Vacancy description
Key Information
- Salary:Competitive
- Division:Women's Technical
- Location:Home based
- Vacancy Type:Fixed Term Contract, Full-time
- Closing Date:27 April 2025
Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation through Winning England Teams
The FA are looking for a Head Coach to lead and manage an England Development Team fostering a high performance environment towards the achievement of agreed team objectives from the Blueprint for Success.
The Head Coach will contribute to an aligned world class performance environment for England winning teams across the pathway. This includes influencing player development by contributing to the development of outstanding coaches for the women's game in collaboration with FA Education.
What will you be doing?
- Be an exceptional leader of people and players, creating an outstanding performance culture in preparation for, delivery of and review of International events and tournaments.
- Line manage the assistant coach of the appointed age group team.
- Lead the creation and delivery of the national team seasonal plan, incorporating key departmental objectives, aligned to the age group cycle and the rest of the pathway.
- Effectively manage a team of both full time and consultant staff and ensure their work programmes are aligned to the objectives of the team and the pathway.
- Collaborate with and learn from colleagues to maximise player development and management opportunities.
- Attend live, weekly fixtures to ensure an accurate and up to date understanding of players current performance and potential. Provide key input into talent management structures.
- Conduct regular club visits to develop outstanding club relationships, to build and create effective individual player development plans (IDP).
- Be accountable for the performance of the team according to parameters and milestones identified in the England Women's Blueprint for Success.
- Select squads for England events, working closely with the multidisciplinary team and Women's Player Insights.
- Be committed to their own personal development through the maintenance and implementation of a personal development plan (PDP).
- Support the work in The FA Education Strategy to assist in the development of outstanding coaches in the female game.
- Disseminate the England Women's How We Play (HWP) through formal (A Licence and Pro Licence (L4/L5)) and informal coach development opportunities as directed by FA Education.
- Comply with all elements of The FA's Safeguarding Policy, including Women's National Teams Safer Working Practice.
- As required, collaborate with FA media and communications staff to ensure consistent management of external communications, and social media.
- Executes additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
- Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety, and wellbeing 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
- UEFA A Licence.
Experience
- 5 years of recent coaching experience at an appropriate, high level.
- High level people development skills and experience.
- Consistent, successful experience of management and development of elite players and multi-disciplinary staff.
- Ability to demonstrate inspirational leadership on and off the pitch using a variety of methods and approaches.
- Significant experience of working with youth players with a track record of high performance.
- Demonstrate understanding of international football.
- Experience of working in high performance environments.
- Deep knowledge of technical and tactical components of the game including strategies and tactics.
- Ability to create and implement a Player Development Plan.
- Growth mind-set and strong evidence of continued professional development.
- Demonstrate a high level of commitment to ongoing personal development.
Technical Skills
- Ability to effectively manage budgets.
- Advanced Microsoft Office.
- Ability to create presentations and present to a wide range of key stakeholders.
Beneficial to have:
Knowledge
- UEFA Pro Licence.
Experience
- 10 years of recent coaching experience at an appropriate, high level.
- Teaching experience.
- Tutoring qualification and/or experience of coach education.
- Experience of being a Head Coach within the women's game.
- Experience working in the WSL, Championship and/or in an Academy set-up.
- Experience of youth, international football.
- Understanding of the demands of international football.
- Explicit knowledge and understanding of the England HWP.
Technical Skills
- Basic Project Management skills.
- Basic Analysis skills.
A full clean driving licence will also be required.
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 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' days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days 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
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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