WSL - Head of Football Development

The Women's Super League are looking for a Head of Football Development to lead the delivery of the WSL's football development priorities at ground level — ensuring consistent, high-quality execution across clubs, player pathways, coaching systems, and technical standards. This role will act as the central connector between strategy and on-the-ground football delivery, supporting the growth of a world-class, aligned, and insight-led technical ecosystem across the league, whilst being an advocate and guardian of the women's game.

To support in this search we have partnered with Elite Performance Partners. Please send a CV and Cover Letter to apply@eppglobal.com, to apply.

What will you be doing?

Technical Delivery 

Develop and implement the football strategy to ensure both the league and clubs continuously raise standards and innovate, furthering the professionalisation of the game. 
Provide technical input into club football development plans, audits, and capability reviews — driving continuous improvement across environments.
To lead a research and insight led strategy for football policy including Governing Body Endorsement and Home-Grown Player Rules as well as working with the NGB on English Qualified players within the domestic game, connecting both Club and Country success 
Ensure the game is developed with high levels of consideration to demands of the female athlete performance.
To continue to develop and evolve a competition format through a football and player development lens.  

Pathway & Player Development Delivery

Lead and inspire development needs of players of today and the future to achieve their potential and the build and evolution of high performance club environments where they can excel.
Co-create and drive implementation of the WSL's player development framework from academy to first team, including minimum standards, licensing and funding models.
Manage league-wide systems for talent tracking, progression, and benchmarking across clubs.
Identify and share best practice on transition management, holistic player development, and readiness for senior football.

Coaching & Workforce Ecosystem

Support the delivery of the league's coaching development strategy, including consideration to league-wide CPD, succession planning, and diversity targets.
Build relationships with clubs' coaching staff to ensure alignment of technical philosophy and progression pathways.

Standards, Benchmarking & Monitoring

Monitor the implementation of football standards across clubs, ensuring accountability and improvement.
Lead regular reviews of club technical and development progress, feeding into league performance dashboards.
Support delivery of assessments and audits to drive consistency and excellence in technical practice.

What are we looking for?

Essential for the role:

• Proven experience in elite football development (club, league, or national level)
• Strong knowledge of player pathways, coaching systems, and high-performance environments
• Experience working directly with technical and coaching teams in a leadership or advisory capacity and integrating coaching process and core Performance services (i.e. sport science and sports medicine, performance analysis, psychology)
• Strong understanding of the women's football landscape and the unique needs of the female athlete and player pathway

Beneficial to have:

• Practical and delivery-focused, with strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Technically credible and confident working with club technical leaders, coaching staff and practitioners
• Able to translate strategic vision into operational delivery
• Proactive, collaborative, and committed to continuous improvement
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple relationships and projects simultaneously

Living the values through our behaviours:

• FOR THE LOVE OF THE WOMEN'S GAME - Every decision we make drives the growth, quality, and impact of women's football for future generations.
• GREATNESS NEVER SETTLES - We have the relentless drive to keep the women's game, growing, and reaching for more. We have the courage to push boundaries, innovate boldly and continuously rewrite the playbook.
• FIND A WAY TO WIN, TOGETHER - We move as one – lifting each other up and having each other's backs. Together, we unite players, clubs, fans, and communities to achieve greatness.
• CHAMPION THE FEMALE ATHLETE, ON AND OFF THE PITCH - We celebrate and support female athletes, empowering them to shine in their football careers and beyond.
• PUT FANS IN THE FRONT ROW - Fans are the VIPs at the heart of our game. We must thrill, inspire, and connect with them to build lifelong loyalty.

Please note that the Women's Super League Football office is based in Farringdon in Central London. To find out more details about the organisation, please click here to be directed to the Women's Super League Football website.

Women's Super League Football welcomes applications from everyone. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the Women's Super League Football's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.