Stadium & Venue Operations Lead - CFCW

Department: Chelsea FC Women

Location: Stamford Bridge / Cobham Training Ground (occasional)

Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time

Closing date: 21st April

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the position may be filled before the listed closing date. To avoid missing out, please submit your application at your earliest convenience.

About Chelsea FC Women

At Chelsea FC Women (CFCW), we are more than a football club; we are a movement. A movement that champions excellence, equality, and empowerment through the beautiful game. As one of the most successful women’s teams in Europe, we are committed to setting new standards on and off the pitch. We are now seeking a proven leader to drive the next wave of fandom growth domestically and internationally and strengthen the connection between the CFCW team and our supporters.

The Role

This is a hands‑on stadium and venue operations role at the heart of how Chelsea Women delivers its matchdays. Reporting to the Business Operations Director, you'll be the operational bridge between Chelsea Women and the club's wider departments — making sure everything is in place for matches across our stadia to run safely, smoothly, and to the highest standard while embracing the opportunity to innovate around our matchday delivery.

Beyond matchdays, you'll work with our marketing and commercial teams to support non‑matchday events and activations, helping to grow the club's presence and commercial impact throughout the year.

Matchday Delivery

• Lead operational planning and delivery for Chelsea Women matchdays across our stadia, acting as the primary liaison between Chelsea Women and the club's wider operational teams.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with the club's stadium operations, facilities, security, and stewarding teams, ensuring Chelsea Women's matchday requirements are clearly understood and consistently delivered.
• Coordinate with the hospitality department to align operational logistics for the matchday hospitality programme.
• Work with commercial matchday sales functions to ensure operational plans support and enable revenue‑generating activity on matchday.
• Be the main operational contact on Chelsea Women matchdays — present, visible, and ready to make decisions in a live environment across both venues.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation including hospitality documentation, briefing notes, risk assessments, and post‑match debriefs.
• Work alongside the matchday safety team to ensure all events meet regulatory and venue safety requirements, supporting SAG liaison and safety planning processes.
• Manage hosting guestlists and inventory for all Chelsea FC Women matches.
• Day to day point of contact on matchday operations for Chelsea Women with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as the lead operational contact for VIP guest management on Chelsea FC Women matchdays, overseeing the end‑to‑end experience from arrival through to departure across our stadia.
• Plan and manage VIP movements on matchday, coordinating with security, stewarding, and hospitality teams to ensure seamless, safe, and professionally delivered access across all areas.
• Act as a calm, professional, and welcoming point of contact for VIP guests throughout the matchday, resolving any issues swiftly and discreetly to protect the guest experience.

Non‑Matchday Events & Activations

• Partner with the marketing and commercial teams to plan and deliver non‑matchday events, venue activations, and brand activity.
• Act as the operational lead for these events, coordinating with venue and facilities teams to ensure smooth delivery.
• Help develop scalable operational processes for activations that reflect the growing profile of Chelsea Women.

Culture & People

• Contribute to a high‑performance, inclusive, and values‑driven culture that reflects the unique identity of Chelsea FC Women.
• Work to build trust with stakeholders and create a positive supportive culture focussed on people first and problem solving.
• Support leadership development, team wellbeing, and staff engagement initiatives.

Communication & Coordination

• Facilitate communication between different departments and stakeholders, ensuring information flows smoothly and efficiently.

Budget Management, Technology & Reporting

• Work closely with the Business Operations Director, matchday operations teams and finance teams to develop cost forecasting models for matchdays and non‑matchday events, ensuring spend is planned, monitored, and reported effectively.
• Bring a growth mindset to fan experience investment — championing initiatives that elevate the matchday atmosphere, accessibility, and supporter engagement, and making the case for spend where it drives long‑term fandom and commercial return.
• Bring a curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging tools and technologies, including the use of AI, to streamline and automate processes, cost tracking and reporting.

Representation & Advocacy

• Be a visible ambassador for women’s football within the club and externally.
• Champion equity, visibility, and innovation in how women’s football is delivered and experienced.

What We’re Looking For

Experience & Expertise

• Demonstrable experience in stadium, venue, or live events operations — ideally in professional sport or football.
• Real matchday experience: you know what it takes to plan and run a safe, well‑coordinated event across multiple teams.
• Experience working alongside safety, facilities, hospitality, or commercial teams in a venue setting.
• Familiarity with sports venue safety regulations (Green Guide, SAG processes, etc.).
• Experience supporting commercial or marketing activations in a venue environment.

Core Skills

• Strong organisational skills with excellent attention to detail, and the ability to stay calm and make good decisions under pressure.
• Clear, confident communication — whether you're briefing an operational team or updating a senior stakeholder.
• Stakeholder management and an ability to build strong relationships internally and externally.

Why Join Us?

At Chelsea FC Women, you’ll be part of a club that’s rewriting the rules not just of football, but of what’s possible. You’ll work with world‑class talent, in a culture that values courage, creativity, and community. And you’ll help shape the future of the game for generations to come.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well‑being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.

This Job Description is not intended to be exhaustive; the duties and responsibilities may therefore vary over time according to the changing needs of the Club.