and high-value fundraising with new individuals and organisations. Aligned with the values of the National Autistic Society, you will act as an ambassador while leveraging your commercial acumen and governance expertise to support our mission.

We are looking to appoint a Trustee who is autistic who can bring valuable insights to our Board alongside their skills and experiences. We value the unique perspectives and experiences you can bring and want to enhance our governance and strategic thinking with a fresh perspective. We believe that diverse voices make our board and organisation stronger, and we want to ensure our governance and decision-making reflect a wide range of lived experiences. We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment where all Trustees can contribute meaningfully.

We’re keen to ensure our board is diverse in every way, and we’re committed to ensuring our Trustees reflect our society, our charity and the people we represent and support. We welcome applications from autistic people, their families and carers. To achieve greater diversity, we’re actively encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds and regions. We can work with you to make reasonable adjustments to ensure you contribute fully to being a member of our board. Our Pioneer project is focused on ensuring our organisation is an exemplary employer of autistic people. This also extends to our board.

We’re looking for people who can provide strategic direction, appropriate oversight, scrutiny, challenge, leadership and passion to support our development.

Time Commitment

The National Autistic Society Board meets four times with one overnight strategy away day every year. Our meetings are a blend of face-to-face and virtual meetings. Our trustees join one sub-committee which meets 4 times a year usually online. We expect the time commitment overall to be approximately one day a month, including reading board papers, ad hoc conversations with board members and the executive and the opportunity throughout the year to visit our services and schools, and represent NAS at events.

Please click the o be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for this role close Monday 24th March.