Job description:

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club (SWFC) in partnership with the Premier League, Professional Footballers Association (PFA), and English Football League (EFL) we are seeking to improve the diversity of football coaches in the professional game to make this area more representative of society and the playing population. As part of our commitment to improving diversity, we are proud to be able to support the Professional Player to Coach Scheme, Season 2024/2025, by providing a high-quality fixed-term employment opportunity to develop under-represented groups within the football industry. The scheme is open to PFA members who are currently under-represented within English professional football coaching workforce. Men and Women coaches from Black, South-Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds. We believe that having greater diversity helps the whole club to perform better both on and off the pitch.

PPCS provides a 23-month fixed-term employment opportunity and development programme for the successful candidate. The club will act as the ‘base’ of employment and the individual will work across a variety of football functions within the club to broaden their learning experience.
The fixed-term employment opportunity will include coaching and observation across the Academy, and collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams. Successful applicants will enter the Premier League’s Coach Development Programme which is accredited by Leeds Beckett University. Upon successful completion of the programme, coaches will receive a Diploma in Professional Football Coaching. The development programme includes mentoring, workshops, peer learning, projects, and need-led access to FA/UEFA coaching qualifications.

Objectives of the Scheme
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To increase the number of former professional players from Black, South-Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds in full-time coaching positions in English professional football
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To provide coaches on the scheme with a fixed-term employment contract and development opportunities within a Premier League or EFL clubs
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To substantially improve long-term employment prospects for coaches who complete the scheme.
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To provide each of the coaches with their own development programme to ensure that they are appropriately supported to become successful coaches and visible role models
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To assist in diversifying the workforce at Premier League and EFL clubs, promoting a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion

Experience
Essential
• PFA member
• Coaches must not have previous experience of holding a full-time coaching role in a Premier League or EFL Club
Desirable
• Experience of delivering effective and engaging coaching and player development support to children and young people (e.g. in education, grassroots, community coaching, or part-time development centre or Academy setting)
• Experience of coaching a team or group of players on a regular basis
• Experience of holistic youth development activities within, or beyond sport

Qualifications

Essential

• UEFA B Licence
• Current FA Safeguarding Certificate (Prior to commencing role)
• Enhanced DBS Clearance (Prior to commencing role)
• Emergency First Aid Certificate (Prior to commencing role)

Desirable
• UEFA A Licence

Person Specification
• Drive to become a football coach in English professional football and to help individual players, and teams, to successfully develop and perform.
• Passion to create developmentally appropriate learning environments for players.
• Commitment to fulfilling duty of care for children, young people, and adults in healthy, high performing environment.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, and relationship building expertise.
• Resilience for the everyday rigours of high-performance football environments
• High potential to be a world-class football coach and visible role model.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club believe in equal opportunities and all applications will be assessed on merit only. All personal data that the applicant shares on the equality monitoring form will be submitted separately and not form any part of the application process. This information is collected simply to see if our advert is reaching a wide and diverse range of applicants who are applying for this role. The successful candidate will be selected based on merit as measured against the person specification, set out above.