The posting
This is an exciting opportunity to work across the Premier League, EFL, and the FA. The Coaching Auditor will be responsible for auditing organisations and practices across the multidisciplinary areas of development pathways.
As part of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) — the Professional Game’s national strategy for developing youth footballers in England — professional club Academies are placed into one of four categories (Category 1 to 4). These categories are based on a combination of factors, including investment levels, facilities, staffing, and the quality of provision across key multidisciplinary areas.
The female talent pathway aims to support the development of more and better home-grown players through two key programmes: Emerging Talent Centres and the Women’s Professional Game Academies.
To effectively categorise Academies and to support the continual raising of standards in elite player development, an independent standards organisation has been developed, mandated by the professional game, to monitor safety, compliance and the quality of work being delivered across both the male and female environments.
The independent standards organisation oversees a multidisciplinary assessment of Academies across Leadership and Management, Coaching, Performance Support, Education, Player Care, Safeguarding, Pathway and Productivity.
The role
Review and Evaluation of Coaching and multidisciplinary programmes:
- Using the Academy Standards assessment framework, assess the quality of Coaching provision across talent development pathways
- Accurately and fairly report findings, identifying quality, risk and development areas.
- Manage the end-to-end auditing/quality assurance process, ensuring the operation runs as smoothly as possible for the club and auditing team
- Ensure a consistent assessment is given, no matter the auditor or club.
General Responsibilities:
- Deliver annual Club visits to ensure adherence with Safe to Operate and Compliance guidelines and the Youth Development Rules and FA Criteria
- Support the development of a suitable Academy standards framework and auditing practices
- Using outcomes from Club audits to undertake trend analysis to inform future learnings
- Meet tight deadlines
- Ensure the auditing team maintains an up-to-date knowledge of good practice
Requirements for the role:
Experience:
- Experience working, coaching and leading development programs with young athletes, especially within an academy system or development squads (male or female pathways)
- Leading or mentoring other coaches, including designing CPD programmes or overseeing coaching frameworks
- Sound knowledge of talent identification and pathways
- Experience in navigating complex and highly pressurised working environments and cultures, establishing effective working relationships across a diverse range of stakeholders (sporting directors, senior decision makers, first team managers/coaches)
- Working within a multidisciplinary environment, collaborating with analysts, sports science, medical, education, player care, safeguarding, etc
- Previous experience in reviewing, assessing and developing recommendations for multidisciplinary development programs at a strategic level
- Prior leadership and management experience
- Experience working with children and adults at risk and/or knowledge and understanding of issues that affect their safety and wellbeing
Knowledge
- High practical and theoretical understanding of coach and talent development demands in elite level sport (age-appropriate coaching principles, long-term player development models, talent ID and progression mapping)
- Understanding and appreciation of context and cultural differences between clubs of different sizes and philosophies
- Understanding and comfort in Quantitative and Qualitative assessment
Skills and Abilities:
- Interviewing skills and observational analysis
- Effective relationship builder
- A consultative approach with a range of techniques to gain understanding, connect and build trust
- Analytical ability to identify areas for improvement, perform root-cause analysis and convert findings into required actions
- Ability to make sound judgements based on evidence gathered during audit activity
- Ability to see both the big picture and enabling detail
- Clear and concise verbal communication skills
- Ability to present findings and communicate them to Club staff in a developmental way
- Can defend a point of view in a composed and confident way
- Ability to present written information in a structured and balanced way appropriate to the needs of the reader
- Strong time management and organisational skills
- A team player who understands values and collaboration
- High-level emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills who seek and act on feedback
- Builds trust by showing humility, behaving consistently and putting the needs of others first
- Listens to others’ perspectives and understands why people (individuals/groups) do what they do
Application Information
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. For further information, please see our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Guidance.
To apply please visit our careers page and apply with your CV and a cover letter. The closing date for applications is 22 November 2026.
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]
