Vacancy description
Key Information
- Salary:Competitive
- Division:Women's Football
- Location:Home based
- Vacancy Type:Fixed Term Contract, Full-time
- Closing Date:24 January 2025
We are looking for a Women's Senior ETC Player Development Lead to work within Girls Emerging Talent Centres to support the development of better players for the future game. The role will involve leading a team to oversee player development across a group of Centres within a region, including supporting the identification and development of talented players, and ensuring the delivery of outstanding technical programmes across the system.
The role will take on the management and leadership of a small team of staff responsible for developing better players in the FAs Girls Emerging Talent Centres.
The Premier League fund the delivery of up to 75 Emerging Talent Centres for talented female footballers aged 8-16 years. The Centres provide local technical and physical development for talented girls, supported by a varied games programme that stretches and challenges players.
The role will contribute to the delivery an outstanding talent pathway that provides a wide and diverse pool of talent for future Women's England Teams, and the wider domestic game.
Key Points To Note:
The role will cover the Midlands / South West region so we are looking for candidates who are based in region or are willing to be based in region.
This is a fixed term contract that will run until 30th June 2027.
Interviews are currently scheduled to be held on the 4th or 5th February 2025 at The National Football Centre, St. George's Park.
If you applied for the recently advertised ETC Player Development Lead roles you do not need to reapply. We will be in touch should your application be under consideration for this role.
What will you be doing?
- Lead and manage a team of staff responsible for developing better players within Girls'. Emerging Talent Centres.
- Support the FA Club Talent Pathway Manager with the development of Emerging Talent Centre player development programmes.
- Lead the development of an outstanding programme of support to Emerging Talent Centres which contributes to finding and developing talented girls.
- Support centres to develop and deliver an outstanding technical and physical training programme which focusses on player development.
- Support centres to develop the knowledge and know how to identify and recruit talented girls.
- Support centres to deliver a challenging and varied games programme.
- Work with England Futsal to embed futsal within centres, along with other small sided formats, as a tool to support outstanding player development.
- Support the roll out of the FA Emerging Talent Centre Technical Framework, and Physical Framework.
- Work with The FA Coach Development Teams, to provide support and learning for the coaching workforce in centres.
- Work with the Women's Senior Club Talent Pathway Manager to ensure that player development programmes are well connected across the club talent pathway.
- Deliver sessions to talented girls within centre environments as part of the learning support for the coaching workforce.
- Support centres to understand talent identification, and ensure they have a robust plan to deliver effective TID
- Support centres to implement impactful individual player development plans for players.
- Seek and support innovative ways to improve the development of players within Emerging Talent Centres.
- Support club action planning in response to the system audit process.
- Plan and prioritise a schedule of regular communication and visits to clubs / centres within the region.
- Ensure effective collaboration across the Girls Talent System in the identification of talented players.
- Contribute to the wider direction, planning and review of the club pathway.
- Support the delivery of events which support the learning and development of ETC workforce.
- Work with the Premier League and the FA to identify examples of high quality player development.
- Work closely with the FA's Women's 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 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
- Holds a UEFA B Licence
- Understanding of talent development systems
Experience
- Experience of player development at foundation / youth development phase in football
- Experience in identifying talent and potential
- Ability to influence and build positive working relationships in club settings
- Experience of delivering coach development
- Experience of managing projects and events
- Time and project management skills
- Working effectively as part of a team
Technical Skills
- High level coaching ability
- Experience and capability to use Excel
- Ability to use a suite of Microsoft Office tools
- Ability to create presentations and present to a wide range of stakeholders
- Willingness to travel
- Willingness to commit to personal development where appropriate
Beneficial to have:
Knowledge
- Holds a UEFA A Licence
- Understanding of the women's game
- Awareness of key stakeholders across the football landscape
Experience
- Experience in academy football
- Experience of working in a talent / performance pathway
- Experience working with football partners and stakeholders
- Experience of working within an MDT
- Ability to problem solve
Technical Skills
- Use of coaching and session planning software
- Advanced Project Management Skills
- Analysis Skills to support Talent ID
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 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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