Head of Next Generation

Reporting to: Marketing Director

Department: Marketing

Are you ready to take on one of the most impactful roles at Bath Rugby? As Head of Next Generation you will be responsible for our grassroots outreach program, creating & delivering a sustainable P&L, using the power of rugby to inspire children & teenagers to be more active and critically creating the next generation of Bath Rugby fans across our regions. This is an opportunity to re-build a grassroots business from the bottom up to both build a thriving rugby community as well as play a critical role in the club’s key strategic role to build the largest, most engaged fanbase in UK rugby over the next 3-5 years.

Accountabilities

• Full ownership of strategy to recruit Bath Rugby’s future fans through the power of rugby in the community
• Deliver a long-term growth strategy supported by a sustainable P&L for our grassroots business through building on existing income streams & innovation
• Build up our junior membership database through our grassroots network from 500 to 10K in three years
• Deliver a grassroots coaching program to inspire kids of all ages to pick up a rugby ball across our five regions

Your Mission

Deliver a long-term strategy & growth plan supported by a sustainable P&L that can support a growing grassroots business. Working across a network of primary & secondary school and rugby clubs across our five regions you will create a range of products & services that both allow you to reach your strategic goals as well as build a sustainable P&L that can grow with the scale of the grassroots network.

• Take ownership of a new Next Gen strategy & suite of products across schools & clubs and execute the plan
• Demonstrate commercial understanding through building out a suite of products & service propositions that are competitively positioned in the market
• Build out a team that can deliver growth ambitions
• Build out a thriving junior membership programs for Bath Rugby

The key strategic element this role plays is to build a future fanbase for Bath Rugby over the next 2-3 decades. We know that fans are created by the age of 13 and with an aging fanbase at Bath Rugby, it is imperative that we build the future funnel of fans.

You will:

• Build on suite of products & services to offer to schools & clubs to engage juniors, often with their first touchpoint with the club
• Develop our junior membership products to drive on-going engagement with juniors
• Create a process that allows RDOs to engage juniors in the junior membership program easily & efficiently using technology as an enabler
• Work with RDOs, the academy players & creative team to deliver engaging content for junior members across channels
• Be the experiential marketing arm for Bath Rugby across our five key regions in the SW

You need to think of our grassroots program as an experiential marketing arm taking the Bath Rugby experience out of The Rec and into hundreds of schools and rugby clubs. You will build a team of Rugby Development officers who can both serve as excellent coaches as well as ambassadors for Bath Rugby. For many children they will be their first touchpoint with Bath Rugby Club and we need to leave a lasting impression on them to engage further with the club, ultimately getting them to come to The Rec to watch a match.

Who You’ll Lead

An existing team of four permanent rugby development officers, an operations co-ordinator as well as a network of freelance resource with a view to expand both resource pools alongside P&L growth to deliver greater impact across our five regions.

What Success Looks Like

Over the next five years the Next Gen team is reaching over 75K children & young adults through the power of rugby across a network of schools and sports clubs across our regions. You have enabled the team to convert close to half of them into our Bath Rugby Fan funnel either through following us on one of our social channels or signing up to a junior membership program to engage further with the club & players.

You have done this though building out a range of products & services – school coaching programs, holiday camps junior tournaments alongside new innovations that increase our Next Gen reach alongside income streams to the P&L. You have grown a team of both permanent and freelance rugby development officers who works across a range of different age groups & demographics and are engaged, reliable and commercially orientated. Created new channels for Bath Rugby marketing team to offer subsidised tickets to bring in new audiences to The Rec. Developed a range of new local business & corporate partners to support funding of the Next Gen program. You have built up strong relationships with our rugby academy program to work hand in hand with them in creating junior player pathways.

KPI Outcomes

• Increase the reach of our grassroots program from 14K per annum today to over 75K in the next 3-5 years
• Conversion into top of Bath rugby fan funnel to drive junior membership signup to 10K over next 3-5 years
• Sustainable P&L to allow for product & team growth

This role is your opportunity to leave an indelible mark on Bath Rugby—not just for the fans of today, but for generations to come. If you’re ready to inspire, innovate, and lead, we can’t wait to hear from you.

Skillset

We need someone who is energetic, results driven and holds themselves & others to high standards. Outside all the attributes of a strong leader an organization seeks it will be key that you over-index in the following areas.

• Commercial & Strategic Mindset: You are not just creating a network of Bath Rugby coaching – you are building a sustainable grassroots business that can fund its own rapid growth – therefore it is critical you can bring commercial rigor and entrepreneurial mindset to the role alongside an understanding of sports development.
• Building strong relationships & influencing stakeholders: You will be in daily contact with a huge range of stakeholders from within the club from our CEO, Head of Academy and wider commercial teams through to external schools, clubs and future corporate partners – not to mention kids & parents. Being able to gel with people, gain trust & confidence quickly and influence positive outcomes will be essential.
• A biased towards action: You need to be comfortable with working in a high paced environment – every matchday is a new campaign and there are a lot of stakeholder pressures. Taking decisions quickly, being comfortable with failure and rolling your sleeves up then needed is critical.
• Experience +8 years working in commercial or marketing roles with proven track record of growth. Ideally in a sports or sports development field but not essential.
• An understanding of sports coaching ideally with firsthand experience.
• Experience managing teams effectively and efficiently (lead, motivate and inspire).