Athletics Ireland is looking to appoint a Director of Athletics. This senior, full-time position within the organisation will involve overall responsibility for the direction and implementation of Coaching and High Performance strategy. The position will be based in Athletics Ireland’s headquarters in Dublin and will involve extensive travel both domestically and internationally. Athletics Ireland is the national governing body for the sport of athletics (track & field) in Ireland. In the last three years the organisation has moved to a professional structure and is now ready to progress its objective of becoming an internationally recognised world class organisation.
The Director of Athletics will report directly to the CEO. They will also be responsible for managing relationships with the following key stakeholders
– All athletes on the Athletics Ireland High Performance Programme
– Athletics Ireland High Performance and Coaching & Development Committees
– Athletics Ireland Coaches and Personal Coaches of High Performance Athletes
– Coaching and High Performance staff
– The Irish Sports Council
– The Irish Institute of Sport
– Coaching Ireland
– The Olympic Council of Ireland
– Third party service producers to the High Performance Programme including
o Medical
o Strength & conditioning
o Nutrition
o Other Sports Science & Lifestyle
The responsibilities of the Director of Athletics will include
– Development of a strategy to deliver an integrated world class coaching and high performance programme in conjunction with Athletics Ireland High Performance and Coaching & Development Committees.
– Implementation of the strategy via management of all high performance and coaching staff, annual operating plans, budgets and key performance indicators.
High Performance
– In the delivery of the high performance programme, there will be a strong focus on facilitating a best practise provision of personal coaching, sports science and medical services to athletes on the high performance plan. It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to assimilate the winning features of the best international systems into an Irish context. A key deliverable will be the creation of a world class recognised Irish option for elite athlete development. The establishment of High Performance Centres as a matter of priority is expected to form the basis for this requirement.
– Ongoing evaluation, development and implementation of transparent standards for inclusion in the various levels of the high performance scheme in consultation with the Irish Institute of Sport.
– Ongoing contact with and management of the top cohort of Irish athletes including the creation and delivery of an Athlete Service Charter.
Coaching
– Development and implementation of a world class coaching infrastructure including
o Creation of best practise integrated coaching pathways
o Identification and fast-tracking of coaching talent
o Working with the current Irish, largely voluntary coaching network to bring it to the next level
o Delivery of a technical events plan with focus on a significant increase in Irish athletes qualifying for major championships in these events
o Identification of focus events to be developed nationally
o Development of coaching forums and facilitating national and international collaboration of coaches
o Roll-out of athlete talent I.D. scheme to coaches
o Delivery of agreed performance measures across all events and age-groups
o Development and implementation of an integrated set of programmes and initiatives consistent with the Long term Athlete Development plan
o Quality control of coach education
The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and experience
– An excellent track record in the coaching and understanding of and interaction with athletes who have achieved success at the highest global level
– Demonstrable knowledge of coaching and athlete pathways across the full range of events
– Ability to build and lead multi-functional teams
– Capacity to understand and manage organisational culture
– Skilled in the anticipation of future possibilities and likelihoods
– Success in building structures that have led to international athletics success
– Exceptional interpersonal and motivational skills
– Knowledge of the structure and network of the sport at European and international level
– A strong appreciation of the particular issues facing Irish athletes and knowledge of the status of the sport in Ireland across the full range of events
– Strong planning and budgeting skills and understanding of the importance of feedback loops
Athletics Ireland is strongly committed to attracting the best possible candidate to this role. The accompanying remuneration package will be accordingly competitive. Applicants for this position should submit their CV and a letter of expression of interest to Athletics Ireland CEO Mary Coghlan at marycoghlan@athleticsireland.ie
The closing date for applications is September 8th.