Founding Director of Golf Development

Locus Golf Prep Academy; Paradise Valley (AZ); On-site; USD 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package under development

Job summary

Locus Golf Prep Academy is building a premium day school for competitive junior golfers in grades 6-12 in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area. We seek a founding Director of Golf Development to design and lead the program alongside experienced educational leadership.

This is an opportunity to bring coaching expertise into a salaried leadership role and help build, test, and document a distinctive player-development methodology.

Qualifications

• Five or more years experience coaching competitive junior golfers.
• Evidence of sustained player development; experience for college golf valued.
• PGA membership or comparable professional qualifications.
• Coaching approach develops student independence with high expectations.
• Ability to use assessment and competition data to refine development plans.
• Strong family communication, team leadership and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Willingness to test assumptions and document a repeatable methodology.
• Commitment to student safety, professional boundaries, and school responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Assess each player's technical skills, competitive performance, practice habits, and developmental needs.
• Create and regularly review individual development plans with measurable goals.
• Lead instruction in swing mechanics, short game, putting, course management, and competitive preparation.
• Teach students to plan effective practice, evaluate their performance, and make thoughtful adjustments.
• Design individual tournament schedules, prepare players for competition, and lead post-tournament reviews.
• Develop the golf operating budget, including tournament entry fees and planned travel.
• Help recruit and supervise additional coaching staff as enrollment and resources allow.
• Coordinate with academic staff and appropriate specialists on schedules, fitness, recovery, and student progress.
• Build constructive family relationships through clear expectations and regular communication.
• Contribute to founding-family meetings, admissions conversations, and program presentations.

Skills

Junior golf coaching

Player development

PGA membership

Data-driven plans

Family communication

Team leadership

Coaching methodology

Safety & boundaries

Job description

Overview

Locus Golf Prep Academy is developing a premium integrated day school for competitive junior golfers in grades 6-12. Our planned founding cohort is 10-15 students. We intend to combine rigorous academics with purposeful golf development, helping students assess their performance, make sound decisions, and take increasing responsibility for their progress. Locus is being developed by a school founder with more than 20 years of experience launching and leading schools. Our planned academic approach combines individualized, mastery-based learning, specialist tutors, rigorous expectations, and close attention to student progress. This is not a conventional online academic program with golf lessons added afterward. The goal is one educational institution in which academics and sport reinforce disciplined practice, independent thinking, judgment, and character.

Build a program that develops the whole student-athlete

We seek a founding Director of Golf Development who wants to design and lead this program alongside experienced educational leadership. This is an opportunity to bring coaching expertise into a salaried leadership role and help build, test, and document a distinctive player-development methodology. We are working with parents of rising junior boy players in Scottsdale and Phoenix who want a unified program of development, or a localized version of some of the prominent boarding golf academies. Our goal is to build an elite pipeline to college golf.

Who will thrive here

We seek an ambitious coach and program builder who combines technical credibility with patience, judgment, and commitment to developing young people.

• Substantial experience coaching competitive junior golfers; five or more years preferred.


• Evidence of sustained player development; experience preparing players for college golf especially valued.


• PGA of America membership or comparable recognized professional qualifications.


• A coaching approach that develops student independence while maintaining high expectations.


• Ability to use assessment and competition data to refine individual development plans.


• Strong family communication, team leadership, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.


• Willingness to test assumptions, learn from results, and document a repeatable methodology.


• Commitment to student safety, professional boundaries, and school responsibilities.

Candidates should be prepared to explain their specific contributions to players' development. References and background screening are part of the selection process.

Essential Responsibilities

The role

Reporting to the academy's founding leader, you will lead golf instruction and player development within an agreed schoolwide philosophy, schedule, and budget.

• Assess each player's technical skills, competitive performance, practice habits, and developmental needs.


• Create and regularly review individual development plans with measurable goals.


• Lead instruction in swing mechanics, short game, putting, course management, and competitive preparation.


• Teach students to plan effective practice, evaluate their performance, and make thoughtful adjustments.


• Design individual tournament schedules, prepare players for competition, and lead post-tournament reviews.


• Develop the golf operating budget, including tournament entry fees and planned travel.


• Help recruit and supervise additional coaching staff as enrollment and resources allow.


• Coordinate with academic staff and appropriate specialists on schedules, fitness, recovery, and student progress.


• Build constructive family relationships through clear expectations and regular communication.


• Contribute to founding-family meetings, admissions conversations, and program presentations.

Tournament responsibilities include some weekend work and travel.

Benefits

Compensation and opportunity

• $120,000 annual base salary.


• Benefits package under development; details shared during the hiring process.


• Substantial responsibility for shaping and leading a new junior-golf development program.


• School-managed enrollment, billing, and administration so the director can focus on coaching and leadership.


• Potential long-term participation in academy growth; any equity arrangement requires a separate agreement.

Location and launch timing

We are pursuing a golf-facility partnership in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area. The academy is exploring a January 2027 or August 2027 launch. The director's start date will be agreed as plans develop; hiring and launch depend on facility, funding, and enrollment readiness.