Head of Academy Recruitment

Everton; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job description

We are a football club with a desire to be the best and are always looking for talented people to join our Everton Family.

Everton is a workplace people crave to join, where extraordinary talented people belong, thrive and deliver the remarkable.

Head of Academy Recruitment

Who we are: Everton Football Club is one of world sport's most respected and revered names - a by-word for innovation, professionalism and community.

During the course of a glittering history spanning three centuries, the Club has been shaped and guided by its aspirational motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - nothing but the best is good enough.

One of only three clubs to have been a founder member of both the Football League and Premier League, Everton has played more games in English football's topflight than any other club.

While rightly proud of our rich past, and Goodison Park, our home of more than 130 years, we are now setting our sights on an exciting future at a state-of-the-art new stadium opening in summer 2025, under our new ownership, The Freidkin Group.

In doing so, we remain committed to developing and supporting teams across our Men’s, Women’s and Academy set-ups that inspire and continue to compete at the highest level of the game.

About the opportunity: For decades, our Club’s Academy has been one of the most respected and renowned in football. Our vision, to have a clear pathway by identifying, recruiting, developing and retaining young players who can play for Everton or have a career in the professional game remains as focused as ever.

We are now looking for an ambitious, motivated, and strategic thinking Head of Academy Recruitment to come and oversee our Recruitment department (across both Professional & Local strategies), based at our training ground at Finch Farm.

As Head of Academy Recruitment, you will oversee the scouting and recruitment of the entire Academy function, across all phases, being responsible for the talent identification and recruitment into the Academy. As part of this, the post holder would be expected to proactively co-ordinate a scouting network aimed at recruiting from local, regional, and national areas, as well as exploring opportunities internationally.

Other key responsibilities as part of this role include:

1. Line Management responsibility for Local and Professional Academy recruitment staff.
2. Working closely with the Academy Director, First Team recruitment and emerging talent colleagues on all matters, including strategy, coverage, target players and knowledge of players already in the system.
3. Act as a key point of contact with agents and clubs for both player acquisition and exit strategies.
4. Establishing and implementing a coverage strategy for other professional clubs in the UK, Europe and other appropriate markets.
5. Attendance at Games, with reports and databases maintained.

As a senior representative within the Club and Academy, you will provide inspirational leadership and guidance to your direct reports, recruitment team members and casual workers.

Who we are looking for: Essentially, we are looking for someone who has an excellent track record in a similar role and can demonstrate clear understanding of how to structure an elite recruitment department that allows our Club to achieve its objectives.

You will be confident in communicating and have vast experience of Talent ID work within youth football, both at a grassroots and professional level. As part of this, you will have an extensive knowledge of requirements and regulations in recruiting players from both local and professional environments.

If you feel you have the expertise we are looking for and would thrive off becoming an integral part of our Academy leadership team, who will be part of taking us onto our exciting future at our new Everton Stadium, then we would love to hear from you!

The role is permanent and will be based at Finch Farm training ground in Liverpool (Halewood), however there is expected frequent travel involved within the post, working 40 hours per week plus matchdays.

The closing date of this advert is Tuesday 22nd April 2025.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a substantial amount of applications.

Everton Family Safer Recruitment Practices

The Everton Family is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

As a requirement of our safer recruitment practices, this role will require an Enhanced DBS check or evidence that you are subscribed to the DBS Update Service, information of which can be found here.

This role is subject to both evidence and verification of relevant qualifications, including proof of eligibility to work in the UK, which will be discussed with you if your application is successful.

Equity & Inclusion

Everton Football Club is committed to ensuring everyone is respected, celebrated and empowered for who they are, regardless of their identity. We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, and underrepresented communities. We are dedicated to supporting the physical and mental/emotional wellbeing of all our people. Should you have a disability or long-term health condition and require reasonable adjustments to be made to the application/interview/onboarding process, please let us know by contacting the Talent Acquisition Team via email - [e-mail].

To support our pledge to diversify our organisation and through our commitment to the Football Association’s, Football Leadership Diversity Code, Everton welcomes applications from people of all walks of life. As part of our commitment to Disability, Inclusion and Accessibility we are more than happy to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process should you require.