The Premier League is recruiting a Chair to lead and oversee the independent equality experts comprising its PLEDIS Panel.

The Premier League’s PLEDIS Panel determines whether the requirements of the relevant level of the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard for Professional Football Clubs have been met by individual clubs.

The PLEDIS is an ambitious and progressively challenging evidence-based framework. It drives continuous improvement in equality, diversity and inclusion to create meaningful and sustainable change. It covers all areas of a Club’s activities, including its role as an employer, its match day operations, its academy, first team, Community Foundation and fans. The framework is set around four key themes:

• Leadership and Commitment


• Promoting EDI; Challenging and preventing discrimination


• Data, Insight and Delivery


• Learning and Development

Our Clubs work towards three levels of achievement: Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced; with submissions assessed independently then verified during Panel meetings. The Panel’s role is to verify that the requirements of the PLEDIS have been met and to provide advice and high-level recommendations to help Clubs further develop their EDI work. Panels are made up of independent experts from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, all of whom have significant experience at a senior, strategic level in progressing EDI within organisations.

Who we are

The Premier League is home to some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its Clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds. It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in over 880 million homes in 188 countries.

We have a wide variety of responsibilities. These include organizing the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralized broadcast and commercial rights. The work we do in conjunction with the Clubs also goes far beyond the 90 minutes. We support and provide a framework for youth development, we protect the organisation’s intellectual property, support the wider game and community programmes, undertake international development work and liaise with governing bodies and other leagues.

The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.

The role

The Chair will fulfil the role of a Panel member, as required, while also working closely with the Premier League on the strategic direction of the PLEDIS and Panel. The Chair should have a thorough understanding of the objectives and scope of the PLEDIS and of their role as a Panel Member, as well as the governance and context of the PLEDIS.

The Chair is independent and objective, and a key stakeholder in overseeing consistency and rigour in the process. The Chair and Panel are supported by an independent Assessor Consultant team and Secretariat, with regular liaison with the Premier League’s EDI team. The Chair, as all Panel members, is required to give in-depth consideration to a Club’s assessment documentation prior to Panel assessment meetings, during which Panels are required to:

Consider a Club’s presentation and ask probing questions of Club representatives to check and challenge the progress they are making towards equality;

1.  Identify strengths and weaknesses in a Club’s equality work and make informed recommendations to help them develop further;


2.  Make an objective decision in regard to whether the Club has met the requirements of a level of the PLEDIS.

The primary duty of the PLEDIS Panel Chair is to: 

• Chair and facilitate all Panel meetings


• Determine the optimum makeup of each Panel (based on skillset and Panel Member availability) in conjunction with the PLEDIS lead


• Identify the key areas of questioning and lead the Panel’s Q&A during a Club’s submission meeting


• Make a final decision relating to a Club’s submission, should Panel Members be evenly split in theirs, and provide a rationale for that decision


• Review and sign off on Panel / Club meeting minutes, Panel reports and joint Premier League / Panel decision letters which are generated after each submission meeting (on behalf of the Panel) within the stated timeframe


• Consider updated Club Panel reports when Clubs have been given extended timeframes to address gaps within the stated deadline, ensuring that other Panel Members have given due consideration to these reports


• In conjunction with the Premier League, participate in the recruitment and selection process for further Panel Members as required


• In conjunction with the PLEDIS lead devise and participate in the induction process for new Panel Members as required


• Contribute feedback (including from the broader PLEDIS Panel membership) to the ongoing review of the effectiveness of PLEDIS by the Premier League from time to time


• Be an effective advocate for the PLEDIS framework in collaboration with the Premier League’s EDI team


• Contribute to annual reporting on progress (to, for example, the Premier League Board, Shareholders and the wider public) in collaboration with the EDI team

Requirements for the role

• Knowledge of the major contemporary equality, diversity and inclusion priorities facing professional football and broader society


• Knowledge of current equality legislation, specifically the Equality Act 2010 and related secondary legislation and guidance


• Experience of embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in strategic planning, delivery and assessment of equality objectives in either a football, business, high-level charity or public sector context


• Experience or a clear recognition of the role of panels in assessment processes


• Experience of managing senior stakeholders within organisations and / or across other panels or Boards


• Knowledge of professional football’s organisational architecture and of the football regulatory framework in England and Wales


• Knowledge of wider social inclusion issues


• The ability to provide practical and relevant examples of good practice with regard to equality, diversity and inclusion


• The ability to communicate and challenge in an effective and constructive way, to a range of people – including senior executives


• Experience in the delivery of formal consultation commitments


• Relationships and contacts relevant to an assessment role in fan engagement e.g. professional football, sports organisations, governing bodies, fan groups, the EDI sector, entertainment and leisure


• Experience of assessing against standards