Inclusion and Wellbeing Lead in Birmingham

Join to apply for the Inclusion and Wellbeing Lead role at Birmingham City FC. Birmingham City Football Club is on the rise, part of an exciting period of accelerated growth and modernisation, playing its part in a once-in-a-generation opportunity to support the transformation of England’s second city as part of the Sports Quarter project. Birmingham City Football Club is seeking a passionate and strategic Inclusion and Wellbeing Lead to drive our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Wellbeing (EDI-AW) agenda across the club. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the culture of a modern, ambitious football club—enhancing the experience of our workforce, players, supporters and local communities.

As the champion of inclusion and wellbeing, you will design, deliver and embed strategic initiatives that help us build a culture where every individual feels valued, safe and inspired. You will work collaboratively across our Men’s and Women’s First Teams, Academy, Girls’ Academy and the Birmingham City Foundation to support transformative, meaningful change. Please note this role may require you to work matchdays, however you will receive this back in time off in lieu.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and Planning: Develop a clear identity, purpose and objectives for our EDI, accessibility and wellbeing work that aligns with our brand and employer brands. Working with the Head of People and Culture, develop the club’s long-term strategic EDI, accessibility and wellbeing plan, aligned with the Club’s strategic mission and vision. Create seasonal club-wide and departmental specific action plans to support delivery of the long-term strategy. Proactively engage internal stakeholders with the development and delivery of the strategy and plans to ensure a consistent and collaborative approach; ensure there is a clear communications plan for activity. Create visible ways to project-manage and track progress of the strategy, including goals and KPIs where relevant. Review and make recommendations for resource and structure across all EDI, accessibility and wellbeing activity; make recommendations for roles and support where necessary; ensure we have adequate resource to support match day experience. Prepare annual impact reports that communicate delivery on strategy and activities for external publication.
• Leadership and Management Development: Develop relationships with senior leaders and managers across the club and understand the context and operation of departments; develop a regular and scheduled cadence of meetings with key stakeholders. Build a management skills framework, feeding into the wider learning and development strategy, that enhances leadership and management capabilities and knowledge of EDI, accessibility and wellbeing. Ensure a calendar of development and coaching activity for leaders and managers throughout the season.
• Employee Experience and Wellbeing: Working with the wider People and Culture team, review key people activities with an EDI and accessibility lens to progress and improve activity. Develop a cohesive approach to health and wellbeing for staff, in collaboration with the People Partners, and how department specific programmes can be developed; identify relevant partners, programmes or initiatives to support; build and communicate channels for support and sharing experiences. Chair the internal working group on inclusion and wellbeing; ensure a clear term of reference is in place, thorough understanding of responsibility by members, a cadence of regular meetings throughout the year, and delivery of actions from the group. Develop an EDI, accessibility and wellbeing learning and development framework that provides continuous learning opportunities to the whole club workforce throughout the season, across a variety of channels and platforms; ensure that induction training provides robust foundations for new starters; deliver training where needed, or source relevant third-party support. Develop a calendar of events throughout the season that promotes awareness, inclusion, belonging and education, across a variety of topics and areas, both internally with our workforce and externally with our supporters.
• Talent Acquisition: Work with the Talent Acquisition team to review identification and recruitment activity through an EDI and accessibility lens; provide guidance and work collaboratively on improvements and enhancements. Ensure consistent, effective and confidential EDI data collection from applicants, feeding insight on application data and trends into quarterly reports and action plans. Support the development of recruitment pathways that open our talent pool to under-represented groups.
• Data, Systems, Frameworks and Process: Take ownership for relevant EDI, accessibility and wellbeing policies; update these annually; create new policies as needed and take ownership for the launch and communication of new/updated policies. Develop and own the EDI and wellbeing survey and data collection strategy; look at how/when/what we data we collect; ensure data collection occurs both internally with the workforce, and externally with our supporter base; ensure insights inform our decision-making and promote robust action planning. Produce a quarterly report for SLT providing updates on the delivery of the strategy and key insights/data and recommendations. Take ownership for, and develop delivery beyond compliance, for league regulation frameworks (such as the Equality Code of Practice) and data collection requirements (such as FA Rule N). Identify relevant third-party frameworks that help support our long-term strategy and take ownership for the certification process.
• Partnerships and Relationships: Ensure that a partnership approach is applied to all activity; work collaboratively with internal stakeholders to understand the context of their areas and suggest ideas/recommendations, coach individuals or develop joint projects to embed EDI, accessibility and wellbeing into workstreams. Identify and nurture relationships with external stakeholders and third-parties to deliver the long-term strategy and enhance activity. Represent the club at external working groups and events to share ideas and best practice, and network with voices that can inform our own activity. Role-model the club’s values and EDI principles in all work and working relationships.
• Matchday and Supporter Experience: Work with key match day and supporter experience stakeholders to inform and support their plans and activities from an EDI and accessibility lens. In collaboration with the Head of Safety, Security and Risk, utilise and nurture the club’s match day reporting processes to enable effective discrimination reporting for supporters and staff, and effective resolution and management. In collaboration with the Fan Engagement Manager, develop proactive match day communication that creates safe and enjoyable experiences for supporters. Work with operations teams on specific match day experience projects and initiatives that enhance connection and inclusivity in everyone’s experience of a Birmingham City match day. In collaboration with the marketing, media and content teams, provide guidance with external communications across the website and social channels; provide input into the formation, and support the delivery, of the seasonal communications calendar. In collaboration with the Chief Fan Experience Officer, play a key role in the delivery and operation of the external working group (Blues Matter); support the creation of agendas and actioning decisions from the group; work with the group for feedback and input on the long-term EDI, accessibility and wellbeing strategies. Enhance the club’s disability liaison team, operation and objectives; lead on recruitment and provide training to enhance the match day experience for supporters with additional access needs. Be present on men’s and women’s first team match days to brief, coordinate and supervise the disability liaison team.

What are we looking for from you?

• Experience delivering EDI or accessibility work in sport, entertainment or hospitality.
• Ability to build relationships across various stakeholder groups.
• A strategic thinker who can bring new ideas to the club.
• Strong knowledge of EDI, accessibility and wellbeing practices and legislation.
• Experience managing compliance and external frameworks.
• Passionate about making a difference.
• Proactive and self-motivated, driving action and encouraging others to follow.
• Strong project management and collaboration skills.
• Empathetic and sensitive to issues.
• Be able to adapt communication styles.
• Experience working with data, reporting and insights.

What can we offer you?

• 23 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Complimentary matchday tickets for Men’s and Women’s home fixtures.
• Employee Assistance Programme (Help@Hand) — including mental health support, virtual GP access, and more for you and your family.
• Enhanced Company Pension Scheme.
• Life Assurance cover (2x annual salary).
• Club discounts and offers.
• The opportunity to work in a dynamic, collaborative, and professional sporting environment where technology drives progress.

Birmingham City FC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The safety and well-being of our players is our top priority, and we expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be required to undergo a thorough background check and training in safeguarding as part of the recruitment process. Birmingham City FC is an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer. We welcome applications from all sectors of the community and assess candidates solely on merit, regardless of gender, race, age, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, political or religious belief, background, or family circumstances. We promote a diverse and inclusive environment and encourage all individuals to apply. If you need any adjustments to our recruitment or interview process, please inform us when applying.