MCWFC - Head of Operations & Player Support

Manchester City Football Club; Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Manchester City Football Club is seeking a Head of Operations & Player Support to ensure high-performance delivery across 1st Team and Academy operations. The role involves leading operational services, compliance, and stakeholder engagement with the aim of fostering an inclusive and high-performing environment for all players and staff.

Qualifications

• Significant experience delivering high performance sport operations at a senior level.
• Deep knowledge of operational requirements of professional athletes and teams.
• Proven experience leading teams in high performance sport.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic delivery of 1st Team and Academy Operations.
• Ensure compliance within Operations and Player Support.
• Represent Manchester City with organising bodies.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Problem Solving

Leadership

Job description

MCWFC Head Of Operations & Player Support

Closing Date of Applications – 16/06/2025

Our Story

Manchester City Women are a leading WSL football club initially founded in 1988.

The team have enjoyed success in not only the WSL but also the Women’s FA Cup and Continental Tyres League Cup, while regularly competing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

The team plays its home fixtures at Joie Stadium, a 7,000 capacity arena. The stadium sits on the wider Etihad Campus, which also encompasses the City Football Academy, a state-of-the-art training and development facility that houses its women’s, men’s and academy teams.

Our Winning Team

To achieve consistent high-performance on the pitch, it is essential that MCWFC 1st Team and Academy players and staff can work, train, and play in an inclusive environment that is psychologically safe.

The focus of this role is to set the standards for the delivery of all operational services to the 1st Team and Academy, creating a high-performance environment at the training ground, match venues, tours and tournaments which is underpinned by world-class, performance driven operational delivery. Whilst also building and overseeing the delivery of an outstanding age-appropriate performance lifestyle and player support programme for 1st Team and Academy players.

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Your Impact

Lead the strategic delivery of the 1st Team and Academy Operations, working collaboratively with key internal stakeholders (Football, Performance Services, Security, Kit, Communications etc) and utilising external research and methodologies for elite sports performance to drive a world-class Operations Department, ensuring clear vision, aligned to Club and Company vision and strategic objectives.

Design & develop a framework and age-appropriate curriculum for player induction and integration, identifying how to adapt elite performance best practice into a bespoke Man City Women’s and Girls approach, incorporating all elements of player experience and performance. Build a structure that enables the player support team to manage player and staff transitions across the academy and 1st Team that maximises the likelihood of adapting to and thriving in our environment and reaching peak performance on and off the pitch.

Work with the Director of Football, Director of Performance Services and Head of Academy to embed and sustain cultures within our 1st Team and Academy, that values and respects diversity. In addition, lead regular ‘Heads of’ meetings to drive this culture across all staff within the 1st Team and Academy environments.

Ensure compliance within Operations and Player Support, working closely with internal experts in Legal, Safeguarding, Finance and People Team to understand risk. Ensure plans are in place to mitigate risk, building in a clear governance structure to manage team compliance, allowing the 1st Team/Academy the capacity to perform at the highest level and focus on winning/development and maximising the Club’s value.

Represent Manchester City, liaising with official organising bodies and partners such as the WPLL, FIFA, UEFA and the FA relating to our participation in relevant competitions. Develop mechanism that enables learning from external partners and experiences to be shared in other areas of Man City and across CFG Clubs, aligning processes, policies, and strategies to provide best in class service to all clubs and teams within the group.

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Essential

• Significant experience delivering high performance sport operations at a senior level.
• Deep knowledge of the operational requirements of professional athletes and teams.
• Proven experience leading teams to deliver complex operational projects in a high performance sport environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to think clearly in challenging, rapidly changing environments and find solutions to complex problems under pressure.
• Proven experience working with sports governing bodies at a senior level, influencing policy.
• Significant experience leading and driving positive culture within high performance sports teams.
• Proven influencing and negotiating skills.

Desirable

• Experience working within a professional football setting.
• Venue/Event management experience in professiona/high performance sport.