Designing Jobs for Neurodiversity in Not-for-Profits and Charities
Australian Not-for-Profits and Charities (NFP) are becoming more confident in talking about neurodiversity at work. Awareness training, inclusive language and conversations about reasonable adjustments are increasingly visible across the sector. Yet one of the most powerful levers for inclusion remains underdeveloped: how jobs themselves are designed.
Many NFP roles are created quickly in response to funding opportunities, service demand or workforce gaps. Over time, they accumulate tasks, expectations and informal workarounds. The result is often a role that assumes one dominant way of thinking, communicating and coping with complexity. When neurodivergent people struggle in these roles, the response is mixed. Adjustments are made after appointment, or performance issues are managed without examining whether the role design itself is creating unnecessary barriers.
This is not a failure of intent. It is a gap in practice.
Why job design matters more than adjustments alone
Job design sits upstream of recruitment, wellbeing and performance. It shapes who applies, who thrives and who burns out. In the sector, roles are frequently broad, emotionally demanding and interruption heavy. Job descriptions often bundle together tasks requiring very different cognitive strengths, such as deep focus, rapid switching between tactical and operational tasks, social engagement and administrative precision.
For neurodivergent workers, difficulty often lies not in capability but in how work is structured, prioritised and measured. When roles rely on ambiguity, constant availability or unspoken norms, organisations end up managing problems that could have been designed out.
Neurodiversity informed job design shifts the question. Instead of asking how an individual can adapt to a role, it asks how the role can be designed to support a wider range of brains to do good work.
Where current guidance falls short
Most Australian resources on neurodiversity in employment focus on recruitment practices, disclosure, manager awareness and reasonable adjustments.
What is missing is practical guidance on designing roles that are accessible by default. Few NFP routinely review position descriptions, workflows or performance expectations through a neurodiversity lens. Job design is rarely treated as a strategic or governance issue, despite its direct impact on inclusion, retention and risk.
For a sector grappling with workforce shortages and burnout, this represents a significant missed opportunity.
Tools that make inclusive job design achievable
Inclusive job design does not require complex systems or high cost interventions. Many of the most effective tools are already familiar to managers and leaders and can be adapted with a neurodiversity lens.
Structured consultation is a critical starting point. Facilitated conversations with role holders and managers can uncover where cognitive load is highest, where ambiguity causes stress, and which tasks genuinely require specific capabilities. These conversations are particularly valuable because neurodivergent staff often mask difficulties until they become unsustainable.
Process mapping is another powerful tool. Visually mapping tasks and workflows helps identify unnecessary complexity, duplicated effort and frequent interruptions. For neurodivergent workers, unclear processes are a major source of stress. Clarifying workflows benefits whole teams and improves service quality at the same time.
Role deconstruction, sometimes called task unbundling, involves breaking a role into its component parts and reconsidering how those tasks are grouped. In many not for profits, roles have grown by accumulation rather than design. Deconstruction allows organisations to ask whether all tasks need to sit in one role, or whether responsibilities could be redistributed to better align with strengths.
Strengths based role redesign builds on this work. Rather than assuming everyone should perform tasks in the same way, teams can identify who does what best and redesign roles accordingly. This approach aligns strongly with neurodiversity principles and with NFP values of dignity and participation.
Inclusive job description templates also play an important role. Templates that distinguish essential outcomes from preferred methods of working allow flexibility to be built into roles from the outset. This reduces reliance on disclosure and adjustment requests later.
In some cases, external facilitation or specialist support can accelerate progress, particularly where roles are complex or change sensitive. Framing this as an optional enabler rather than a requirement respects the resource realities of the sector. It should also be noted that while informed by neurodiversity, these approaches are broadly beneficial and contribute to better designed roles for the workforce as a whole.
Implications for HR and governance
For boards and executives, neurodiversity informed job design should be understood as part of workforce governance. Poorly designed roles increase turnover, performance risk and psychosocial hazards. Thoughtful job design supports inclusion, sustainability and mission delivery.
For HR leaders, this means moving job design from a static document exercise to an ongoing practice. Reviewing roles through a neurodiversity lens should sit alongside workforce planning, wellbeing strategies and capability frameworks.
For managers, it means shifting conversations from coping to design. Many adjustments commonly provided to neurodivergent employees, such as clearer task definition, reduced interruptions or flexible scheduling, are simply examples of better job design for everyone.
Designing work for difference
Embedding inclusive job design into everyday practice enables organisations to unlock talent, reduce burnout and build more resilient and sustainable teams.
Designing work for difference is not a niche activity. It is a strategic decision about who work is designed for and how people are supported to contribute effectively. In a purpose driven sector, this decision goes to the heart of equity and impact.
Job design is often an overlooked strategic centre of gravity for all employees. While engaging early in job design can feel difficult in time and resource constrained environments, it is one of the most powerful levers available. When addressed upfront, it can significantly strengthen inclusion, workforce sustainability and the long-term success of diversity efforts.
