PGA Education Lead in Bristol

As Bristol City Women our mission is to create a support structure, pathway and environment where players and people can thrive on and off the field.

As the PGA criteria evolves and the demands of elite level women’s football increase, the education lead will ensure academy players are able to balance the demands of football and education.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, design and quality‑assure the Academy Education Programme across the PGA, ensuring every player receives a personalised, high‑quality academic support offer, developed in partnership with the player and their parents/carers, and aligned effectively with the football programme.
• Ensure players are equipped with the academic, vocational and personal development foundations that prepare them for life in, through and beyond a playing career, supporting long‑term wellbeing, career adaptability and informed decision‑making.
• Act as the PGA’s strategic lead and primary point of contact for all education providers (schools, colleges, universities and awarding bodies), ensuring clear communication, robust relationships and coordinated scheduling that balances learning, training and competition demands.
• Create and sustain a safe, inclusive and aspirational education environment that supports individual ambition, manages academic pressure effectively, and meets all FA PGA Licence and safeguarding requirements.
• Work collaboratively within the multidisciplinary team, particularly with the Academy Performance Wellbeing Lead, to ensure education considerations are embedded within holistic player development, while maintaining clear professional boundaries and accountability for education provision.
• Ensure education continuity and coordinated arrangements for players experiencing changes in playing environment, including loan moves, academy dual registrations and academy contract transitions.

What You Bring

Qualifications & Experience (Essential)

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills Status (QTLS)
• Enhanced DBS
• FA Safeguarding Children Qualification
• Emergency First Aid / FA IFAi F
• Teaching, Tutoring, Mentoring or Academic Coaching Experience
• Supporting young people through GCSE, Post-16 and FE / HE study pathways
• Experience coordinating DISE or similar programmes
• Safeguarding practice and pastoral support from an academic perspective
• Multidisciplinary working in environments with demanding schedules
• Familiarity with qualification frameworks (GCSE, BTEC, A Level, FE / HE systems)

Qualifications & Experience (Desirable)

• Degree in Education, Sport, Social Sciences or a related field
• Understanding of how loan moves, Academy Dual-Registrations and Academy Contracts impact education provision and player welfare
• Leading or coordinating education provision in a school, FE, HE or performance environment
• Working with external learning providers and navigating dual-career pressures

Skills and Behaviours

• Comfortable working flexibly around the football and education calendars.
• Able to navigate shifting priorities, pressures and periods of intensity (e. g. exams).
• Ability to build trusting relationships across education settings, families and club staff.
• Strong communication skills across a variety of age-appropriate levels.
• Confident and measured within conflict management.
• Ability to engage, educate and reassure parents / carers during periods of academic or career uncertainty.
• Strong influencing skills with the ability to shape thinking and inform key player-related decisions by clearly articulating the value of education, dual-career pathways and long-term development.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail.
• Reflective, adaptable and evidence informed in decision making.
• Maintains confidentiality and exercises sound professional judgement.

About us

Bristol City Women is a football club entering a new era of growth under the stewardship of Mercury13.

The club has ambitious plans to establish itself as a high‑performing, sustainable organisation both on and off the pitch.

Employees benefit from a collaborative, high-performance environment that champions development, innovation, and competitive excellence, alongside the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to elite women’s football.

Safeguarding Statement

Bristol City Women’s is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to endorse this commitment.

Note: Due to the nature of the role, any job offer is dependent on a DBS check. All information will be kept by the Safeguarding Officer in strictest confidence.

Equality Statement

The successful candidate must ensure a positive commitment towards equality and diversity by treating others fairly and not committing any form of direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment of any description and to promote positive working relationships between all internal and external stakeholders.

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