Football Coaching & Learning Developer
Vacancy description
Key Information
- Salary:Competitive
- Division:FA Education
- Location:National Football Centre, St George's Park
- Vacancy Type:Full-time, Permanent
- Closing Date:26 January 2025
As a key contributor to the Learning Experience team, the Football Coaching and Learning Developer will play a crucial role in the development of football learning resources for coaches. Providing learning and football coaching subject matter expertise, you will ensure the creation of high-quality outputs that align with FA Learning's coach development framework and learning principles, supporting the ongoing development of coaches and learners. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to transform coaching and football knowledge into learner-centric resources, applying your understanding of football and coaching to enhance learning design.
What will you be doing?
- Collaborate with the Learning Experience Leads, digital content team and subject matter experts (SMEs) to create digital football and coaching learning resources, ensuring content resonates with football coaches at all
levels. - Provide coaching and learning expertise to connect FA Learning's coach development framework and learning principles to the development of football coaching learning resources.
- Collaborate with game insight analysts to translate football insight and analysis into learning resources, tailored to the needs of football coaches and learners.
- Support the digital content team to deliver engaging digital learning resources and insight to support coach development across FA Learning's digital channels.
- Champion the creation of innovative learning solutions across a range of delivery formats, moving beyond traditional approaches to provide engaging, blended learning experiences.
- Design and create flexible learning materials that can be repurposed across various formats and platforms, supporting both in-person and digital learning environments.
- Work with stakeholders to ensure learning programs are successfully deployed, monitored, and continuously improved based on learner feedback and football industry trends.
- 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:
Knowledge:
- Football coaching qualification – minimum UEFA B Licence
- Strong understanding of football coaching principles, game insight, and how these impact learning design.
- In-depth knowledge of learning design principles and adult learning theories.
Experience:
- Proven experience in football coaching across grassroots and youth development within the male and female game
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs) and translate football-specific knowledge into engaging learning content.
Skills:
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate coaching learning to a range of audiences through digital modes.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
- Creative problem-solving skills, especially in adapting content to meet technical constraints and football-specific learning needs.
Beneficial to have:
Knowledge:
- Football coaching qualification – UEFA A Licence
- Familiarity with UEFA-led coaching initiatives or other football governance programs.
- Familiarity with the football ecosystem, from grassroots to elite levels, and its impact on coach development.
Experience:
- Experience in football coaching across the senior male and female game
- Experience working within a sporting organisation or within an education-focused organisation.
- Experience working with Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) to deliver learning solutions.
Skills:
- Ability to utilise performance analysis software (e.g Hudl Sportscode & Studio)
- Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines.
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.
Location
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