Who We Are:

UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 688 million fans and 211 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world, while broadcasting to nearly 900 million TV households across more than 170 countries. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is owned by global entertainment, sports and content company Endeavor, and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok: @UFC.

Endeavor is a global sports and entertainment company, home to the world’s most dynamic and engaging storytellers, brands, live events and experiences. The company is comprised of industry leaders including entertainment agency WME; sports, fashion, events and media company IMG; and premier mixed martial arts organization UFC. The Endeavor network specializes in talent representation, sports operations & advisory, event & experiences management, media production & distribution, experiential marketing and brand licensing.

The Role and What You’ll Do:

The UFC Performance Institute (UFCPI) is the world’s first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) multi-disciplinary research, innovation, and training center, and is globally recognized for the performance infrastructures it provides to UFC and UFC Academy athletes. With world-class facilities in Las Vegas and Shanghai, and further global expansion in Mexico City in 2023, the mission of the UFCPI is to promote performance-enhancement through the delivery of world-class coaching, sport science, and medical services to the world’s best MMA and combat athletes. The core values of the UFCPI are aligned to maximizing the health and wellbeing of UFC athletes and to support fighters and coaches in optimizing their training, preparation, and ultimately performances in the octagon.

The successful candidate for this role will join a world-class interdisciplinary team of service providers with a proven track record of delivering world-leading support services to MMA and other professional athletes. The role will be integral in supporting the delivery of core services to UFC Academy athletes in Mexico and throughout Latin America, as well as wider business-related initiatives on a global scale. The UFC Performance Institute encourages innovative ways of thinking and challenges team members to be accountable for their professional standards of care while providing robust links to measurable performance outcomes in all that they do.

Aligned with the overall strategy of the UFC Performance Institute on a global scale, the Performance will assume a leadership role in not only providing coaching support to the physical preparation of athletes but in also managing the sport science activities, implementation of technology, and the data infrastructure that will develop the UFC Performance Institute as the leading training institution in performance, welfare, and research for MMA and combat sports. This role will assist the both the global Directors of Sports Science and Strength & Conditioning in conducting bespoke research projects to directly address key questions/hypotheses relating to athlete health, wellbeing and performance evaluation. On a day-to-day basis, the Performance Science Manager will be responsible for aggregating key metrics and diagnostics and undertaking workflows that will provide the MMA coaching staff and wider UFCPI team with critical insights that support strategic decision-making regarding athletes’ performance. This individual will experience a variety of working environments and will be required to proactively collaborate and seek optimal cross-discipline initiatives within the Performance Institute.

Work with the Director of Sports Science to coordinate sport science activities at the UFCPI in Mexico City, with the objective of supporting athlete health, wellness, and performance.
Work with the Director of Strength & Conditioning to improve athlete performance through the development, implementation, and evaluation of elite-level strength and conditioning programs that reflect scientific principles as they relate to adaptation, periodization, peaking, tapering, and injury rehabilitation.
As required, lead individual and group strength and conditioning sessions to UFC fighters, UFC Academy athletes, and a range of external athletes, including professional sport teams, national governing bodies for sport, and other organizations (as required).
Co-develop and implement support systems to aid in athlete assessments, data collection and management.
Generate reports and data feedback mechanisms that promote the dissemination of data and performance insights to create world-leading working practices in the field of combat sport-specific strength and conditioning and sports science
Ensure that the delivery of strength and conditioning and sports science services effectively meet their commitment to athletes and coaches.
Provide valuable information and insights through data and reporting to MMA technical coaches, strength & conditioning coaches, dietitians, and sports medicine personnel within the UFCPI Mexico City.
Ensures that the cleanliness and hygiene of the laboratory environments and that associated equipment is maintained within the facility.
Work with other support staff, such as MMA, nutrition, and sports medicine to deliver an interdisciplinary approach to performance development.
Undertake identified high priority sport science projects and conduct bespoke research activities in order to directly address key performance questions.
Oversee the maintenance, calibration and upkeep of sport science equipment and technologies within the UFCPI Mexico City.
Participate in ad hoc projects and or applied research across the organization as appropriate.
Contribute to the development and delivery of UFCPI educational, certification, and learning materials.
Develop third-party consultant relationships and form strategic partnerships with industry leaders in sport science, athlete monitoring and evaluation, and athletic performance.
Any other duties as may be requested.

You Have These:

Post Graduate Degree in Exercise Science, Physiology, Kinesiology, or other related curriculum required.
3+ years of previous experience working effectively in a high-performance sporting environment.
Candidates should demonstrate their ability to deliver a variety of physiological testing protocols and the capacity to follow methodological procedures.
Experience working with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word & PowerPoint) and other software platforms (Power BI, Vald, AMS) for data analysis, data management, and data reporting
Experience and good knowledge of data computing and statistics.
Previous experience working effectively in a high-performance environment with elite athletes and coaches.
Knowledge and experience of sport science technologies and innovation.
The ability to perform sport science research and projects independently, and to apply the findings of that research.
Experience undertaking large-scale data analytics and the interrogation of objective performance metrics.
Excellent presentation and communication skills, both written and oral, that can motivate behavioral change and to have a positive impact on performance.
Ability to communicate complex data in terms that are easily understood by a wide range of audiences.
Understanding of existing evidence-based research, and the implementation of new research areas to enhance the sport, athletes, and coaches.
A dynamic personality who is highly motivated to collaborate with others
A willingness to entertain new ideas, seize challenges that arise in a positive frame of mind, and an open mindedness to facilitate innovative approaches to sport science
Must have excellent communication skills in English and Spanish both verbally and in writing.

We’d Love If You Also Have These:

Personal or professional experience in combat or contact sport is preferred, but not required.
Understanding of the demands of the MMA sport (i.e. physical, physiology, gender-specific, weight categories, weight management, travel requirements, etc.) would be considered advantageous.

How we work:

Endeavor is at the center of sports, media, entertainment, and fashion and is a largely relationship-based business. To foster an environment of collaboration, develop our future talent, and build on relationships across leadership, peers, and teams, we work from the office 5 days a week. We see immeasurable value internally and throughout the core of the businesses we support.

Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Performance Science Manager - UFC Performance Institute, Mexico City