Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Senior Manager – FA
The Football Association

At the FA, inclusion means valuing and celebrating our differences. It means nurturing a working environment and culture where everyone thrives. Diversity for us means the ways in which we differ. On an active level, it means seeking participation and representation from everyone. It refers to our more tangible and visible differences such as gender, race and ethnicity. But it also includes our intangible differences such as sexual orientation, heritage, religion, unseen disabilities, family/social status and age.

We are currently half-way through our second three-year EDI strategy called ‘A Game For All’ and this role is instrumental in the overall execution of the strategy and the achievement of its targets by delivering expert change and programme management as well as offering advice and guidance on EDI matters and building effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including the FA’s senior and extended leadership team. The holder of this role will also work closely with key Divisions including Legal and Governance, Grassroots Football, Communications & Marketing, Women’s Football and FA Education. Externally, this will mean nurturing partnerships with football bodies, EDI specialist organisations and other campaigning bodies in football.

The role will be based at Wembley Stadium with some work at our National Football Centre at St. George’s Park near Burton-on-Trent

What will you be doing?

• Provide expert change and project management to support the delivery of the FA’s EDI strategy
• Write, review and update EDI policies across the organisation
• Manage a series of budgets to maximise the value achieved to ensure intervention programmes and projects meet strategic plans.
• Work closely with the marketing team to deliver key campaigns in the EDI Calendar, this includes the annual Rainbow Laces campaign to County FAs, Clubs & Leagues in grassroots football
• Provide direct line management for the EDI Officer including regular reviews and clear objective setting.
• Manage the FA’s youth dispensation programme and trans inclusion policy, liaising with applicants, County FAs, Clubs, Leagues and appointed medical advisors.
• Oversee the delivery of the professional game mandatory education programme following a proven charge.
• Coordinate The FA’s submission of the Advanced Level of the Equality Standards for Sport and / or similar accredited/kite mark programmes.
• Support the creation and running of internal network resource groups. Currently this is the Employee Ethnicity Network and The Pride (LGBTQ+) Network,
• Lead and input to the creation of the annual external report on the progress of the FA’s diversity and inclusion programme and its published targets.
• Lead on creating update presentations and reports to IAB
• Execute additional tasks and support the director of EDI team as required in order to meet FA Group changing priorities.
  

What are we looking for?

Essential for the role:

Knowledge

• Formal qualification in project management such as Prince II or similar (is an advantage but not essential)
• A proven track record of project managing and delivering people change programmes
  

Experience

• Managing people
• Organising Events/Campaign activations
• An interest/passion for working in a diversity and inclusion function in a large organisation
• An interest/passion in sport as a force for good.
  

Technical Skills

• Strong Change and Programme Management skills.
• Ability to write concise presentations and reports
• Strong analytical skills
• Attention to detail and pride in the presentation of outputs
• Ability to create presentations and present to a wide range of key stakeholders
• Experience in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Microsoft Excel is a requirement
  

Beneficial to have:

Knowledge:

• skills in stakeholder management – both internal and external
• Ability to demonstrate flexibility where required
• Qualified to degree level or equivalent
• Technology skills – Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio is an advantage but not essential
  

Experience

• Delivering through a matrix management arrangement.
  

What’s in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George’s Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
• Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
• A hybrid working model offering flexibility on where you work.
  

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

Our Organisation

The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.

The FA oversees England international teams across men’s, women’s, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Barclays FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, and Vitality Women’s FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.

We currently work within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary.

Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of either Wembley Stadium, St. George’s Park or our Processing Centre, unless the role is advertised as a homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.

The FA, For All, For You

Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.

A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments – Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change – which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of The FA’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.

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