Shape the Future of Women's Football Coaching...
Are you passionate about developing world-class coaches and driving meaningful change in the women's game? This is a unique opportunity to lead the strategic evolution of coach development across women's and girls' football, creating clear pathways, inspiring excellence, and building a thriving coaching workforce for the future.
As Senior Lead – Women's Coach Development, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the quality, diversity, and sustainability of coaching across the female game. Working at the forefront of football development, you'll champion innovative learning opportunities, foster a high-performance coaching culture, and help empower the next generation of coaches to succeed at every level of the game.
The role will have three direct reports: Women's Professional Game Lead Coach Developer, Women's Talent Game Lead Coach Developer and Women's Pathway Lead Coach Developer.
What will you be doing?
- Lead the strategic planning and execution of all coach development activities tailored to the female game.
- Lead and inspire a high-quality coach development workforce that not only delivers strategy but also models excellence in practice.
- Provide clear direction, set performance expectations, and foster a positive, inclusive team culture focused on collaboration, innovation, and achieving strategic goals.
- Increase the number of English or homegrown coaches in the professional game.
- Support the Senior Lead Workforce Development (Coaching) to embed the principles of professional coach development practice across all the workforce within the female game.
- Collaborate effectively with the Senior Lead Coaching Qualifications & Standards and the Learning and Innovation team to ensure that all coach development activity is fit for purpose for the female game.
- Ensure there is a growth in the number of qualified female coaches at all levels of the game.
- Collaborate with the equality, diversity and inclusion team to promote diversity and inclusion within the coaching pathway, ensuring equitable access to all training and development opportunities.
- Work closely with the Women's Technical Division SLT to align coaching strategies with the broader objectives of developing top female players and increasing participation in the women's game.
- Ensure that coach development pathways are clear and designed to progress women into higher-level coaching roles, including elite football.
- Collaborate with key stakeholders, including the League Managers Association, Professional Footballers Association, Women's Professional Leagues Limited, clubs and educational institutions, to promote coach development within the women's game.
- Track and evaluate the effectiveness of all activities through a strategic approach to research and insight, using data to inform continuous improvement and adjust activities as needed.
- Regularly report on progress, identifying key outcomes and areas for further development to ensure the continuous enhancement of coach development programmes.
- Manage the budget for coach development programmes, ensuring resources are effectively allocated to support key initiatives.
- Executes additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
- Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety, and well-being can be maintained.
- As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
What are we looking for?
Essential for the role:
- UEFA A License qualification.
- Significant experience in coach and player development in professional football.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to lead, motivate, and manage a team, driving performance while fostering a collaborative and inclusive team environment.
- Proven experience in designing, delivering, and managing modern coach development programmes, including the ability to mentor, support, and develop coaches at various levels.
- Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in coaching/management/sports science or a related field.
- Ability to develop and implement long-term strategies for coach development.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels.
- Ability to think critically and solve problems effectively, making informed decisions to enhance coaching structures and address challenges.
- Experience in managing budgets, resources, and timelines for large-scale programs or initiatives, ensuring efficient use of resources.
- Ability to create presentations and present to a wide range of key stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of assessment, moderation and quality assurance processes within coach development.
- Proficient in analysing coach development, workforce and programme data to evaluate impact and inform decision-making.
Beneficial to have:
- Extensive experience in high-performance environments as a member of staff.
- Previous experience specifically working in the development of coaches within the women's and girls' game, with an understanding of its unique challenges and opportunities.
- Experience in mentoring and providing feedback to coaches, with strong facilitation skills.
- Ability to use data to track program performance, identify areas for improvement, and adjust strategies to ensure continuous development and success.
- Comfortable advocating for female coaches and the women's game in public forums, with the ability to speak at events, conferences, or meetings to raise the profile of coach development.
- Experience in managing organisational or cultural change, particularly in advancing gender equality within sport.
- Basic Project Management skills.
What's in it for you?
We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles. To achieve this, we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire, which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.
We pride ourselves on offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:
- Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encourages you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well-being.
- Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
- Free private medical cover.
- A contributory pension scheme.
- An additional 'Thank You' day's leave, volunteering days, as well as 25 days of annual leave (based on a full-time, permanent contract)
- A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.
For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers
Currently, we are working within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model, and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary. The contractual location of this role can be found on the FA Careers page.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.
We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.
As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
