Impact, on and off the pitch...

Our vision is to positively influence the behaviours and experiences of England players, enabling the delivery of bespoke physical, psychological, medical and nutrition strategies tailored to international football. We work collaboratively with coaches and club multidisciplinary teams in pursuit of one clear outcome — WINNING ENGLAND TEAMS.

The FA Performance Medicine Team brings together full-time and consultant clinicians, aligned to support players and coaches to win major tournaments. Our approach is built on two core pillars: safety as our baseline and performance as our goal.

Safety – We uphold a duty of care to ensure a safe England team environment, with robust systems to prevent serious risks to life or limb, ensure there are no medical barriers to camp attendance, and deliver optimal healthcare and management throughout.

Performance – The purpose of camps is to enable players to develop, thrive and fulfil their potential as England players. This is achieved by inspiring, empowering and developing individuals to maximise availability and deepen their understanding of the physical attributes and behaviours required to succeed in international football. We deliver an inspiring, immersive and educational performance environment, build strong connections with clubs, and work collaboratively to develop and apply a consistent Performance Medicine philosophy.

This role offers an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced physiotherapist to oversee the day-to-day running of the England Professional Development Phase (U17–U20). Working collaboratively across the interdisciplinary support team, the role is accountable for leading, evaluating and developing physiotherapy provision across the PDP pathway.

Primary responsibilities will include:

• Working closely with the Lead Men's Physiotherapist, oversee the day-to-day delivery of the England Professional Development Phase (PDP; U17–U20). Key responsibilities include:
  • Ensuring appropriate consultant staffing for all fixtures within agreed budgets.
  • Ensuring alignment across all camp communication, logistics and preparation.
  • Supporting annual planning.
  • Supporting individual camp planning.
  • Player status updates and club communications.
• Work closely with the Lead Men's Physiotherapist to support the strategic direction of the England PDP.
• Oversee the operational delivery of physiotherapy services for the PDP. Key responsibilities include:
  • Providing support and ensuring alignment in PPMN curriculum delivery during camp.
  • Ensuring practitioners operate as an efficient, connected support team, using post-camp reflection, review and evaluation to drive alignment and optimise player health and availability.Liaise closely with the Youth Development Phase (YDP) Physiotherapist, YDP Physical Performance Coach, PDP Physical Performance Coach and Pathway Lead Doctor to ensure aligned delivery of the PPMN curriculum.
• Deliver on-camp physiotherapy services for a PDP team and provide support to the YDP when required (approximately 80–100 days)
• Work closely with the PDP Lead Coach to ensure physiotherapy provision is aligned with the coaching strategy.
• Work closely with coaching and operations teams to provide ongoing support, ensuring effective off-camp coordination of medical updates and camp planning.
• Lead the planning and coordination of equipment and logistics across the men's pathway, ensuring effective delivery pre- and post-camp.
• Ensure a comprehensive review process for all PDP activity post-camp and at the end of the season to support ongoing development.
• Support the ongoing development of PPMN on-camp delivery and curriculum through contributing to, and where appropriate leading, targeted performance-focused projects that optimise delivery through effective collaboration and the integration of specialist expertise.
• Support Senior Men's projects aligned with the overarching goal of winning major tournaments.

Key accountabilities will include:

Pathway:

• Oversee the day-to-day running of the PDP pathway for England Development Teams.
• Work closely with the Lead Physiotherapist to define the strategic objectives for the pathway.
• Work closely with the Lead Physiotherapist in the recruitment of full-time and consultant staff.
• Coordinate the delivery of staff CPD and support annual planning and seasonal reviews.
• Lead equipment provision and logistics across the men's pathway.

On-camp:

• Deliver outstanding performance medicine to a PDP team (and YDP teams when required), encompassing injury assessment, management and rehabilitation, load management and injury risk mitigation.
• Liaise closely with the MDT and coaching staff to ensure optimal management of player health and availability throughout camp.
• Deliver the FA Performance Medicine curriculum, including wellness and exposure, injury mitigation and management, mandated screening and education, player insights, and health and wellbeing.
• Support the physical performance team in the delivery of individual and team preparation, recovery, travel, nutrition, and load management.
• Attend all training sessions and matches, along with regular medical and multidisciplinary meetings throughout camp.
• Maintain the integrity of medical, performance and rehabilitation kit and equipment.
• Ensure medical governance standards to safeguard player physical and mental health, including medical record-keeping.
• Liaise with club medical staff to ensure a comprehensive post-camp medical handover, including follow-up on any injuries or issues arising from camp.

