Stevenage Football Club is seeking to appoint a new Head of Sports Science to join the first team management staff and provide leading sports science and strength and conditioning services to first team players, delivering a leading provision that focuses on injury reduction and physical performance enhancement.
The Head of Sports Science will report to the Manager and work alongside the coaching and medical staff.
Duties will include, but are not limited to:
• To implement individualised strength and conditioning programming during both the off and in-season periods including both gym and field based training.
• To provide injury rehabilitation training of players in conjunction with specific guidelines laid down by the physiotherapist, in preparation for return to play.
• To communicate with catering staff and consultant nutritionists in order to provide appropriate nutrition for players on both match days and during periods of travel.
• To monitor gym based workload through recording RPE’s or volume loads within the gym. To co-ordinate, manage and optimise each individual player’s workload.
• To undertake a comprehensive battery of fitness testing designed to cover all aspects of player performance and use the results to drive training programmes and individual fitness reporting.
• To liaise with medical staff of international players to ensure they are managed appropriately whilst away on international duty.
• To undertake appropriate professional development to keep abreast of industry best practice, especially in highlighted areas of weakness.
• To contribute to research into all aspects of football performance by implementing original studies of research, and maintaining accurate records of player physical characteristics throughout the training year.
The ideal applicant will have three years’ experience of providing strength and conditioning services to elite athletes and coaches. Experience in the design, implementation and monitoring of strength and conditioning programmes and injury prevention and rehabilitation specifically for football players is desirable.
The candidate must hold a graduate qualification in sports science and/or strength and conditioning, and preferably a postgraduate qualification specialising in strength and conditioning and/or sports physiology or sports science.
The applicant will hold UKSCA accreditation, or be working to hold it within six months. It is important for the successful applicant to possess valid professional indemnity insurance. A full job description and person specification is available here.
The role is full-time and requires flexibility across weekends and bank holidays, and attendance at all first team and reserve fixtures. The position will be offered on a permanent basis and remunerated £25,000-£28,000 pa depending on skills and experience.
Please click here for a job description and click here for person specification.
The closing date is Sunday 22nd May, with interviews to be provisionally held in week commencing 23rd May.
To apply, please send a CV and a covering letter to Chris Clark, Football Secretary, at chrisc@stevenagefc.com.