Vacancy description
Key Information
- Division:Women's Technical
- Location:Home based
- Vacancy Type:Fixed Term Contract
- Closing Date:9 January 2025
The Football Association have an exciting opportunity for a Talent Education Lead - Fixed Term Contract
The Barclays Girls' School Talent Education Programme is a brand-new initiative designed to build on the incredible success of the Barclays Girls' Football School Partnerships'. This innovative programme will ensure stronger links for talented female footballers between education and football.
The programme will bridge the gap between the Barclays Girls' Football School Partnerships and the talent pathway, creating more opportunities for talented girls aged 8-16 in schools to transition into the talent system. Equally, it will ensure that girls aged 14-16 already within the talent system receive comprehensive support in their football development, academic studies, and lifestyle management.
The FA Women's School Talent Education Lead will spearhead the design, development, and delivery of the Girls' Schools Talent Education Programme. The post holder will lead a team of seven skilled staff, providing strategic leadership, cultivating stakeholder relationships, and ensuring the effective implementation of the Girls' Schools Talent Education Programme across regions, while aligning with the FA's broader talent and education objectives.
This is a Fixed Term Role until end of June 2028.
Interviews are currently scheduled to be held on the 27th January 2025.
What will you be doing?
- Lead the recruitment, management, and development of the Girls' Schools Talent Education team, ensuring the strategic planning and execution of the Barclays Schools Talent Education Programme.
- Build and sustain strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders, including Girls' Football School Partnerships, football clubs, county football associations, and internal teams involved in the FA England Talent Pathway.
- Direct the implementation of a plan for talent identification across schools, alongside a comprehensive CPD programme to train staff across the Girls' Football School Partnerships network. Ensure there is a clear pathway for talented schoolgirls into the talent system.
- Collaborate with key stakeholders to develop and implement a framework that offers players school-based mentors that optimise dual career pathways for talented girls.
- Develop a comprehensive parent education programme, which improves the knowledge and skills that parents need to support talented girls.
- Work closely with the FA Women's Player Education & Lifestyle Lead to conduct regular case conferences for high-potential players on dual career pathways, ensuring a comprehensive and tailored support package for National Team players as they transition into, though, and beyond the England Women's Development Teams.
- Introduce a means-tested hardship fund that provides grants to players and schools, helping to eliminate barriers to talent development.
- Oversee the financial management of the Girls' Schools Talent Education Programme, including the preparation of the three-year plan (3YP), budget reforecasts, and end-of-year reporting. Maintain diligence with the budget, provide recommendations for spending efficiencies, and work closely with the Finance team to identify potential risks throughout the season.
- The post holder will be accountable for achieving key outcomes, including broadening the diversity of the talent pool, advancing dual career outcomes, establishing a strong talent network within the education sector, fostering informed parental engagement, and ensuring that financial hardship does not impede the progression of talented girls.
- Work closely with the FA's Womens Technical Team on the progress and implementation of the Women's Technical Strategy.
- Attend departmental meetings as and when required.
- Executes additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group's changing priorities.
- Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure 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:
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or equivalent
- Thorough understanding of the National Curriculum, public examination syllabuses, and assessment criteria
- Experience in supporting talented students
- Experience in supporting and managing academic transitions
- Excellent communication skills, with proven ability to collaborate effectively with both internal and external teams
- Adoption of a modern, progressive approach to teaching and learning
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications
- Availability for domestic travel
Beneficial to have:
- Good understanding of women's football
- Knowledge of talent identification systems within football
- Demonstrated success in developing and implementing educational programmes within sports
- Knowledge of flexible education pathways
- Understanding or experience of club and community-based sports
- Dedicated to personal development and ongoing training, with a willingness to work flexible hours
- Experience leading a team with strategic responsibilities, including managing budgets
- Extensive knowledge and training in safeguarding children
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 in 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, encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
- Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
- Free private medical cover.
- A contributory pension scheme.
- An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
- 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
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
ABOUT US
The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.
The FA oversees England international teams across men’s, women’s, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, and Women’s Adobe FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park, all with a purpose to inspire positive change through football.
Our game can tackle some of society’s core challenges. It can bring communities together, nationally and locally. It can be a platform for inclusion, ensuring there is a place for all. It can get people active and promote wellbeing often at a time when we need it most. With UEFA EURO 2028 – hosted in the UK and Ireland – on the horizon, we have an incredible opportunity to transform football across the country.
Now is the time to inspire positive change.
We currently work 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.
Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of Wembley Stadium or St. George’s Park unless the role is advertised as a homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.
THE PROCESS
We believe that assessment and selection should be robust, fair, and inclusive.
Following receipt of your application and the closing of the application process, you can expect a period of circa two weeks for us to thoroughly screen and shortlist, ahead of any next stage and interview.
Please note, we receive a high volume of applications so this can vary but we ensure that our assessor panel reviews all applications, and no use of automated screening or AI is used.
At an interview, we want to ensure that we see the best of you as an individual and increase our understanding of your skills and experience relevant to the demands of the role. It is very much a two-way process with importance placed on the candidate experience so that regardless of outcome, you feel valued, and treated fairly and hopefully have a positive experience.
No process is ever the same, but we would like to create an environment that is welcoming and ensures the experience is as enjoyable as possible.
We tailor our assessment and selection depending on the nature and demands of the role. The FA Resourcing Team will provide you with as much notice as possible about the process and the format of any interview will always be communicated to you in advance, including what to expect on the day and who you will be seeing.
We often receive a high volume of applications, and for certain roles, we will supplement your application, utilising our on-demand video interviewing platform. On-demand video interviews enable you to answer preset questions, in the comfort of your own home or office setting and at a convenient time for you, giving us greater insight into you as an individual and the skills and experience you might bring to the role and working at The FA.
We also utilise Microsoft Teams for virtual interviews and of course host you at our world class venues, Wembley Stadium and our National Football Centre, St. George’s Park.
GROUP STRATEGY
WE HAVE MOVED FOOTBALL FORWARD.
From 2020 - 2024, we have – in collaboration with our key partners – been able to deliver meaningful change across the game.
From winning our first major tournament in over 50 years to delivering thousands of high-quality pitches to the grassroots game.
BUT WE CAN’T STOP NOW - AND WE WON’T.
This new strategy is about doubling down. Our game can tackle some of society’s core challenges. It can bring communities together, nationally and locally.
It can be a platform for inclusion, ensuring there is a place for all. It can get people active and promote wellbeing often at a time when we need it most.
With UEFA EURO 2028 – hosted in the UK and Ireland – on the horizon, we have an incredible opportunity to transform football across the country.
NOW IS THE TIME TO INSPIRE POSITIVE CHANGE.
Our ultimate purpose is to ‘Inspire positive change through football’ – everything we do ultimately ladders up to this end goal.
The 2024-2028 strategy focuses on tackling four long-term strategic challenges that will fulfil this purpose and drive real change across the game, our ‘Game Changer’ objectives.
Underpinning these Game Changers are then four activities and approaches that will enable us to meet challenges head on, our ‘Drivers’.
EDI STRATEGY
Our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.
A GAME FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION
Our 2024 – 2028 strategy outlines three fundamental pillars for delivering a game free from discrimination – Boosting Representation, Driving Inclusion and Tackling Discrimination.
These pillars ensure that our work uniting communities, improving lives, and inspiring positive change on and off the pitch will remain a core priority for English football for years to come.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The FA 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.
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