Off-camp:

• Provide weekly player status updates following club fixtures for your allocated team, including follow-up with clubs regarding any injuries or unavailability, and regular updates to coaches and the PPMN MDT.
• Ensure consultant physiotherapists within the PDP monitor player status for their respective teams and provide regular updates to coaches.
• Liaise with club medical staff before camps to confirm player availability and gain a comprehensive understanding of any ongoing issues, sharing relevant information with the Performance MDT, coaching staff and team operations.
• Contribute to planning, review, selection and talent management processes for your allocated team.
• Attend all other PDP planning and review meetings when consultant staff are not available.
• Develop and maintain close working relationships with the PDP Lead Coach to ensure a cohesive multi-disciplinary approach.
• Develop and maintain close working relationships with the Pathway Lead Doctor and the PDP Physical Performance Coach to ensure a cohesive interdisciplinary approach.
• Develop and maintain close working relationships with the Lead Physiotherapist and the YDP Physiotherapist to ensure aligned delivery of physiotherapy services across the men's pathway.
• Develop close working relationships with peers in professional clubs to support the management of international players and drive individual player development plans.
• Ensure a comprehensive review process following camps to drive continuous improvement in delivery and service provision.

Development:

• Contribute to the development and delivery of projects aimed at supporting winning England teams, with a clear focus on generating performance insights from player data to inform on-camp management and talent identification. Key projects include:
  • Senior England Men's Team tournament projects.
  • Injury management and profiling.
  • Wellness and exposure.
  • Mandated screening and player education.
  • Health and wellbeing.
  • Performance data and insights.
• Contribute to FA PPMN CPD/training days throughout the year.
• Undertake any additional duties as reasonably required to fulfil the role effectively, in line with departmental standard operating procedures.

Other:

• Executes additional tasks as required to meet FA Group priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to maintain the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing.
• 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:

• Degree in Physiotherapy (BSc Hons, 2:1 or above)
• Membership of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (MCSP) and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Extensive evidence of post-graduate professional development, reflective practice and experiential learning in sport.
• Extensive experience as a team physiotherapist in elite sport (5years+)
• Track record of successfully integrating into established and developing medical and performance teams.
• Extensive experience in the provision of specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapy services to athletes and coaches to improve performance.
• Extensive experience evaluating complex clinical and performance problems and developing impactful solutions through interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Extensive experience in the design and management of effective interdisciplinary athlete management and rehabilitation strategies within a performance sport environment.
• Proven delivery of strategic and operational planning.
• Extensive understanding of the physical performance needs of high-performance athletes.
• Highly specialised musculoskeletal knowledge and clinical reasoning skills with significant experience of application in elite sport.
• Comprehensive understanding of specialist technical skills and knowledge underpinning the delivery of physiotherapy and rehabilitation in the performance environment (Including: physical training and adaptation, testing and monitoring, periodisation and planning, exercise prescription and coaching)
• Extensive knowledge of contemporary advances in applied musculoskeletal medicine (encompassing assessment, clinical reasoning, rehabilitation, return to performance and injury/illness risk management)
• Comprehensive understanding of sports science and sports medicine disciplines and their roles in performance.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills required to positively influence change and impact sporting performance.
• Able to work and thrive in a high-performance environment.
• A creative thinker with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Proven ability to work within a multidisciplinary support team, contributing to the optimisation of player development through high-quality discussion and collaborative coach–practitioner input into Individual Player Development Plans.
• Ability to work under pressure and prioritise workloads.
• Extensive knowledge of the latest performance software and technologies.
• Full computer literacy.

Beneficial to have:

• Postgraduate qualifications in Sport Medicine / Strength and Conditioning / Sport Science (MSc/PhD)
• Experience in international or professional club football.
• Leadership within a medical department (accountable for the physiotherapy provision within a department or team)
• Track record of successfully integrating into established and developing coaching teams.
• A clear interest in, and demonstrated track record of, using data to generate performance insights on players that inform player management and support the talent identification process.

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 offering 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.