Senior Leadership and Workforce Development Programmes Manager

The Premier League’s Football Development team is responsible for the delivery of the League’s strategic plans to support its ambitions to develop the best Players, Coaches, Staff, and Match Officials.

To support the continued implementation of these strategies the Premier League provides individualised professional development programmes and initiatives for football leaders and multidisciplinary staff across the Academy system. As part of this important work, we are looking to recruit a Senior Leadership and Workforce Development (LWD) Programmes Manager responsible for the development, design, delivery and quality assurance of our leadership and workforce development programmes. The Senior LWD Programmes Manager is a member of the LWD Team and will work towards meeting team and individual objectives. 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 organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised 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

Reporting to the Head of LWD, the duties of The Senior LWD Programmes Manager will include, but not be limited to:

Strategic Programme Development, Design and Quality Assurance

• Lead the design and development of LWD Programmes and content and support the Head of LWD in developing the philosophy and overall strategic direction for LWD, ensuring industry-leading approach that learns from best practice.

• Ensure LWD Programmes and content are appropriate for elite football leaders, through regular analysis of needs and roles.

• Audit learning content areas, modes of delivery, effectiveness, and alignment with leadership and workforce development programme aims and participant expectations.

• Ensure the design of programmes and their content is practically relevant and academically rigorous, that supports participants in their leadership learning and development, and meets the emerging needs of the LWD Team.

• Lead the implementation and development of quality assurance and improvement processes to support the effective delivery, monitoring and evaluation of LWD programmes.

Programme Management and Delivery

• Work with the LWD Planning and Operations Manager to ensure the successful management and delivery of LWD programmes.

• Manage the LWD Programme Advisory Group, ensuring feedback and evaluation drives the ongoing development of the LWD programmes.

• Manage a team of Programme Leads to deliver and standardise world-leading leadership and workforce development programmes.

• Ensure the best and most appropriate expertise is recruited to design and deliver content aligned to the emerging needs of the LWD Team.

• Support the design and delivery of key in-person events.

• Manage relationships with key stakeholders for LWD programmes, such as Academy Managers, programme consultants, mentors, Premier League staff, and other organisations including the FA, LMA, PFA, EFL and academic partners.

• Partner with key internal stakeholders to ensure leadership and workforce development programme activity is aligned to organisational objectives and values.

Leadership and Workforce Development

• Provide expertise, advice, guidance, and challenge to support and ensure quality improvement of Premier League leadership learning and development, internally and externally.

• Work with the Digital Learning Lead to support the implementation of the Football Development Department digital learning strategy with learning solutions.

• Support the development and delivery of leadership development content for the wider organisation, such as the Premier League Football Development Conference.

• Ensure a co-ordinated, connected, and innovative leadership and workforce development educational approach that is sector leading and aligns with Premier League outcomes.

• Collate and signpost quality learning opportunities and content from external partners.

• Ensure EDI and accessibility is a core component in any learning innovation and is aligned to the Premier League Statement of Principles.

Requirements for the role

• Extensive academic and practical expertise, and cutting-edge knowledge in the field of leadership development, ideally in elite sport.

• Track record of delivering innovative leadership development programmes, ideally in elite sport.

• Track record of delivering effective blended learning and digital learning support.

• Experience of managing quality assurance mechanisms to improve standards.

• Experience of equality, diversity and inclusion within a leadership development context.

• Educated to postgraduate degree level, ideally in a leadership development or management related discipline.

• Track record of manging others and delegating workload effectively.

• The confidence to deal with senior internal and external figures in a professional manner.

• Self-motivated team player who values and understands the importance of collaboration.

Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact [email protected]

About The Premier League

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 organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised 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.