JOB DESCRIPTION – PERFORMANCE PATHWAY COACHING LEAD

Interview Date: TBC October 2016

Contract:  This is a fixed term contract until April 2021.

Salary Scales: £46,829 - £53,071 p.a.

Grade: Level 4

Hours of Work:  Such hours as necessary to carry out your duties.  This will involve a minimum of 37 hours per week (36 if London based) and may include working outside normal office hours at evenings and weekends and on Public Holidays.  0.8 FTE may be considered for the right candidate.

Location: The normal place of work is negotiable but will be one of the EIS sites. The EIS may from time to time require you to travel to and work at other national offices.

BACKGROUND

The Performance Pathway Team is a collaboration between UK Sport (the UK’s High Performance Strategic Agency) and the English Institute of Sport (Sports Science and Medicine Institute) and has been in full operation since 2008.

Core funded as part of UK Sport’s eight-year strategic investment in performance pathways, the team works alongside summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic programmes [known as the ‘World Class Programmes (WCPs)’] to develop and enhance the support systems and structures that are known to positively promote athlete talent through the pipeline to world class success.

As we enter the Tokyo Cycle (2017-21), the Performance Pathway Team (PPT) will work in partnership with WCP funded sports across four key work streams to drive world leading pathways that ensure sustained success at future Games:

• World Class Athlete Pipeline – delivering enhanced recruitment, confirmation and transition activity to populate WCPs with a sustainable supply of athletes capable of winning medals on the Olympic and Paralympic stage within 8-10yrs.
• Development Curricula – supporting sports to develop and embed curricula describing the athlete experiences, environments and competencies at each stage of the World Class journey.
• Specialist Workforce Development – enabling sports to develop Pathway Leaders and Coaches capable of meeting athletes’ development needs and delivering their curricula.
• Performance Pathway System Development – driving the continued evolution and sustainability of world leading Performance Pathways through improved alignment of investment and sharing of good practice, together with cross-sport benchmarking, applied research and innovation.

ROLE SUMMARY

With a focus on the ‘Specialist Workforce Development’ work-stream, the PPT Coaching Lead with assume lead responsibility for the team’s objective of ensuring targeted sports have an optimal supply of coaches with specialist expertise in identifying, confirming, developing and transitioning athletes with medal winning potential. In this newly created position, the PPT Coaching Lead will:

• lead the design, development and delivery of a new cross-sport ‘WC Pathway Coach Programme’ including being accountable for developing coaches associated with the programme
• drive the development of future PPT coaching programmes and initiatives through identifying and developing cross-sport solutions to the most significant challenges and opportunities facing WC pathway coaches
• proactively research, evaluate and share best practice in pathway coaching and coach development to drive identification, development and retention of coaches within WCPs and the wider UK High Performance System

MAIN TASKS AND ACTIVITIES

• Launch, oversee and operationally deliver a new ‘WC Pathway Coach Programme’ to coaches at the Performance Foundations and Podium Potential levels of the WC  Pathway, aimed at enhancing their skills to transition emerging elite athletes onto WCPs and to create exceptional environments and programmes of support through which they can develop
• Ensure all participants on the WC Pathway Coach Programme develop their coaching practice by providing direct mentoring support to a select group, and co-ordinating/quality assuring delivery to others via a group of associate mentors and specialists
• Develop a comprehensive, user friendly and easily accessible bank of inspirational and practical educational resources to accompany the WC Pathway Coach Programme
• Embrace and proactively operate a ‘pass it on policy’ to ensure knowledge, resources and good practice are shared across WCPs and with key partners (SCUK, HNSCs, HNSIs, Project Connect Leads)
• Work in partnership with coaches, coach developers and learning specialists to create timely, innovative and engaging cross-sport solutions to the anticipated future challenges and opportunities facing pathway coaches and coaching practice in WCPs
• Ensure thorough evaluation of the impact of all initiatives
• Actively participate in monthly PP team meetings, using it as a platform to inform and educate colleagues on work stream progress and to generally provide coaching insight and expertise to enhance delivery of the PPT 2017-21 Strategy
• Proactively collaborate and seek to optimise cross-function working with the UK Sport Coaching Team, wider UK Sport Performance Directorate and EIS Performance Solutions Team
• Within the rules of professional confidentiality liaise with athletes, primary care managers, parents, coaches and other support staff as appropriate
• Work within the rules of the UK Professional Code of Conduct, standards and guidelines and, where appropriate, the EIS host agency
• Participate in ad hoc projects and or applied research across the organisation as appropriate.
• Any other duties as may be requested.

