The Purpose of the Role:

Reporting to the FAI Chief Executive Officer, and a key member of the FAI Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be involved in setting, driving and delivering the FAI’s overall growth strategy at all levels of football across Ireland. The Chief Operating Officer will also deputise for the CEO in times of absence.

The Chief Operating Officer will support the CEO to lead the Association through a period of planned and progressive reform and development to achieve the FAI’s mission to promote and develop the game of football to become the team sport of choice in Ireland.  The COO will be expected to represent the Association by sitting on external strategic groups and committees.

There will be a focus on the improvement of the Association’s performance, effectiveness, governance, reputation, inclusiveness, and transparency during its next phase of development.  Working closely with the FAI Board, SLT, Staff, Leagues, Clubs, central government, local government, Sport Ireland, FIFA, UEFA and other key stakeholders, the COO will collaborate with the CEO in Strategic Planning to drive forward and manage the FAI’s strategic vision and objectives.

Along with the leadership team, the COO will play a key role  to set the correct tone  to achieve cultural and business transformation. The COO will also oversee and deliver in-depth analysis of current and potential growth strategies as well as managing departmental performance, in line with the FAI Strategy, Budgets and Forecasts.

THE PERSON

The successful candidate will have the following:

Required skills and experience:

• An experienced, commercially-focused Senior Leader with a strong track record in delivering business solutions, steadfast resolve and personal integrity.


• International business experience an advantage.


• The ability to think strategically and think ‘whole organisation’ from strategy development to implementation and performance management.


• Commitment to maintaining a high level of integrity, ethics and professinalism in all business dealings.


• Strong decision-making skills and experience of playing a leading role on a management team keeping the focus on strategic objectives and ensuring the organisation is clear on the milestones they must reach in order to achieve goals.


• Outstanding leadership qualities with the ability to work towards collective outcomes, galvanising and energising teams and colleagues, winning hearts and minds and taking them on a journey towards the future.


• Decisive, energetic and enthusiastic with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.


• Ability to develop and build on relationships with FAl's key partners including Sponsors,  Sport Ireland, UEFA, FIFA and the Irish Government and representing the FAI and Irish Football in different fora. A proficiency in leveraging technology and data analytics to drive business insights and enhance operational effectiveness.  Strong presentation skills and the ability to influence at a senior level and the ability to quickly establish gravitas with FAI Board and Senior Leadership Team. Defining and communicating clear strategic and operational objectives, managing diverse views and providing direction and clarity for the organisation and its wide range of stakeholders.  A deep understanding of business planning and regulatory and governance matters. A strong understanding of digital, data analysis and performance metrics.

Preferred skills, experience and qualifications

• A passion for football and understanding of the football landscape in Ireland.  Knowledge of the FAI and the operations of FIFA and UEFA would be benefical.


• A strong track record in developing successful strategic plans for leading businesses, ideally within the sports sector.


• Experience in delivery of Major Events would be an advantage given the upcoming hosting of EURO 2028.


• A relevant business qualification would be an advantage