NutritionistBlackburn Rovers

Job title: Nutritionist

Department: Academy/Senior Performance Department/Women’s

Based at: Blackburn Rovers Academy, Senior Training Centre, Brockhall Village, Blackburn, BB6 8BA/8FA. Flexibility regarding location is required.

Reports to: Head of Academy Sports Science & Medicine & Head of 1st Team Performance

Responsible for: N/A

Hours of work: 40 hours per week plus any additional hours necessary for the performance of duties. This may include evening and weekend work.

Contractual Status: Permanent

Job purpose: To provide nutritional support to all academy/STC players, parents and coaches.

Duties and responsibilities:
• To be committed to ensuring the safeguarding and welfare of all elite players, promoting their well-being whilst maintaining professional boundaries;
• To lead nutritional monitoring of all players;
• To ensure all players and parents have specific nutritional support and educational program;
• To liaise with house parents, parents and coaches as required;
• To ensure all written evidence is up to date as per EPPP requirements;
• To create external links as required;
• To maintain an up to date CPD portfolio;
• Ensure best practice is followed at all times and players are receiving optimal advice at all times;
• To assist and lead departmental in-service training as and when required;
• To ensure appropriate moments are taken to review the delivery and
associated effectiveness of the program;
• To create a nutritional framework to guide the nutrition provision for the senior players including body composition; hydration status, biochemical testing.
• To create an education program targeted at improving all Blackburn Rovers FC players nutritional knowledge;
• Create nutrition protocols for the senior players for key training days; ensuring nutritional intake is directly linked to GPS data & player expenditure;
• To assist the Football Catering Manager in devising and implementing an effective club feeding strategy; and
• To provide a regular audit of the nutrition offerings to players within the STC and Academy:
• To suggest and design individual nutritional programs for players including key supplementation requirements:
• To support the catering staff with food labels around the performance plating of food:
• To travel with first team to away games and oversee the nutritional details and quality of both hotel and travel food offering for players;
• To work towards at least 2 peer reviewed, research papers using the clubs data sets collected per season; and
• To provide injured players nutritional support from a key supplementation perspective & nutritional habits during injury.

Skills required:
• IT literate;
• Ability to communicate with internal and external parties;
• To work in a team environment;
• Ability to perform group and individual verbal presentations;
• Ability to independently manage workload; and
• Ability to project manage.

Knowledge required:
• Knowledge of current sport science and nutritional practice with particular specialism in sports nutrition;
• Good knowledge of Safeguarding/child protection policies and procedures;
• Knowledge of an elite sporting environment; and
• Pediatric physiological development.

Qualifications required:
• Degree in Sports Science/Nutrition or related discipline (essential);
• ISAK (or ability to obtain in 6 months – essential);
• Master Degree in Sports Nutrition; and
• SENR registered (desirable).
• Working towards a PhD in Football or sport nutrition

DBS check required: Yes (Enhanced)