This job description is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. It is intended as an outline indication of the areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The person specification describes the knowledge, skills, aptitudes, experience and qualifications that the English Institute of Sport deems as necessary for successful performance in the job role.

1.    QUALIFICATIONS

Desirable

• Relevant coaching qualification or certification from a coaching related body

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Essential

• Experience in managing the design, content development, delivery and evaluation of training and developing opportunities for coaches including the application of leading methodologies/frameworks
• Demonstrated ability to create engaging, inspiring and challenging high performance learning environments
• Significant experience in facilitating groups to explore problems and issues, and to critically challenge ideas, options and possible solutions before determining outcomes/future courses of action
• A proven track record of successfully supporting the development of multiple coaches including significant experience of 1:1 mentoring
• Understanding of contemporary coaching theories, research and practice as they relate to the identification and development of elite level athletes
• Knowledge and understanding of the needs of elite development coaches, in particular those working at the development level preparing athletes for world class success
• Credibility and confidence to operate a senior level, to lead a strategy and an externally-facing programme
• Ability to identify development areas at a system and sport level and to develop and implement bespoke solutions  
• Demonstrable experience of project managing from idea creation and hands on delivery, through to effective monitoring and critical evaluation

Desirable

• Experience of developing on line learning and development resources/tools
• Experience of coaching or working at the development level of a WCP
• Understanding of the GB World Class Performance system and its connection to Home Nation ‘Performance Foundation’ programmes from both strategic and operational perspectives

3.    JOB RELATED COMPETENCIES

• Strong ability to quickly build networks and relationships and use them to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals
• Excellent presentation and communication skills (in English), both written and oral, that can motivate behavioural change to have a positive impact on performance
• Able to secure commitment through effectively use of interpersonal styles and techniques to gain acceptance of ideas or plans, modifying own behaviour to accommodate tasks, situations and individuals involved
• Effectively and intelligently questions in order to creatively explore challenges and propose solutions
• Self-aware in identifying and proactively seeking external knowledge or expertise when required
• Able to work under pressure and to balance conflicting demands and tight deadlines

4. PERSONAL DISPOSITION 

• Dynamic personality with a commanding presence that motivates and inspires others to change, improve and innovate
• Highly motivated with a passion for high performance sport, in particular staying at the forefront of knowledge and developments in the field of ‘talent’
• A willingness to entertain new ideas, seize challenges that arise in a positive frame of mind, and be open-minded in respect of adopting new practices
• Personal commitment to continuous personal professional development
• A positive attitude to Information Technology in carrying out the post
• Team player
• Personal integrity and the ability to invoke trust and respect from others
• Can sustain long working hours when necessary, operating with vigour, effectiveness and determination over extended periods
• A high energy, can do, customer focussed attitude
• A high work ethic with great attention to detail.

5.  OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• An understanding and commitment to equal opportunities in employment and sport
• An understanding of individual responsibility in complying with the Health and Safety policies and arrangements of the EIS and all relevant partners
• Ability to work irregular and unsocial hours as required involving work outside normal office hours, at evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays
• Ability to travel within and throughout England, including occasional overnight stays
• Ability to travel abroad with teams if required
• An understanding of and commitment to fair play and all national and international anti-doping policies as enforced by national governing bodies, international federations, Olympic Associations and other relevant organisations
• A current UK driver’s licence