We recently received information about two internship opportunities at Auto Trader for autistic young people in Manchester.

The roles have been developed with National Autistic Society‘s project called “Autism at Work” – a national employment programme that aims to bridge the gap between skills shortages in industry and talented autistic candidates.

Auto Trader Internship Opportunities

Operations Engineer

Working alongside the National Autistic Society through the Autism at Work programme, Auto Trader are offering an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated autistic candidate to develop skills and gain experience during a 6-month internship as an Operations Engineer.

In this role, you will join a team of Operations Engineers working collaboratively to respond quickly to service impacting issues. You will be responsible for monitoring applications and responding to system generated alerts and incidents, whilst preforming routine trend analysis. You will use your initiative and work proactively to identify issues that need further investigation. During your internship, there will be many opportunities to learn new skills and you will be actively encouraged to pair with other people in the squad as well as being provided with time for your own learning. You will also have the opportunity to attend conferences, meet ups and workshops in order to develop your career.

Please click the images below to learn more about the role.

Software Developer

Working alongside the National Autistic Society through the Autism at Work programme, Auto Trader are offering an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated autistic candidate to develop skills and gain experience during a 6-month internship as a Front End, Back End or Full Stack Software Developer.

You will join a cross functional team of software developers, UX designers, quality engineers and product owners, working collaboratively to help build the UK’s leading online automotive marketplace. As a developer you will create solutions for car buyers looking for their next car, and for car retailers to advertise their vehicles on the Autotrader platform. You will be responsible for building new solutions as well as enhancing existing online journeys, applications and services. You will use your initiative to work with your team to develop and release software changes, improve agile processes and contribute to team culture. During your internship, there will be many opportunities to learn new skills and you will be actively encouraged to pair with other people in the team as well as being provided with time for your own learning. You will also have the opportunity to attend conferences, meet ups and workshops in order to develop your career.

Please click the images below to learn more about the role.

About Auto Trader

From the National Autistic Society’s article in April 2019, entitled “Auto Trader leads drive for businesses to be autism friendly”:

Auto Trader reached out to the National Autistic Society a couple of years ago looking for some autism awareness training. They quickly decided they wanted to do much more. Since then they have been working with our charity to review and update their recruitment process and materials, policies for staff and training – and the support they give their current autistic employees.

This work helped shape our Autism Friendly Employer Award, which was adapted from our existing Autism Friendly Award and consists of specialist standards across recruitment, staff awareness of autism and support for autistic employees.

We are delighted to be announcing that Auto Trader is the first organisation in the world to achieve this award at the event and will be looking to roll out the award more widely later in the year. We hope that the award will help their drive to change attitudes about autism and help create a society that works for autistic people.

Visit Auto Trader’s website to learn more about the company or read this article to see how they promote diversity and inclusion at the workplace.

About Autism at Work

Autism at Work is the National Autistic Society’s flagship employment programme that aims to bridge the gap between skills shortages in industry and talented autistic candidates.

Through this programme, NAS supports employers across a wide range of industries to provide inclusive and accessible employment opportunities for autistic candidates in the form of:

  • Autism and employment related workshops
  • Recruitment support and interview guidance
  • On-boarding and reasonable adjustment support
  • Ongoing 1:1 job coach support for the employer and employee

You can read more about the programme at the NAS website.

About Greater Manchester Autism Consortium

We received this information from Greater Manchester Autism Consortium (GMAC), whose work includes:

  • Providing information and advice to autistic people, family members and carers and professionals.
  • Training for professionals in health and social care
  • Facilitating good practice sharing at events and workshops
  • Parent workshops for parents of children with autism under 16 on Understanding Autism, Sensory or Managing Anger