The Role

Identify and inspire the next generation...

This role is responsible for leading a team to identify and select players with high potential for the men's pathway in an ever-increasing competitive environment that includes how we engage dual national players, ensuring we retain players and they feel connected with England.

This includes working in a multi-disciplinary way across the various performance teams and men's technical department, club engagement and relevant external stakeholders in the game.

About the Team

Our FA Technical teams support all aspects of Men's and Women's elite performance – including para football, the elite format of disability football that runs parallel to the mainstream game – so we can help England teams to win tournaments.

Our teams manage everything from identifying talent to the development and coaching of multi-disciplinary teams throughout the age groups, up to our Senior England teams. To deliver against our goal we have invested heavily in developing a team of exceptional people capable of creating winning England teams at our world-class training facilities at our National Football Centre, St. George's Park

What You'll Do?

Player Recruitment and Retention

• Lead and develop a high performing team of talent reporters. Set clear standards and foster a high performing culture to ensure the development of a respected and trusted talent reporter population covering the breadth of age groups from U15 to the Senior team.


• Lead the strategic development and operational delivery for Player Recruitment and Retention considering best practice in the use of video, data and multi-disciplinary observations and measurements both on and off England duty to contribute to comprehensive, benchmarked player profiles appropriate to each age group.


• Lead on recruitment and retention decision making with internal stakeholders to ensure regular and effective dialogue bringing together objective and subjective data.


• Continually developing and utilising comprehensive rating systems and depth charts to provide insightful analysis of player status


• Utilising comprehensive player profiles, that inform regular cross-phase player reviews in order to select and benchmark current players.


• Play an integral role in defining and disseminating the core characteristics and benchmarks of Winning England players at all levels with all relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Internal Collaboration

• Develop close and trusted working relationships with Men's national coaches, the Performance Director and the insight and analysis performance staff to ensure a cohesive multi-disciplinary approach at all times


• Lead the creation and delivery of key internal projects and external research associations which support the further development of player recruitment and retention services.


• Support the development of Talent Identification in FA Education through close working links and sharing of information.

Club Engagement

• Build and develop strong relationships with clubs to collate key information on prospective and current players.


• Play an integral role in club engagement to ensure relationships with clubs are maximised and utilised to drive a consistent exchange of key information on prospective and current players, including the recruitment and retention of players throughout the pathway.

Other

• Develop and maintain an extensive network of organisations and individuals outside football with whom to share and develop best practice.


• Planning & management of departmental budget.


• Executes additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group changing priorities

What You'll Need?

Essential for the role:

• Extensive experience of delivering a successful player recruitment strategy


• Understanding the context of the evolving international football landscape and its impact on player recruitment and retention for England


• Skilled in performance data analysis and making evidence-based player assessments and decisions.


• Ability to collaborate and influence leaders across multiple departments


• Outstanding organisational, process, communication, and project management skills.


• Experience of leading and engaging large teams.


• High level of football intelligence


• Operates with professionalism and integrity and values aligned to The FA.


• Excellent written and oral communication.

Beneficial to have:

• A Level 5 Talent Identification qualification


• Detailed knowledge of Research & Development processes

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, in order 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 flexibility on where you work.