Head of Sports Performance & Medical in Northampton

TO APPLY: please email Vivion with your CV and a cover letter. Please note we do not accept applications via LinkedIn EasyApply.

About Varsity Nine

Varsity Nine is building one of Europe’s leading private football and athlete development environments, creating pathways across academy football, US College scholarships, professional opportunities, international programmes, and elite showcase events. The role will mainly be based in Milton Keynes, with a secondary working location at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre. We work with talented players from the UK and around the world, combining high-level coaching, performance analysis, education, recruitment support, and player management to help each athlete progress. Joining Varsity Nine means becoming part of a fast-growing, ambitious football organisation with a clear purpose: to create life-changing opportunities for young athletes. This is an opportunity to work in a dynamic environment, contribute to meaningful player outcomes, and help shape a modern football business with significant plans for growth.

Role Summary

The Head of Sports Performance & Medical is a senior performance leadership role responsible for the development, delivery, and oversight of Varsity Nine’s sports performance, medical support, injury prevention, rehabilitation, and physical development provision across the Football & Education Programme and International Programme. This role is suited to an experienced sports performance, physiotherapy, sports therapy, sports rehabilitation, or strength and conditioning professional who can lead standards, manage processes, and provide hands-on support within a fast-moving football environment. Your mission is to create a professional, safe, and high-performing player support system that improves player availability, supports physical development, reduces injury risk, and ensures clear return-to-play processes across all programmes. Working closely with the Director, Technical Director, Head of Football Operations, and Programme staff, you will lead the physical performance and medical framework that supports every player’s development and progression.

Responsibilities

• Sports Performance Leadership & Physical Development
• Performance Strategy: Lead the development and delivery of Varsity Nine’s sports performance and physical development strategy across the Football & Education Programme and International Programme.
• S&C Framework: Design and oversee strength and conditioning programmes that support athletic development, robustness, movement quality, speed, power, endurance, and injury reduction.
• Player Physical Profiling: Establish player physical profiling, screening, testing, and benchmarking processes to track development and support individual player plans.
• Training Load Management: Work with coaches and analysts to monitor training loads, match demands, player availability, GPS/PlayerData outputs, and physical readiness.
• Individual Development: Oversee individual physical development plans for players requiring additional athletic development, injury prevention, rehabilitation, or return-to-play support.
• Professional Standards: Set and maintain elite standards across warm-ups, activation, recovery, physical preparation, and daily player behaviours.
• Medical Support, Injury Prevention & Return-to-Play
• Medical Provision: Lead the day-to-day medical and injury support provision across training, fixtures, showcases, tours, and programme delivery.
• Injury Prevention: Implement injury reduction strategies, screening processes, mobility programmes, strengthening routines, recovery protocols, and player education.
• Pitch-Side Standards: Ensure appropriate first aid, emergency care, pitch-side assessment, injury response, and escalation procedures are in place across all football activity.
• Rehabilitation Oversight: Design, oversee, and manage rehabilitation programmes, ensuring players progress safely through each stage of recovery.
• Return-to-Play: Lead structured return-to-training and return-to-match processes, ensuring decisions are evidence-led and communicated clearly to coaches, players, parents, and relevant staff.
• External Referrals: Manage relationships with external physiotherapists, doctors, consultants, clinics, and specialist practitioners where additional medical support is required.
• Player Availability: Maintain accurate injury records, availability updates, rehabilitation progress notes, and medical communication systems.
• Player Monitoring, Wellbeing & Performance
• Monitoring Systems: Lead the use of player monitoring systems including GPS, PlayerData, wellness tracking, physical testing, recovery data, and workload reporting.
• Data Interpretation: Translate physical performance and availability data into practical recommendations for coaches, players, and leadership staff.
• Wellbeing Support: Oversee player wellbeing processes linked to recovery, sleep, nutrition, hydration, soreness, fatigue, and general readiness to train and compete.
• Education: Deliver player education sessions on physical preparation, injury prevention, recovery, nutrition basics, lifestyle habits, and professional behaviours.
• Reporting: Produce clear performance, injury, and availability reports for coaching staff, programme leadership, and operational teams.
• Collaboration: Work closely with coaching, analysis, education, safeguarding, and operations staff to support the holistic development and welfare of each player.
• Operational Leadership & Professional Standards
• Department Leadership: Establish the processes, standards, documentation, and operating rhythms for the Sports Performance & Medical function.
• Staff Support: Manage, guide, or support sports performance, physio, S&C, sports therapy, or placement staff where required as the department grows.
• Equipment Management: Oversee the management of medical supplies, rehab equipment, gym equipment, GPS/PlayerData devices, recovery tools, and relevant storage systems.
• Policies & Compliance: Ensure appropriate procedures are in place for safeguarding, first aid, emergency action plans, injury recording, risk management, hygiene, and player welfare.
• Programme Delivery: Support national and international tours, showcase events, fixtures, and key Varsity Nine events where sports performance or medical oversight is required.
• Continuous Improvement: Keep Varsity Nine aligned with modern football performance, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, S&C, and athlete development best practice.
• Professional Environment: Contribute to a positive, ambitious, disciplined, and professional culture throughout the programmes.

Requirements

• Essential:
• Right to work in the UK (no sponsorship available for this role).
• Minimum five years’ practical experience within sports performance, physiotherapy, sports therapy, sports rehabilitation, S&C, football, academy, university, private performance, or high-performance sport environments.
• Degree in Physiotherapy, Sports Therapy, Sports Rehabilitation, Strength & Conditioning, Sport Science, Exercise Science, or a related discipline.
• Ability to lead standards, manage processes, coordinate support provision, and influence coaches, players, parents, and staff.
• Strong understanding of physical preparation, athletic development, movement quality, strength, speed, power, endurance, and injury reduction.
• Strong understanding of injury assessment, injury prevention, rehabilitation principles, return-to-play processes, and referral pathways.
• Ability to lead or provide appropriate first aid, injury support, and emergency response during training and match environments.
• Experience using or interpreting GPS, PlayerData, wellness monitoring, fitness testing, physical profiling, or workload data.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate clearly, professionally, and calmly with players, coaches, parents, external practitioners, and leadership staff.
• Ability to manage player records, injury notes, rehabilitation plans, performance reports, equipment, schedules, and multiple programme priorities.
• Strong understanding of athlete welfare, safeguarding, professional boundaries, and working with young people.
• Willingness to travel for fixtures, tours, showcase events, and operational delivery.
• Ability to work from the Milton Keynes Training Facility or Bisham Abbey site and programme environments on a daily basis.
• Full clean driving licence.
• Clean DBS.
• Desirable:
• Professional Accreditation: Holding or working towards relevant accreditation or membership, such as HCPC, BASRaT, SST, UKSCA, CIMSPA, or equivalent.
• Football Experience: Experience within academy football, college football, professional football, or semi-professional football environments.
• Emergency Care: FA Level 2 Emergency First Aid in Football, FA Intermediate Trauma Medical Management in Football, or equivalent qualification.
• Department Building: Experience creating or improving systems, processes, reporting structures, or performance departments.
• Youth Athlete Development: Strong understanding of growth and maturation, youth physical development, and safe training prescription for developing athletes.
• Return-to-Play Leadership: Experience leading players through rehabilitation and return-to-play programmes in a structured sporting environment.
• Live Event Experience: Experience supporting tournaments, showcase events, tours, or high-pressure sporting environments.
• Growth Potential: Ambition to help build and lead a best-in-class sports performance and medical function within Varsity Nine.

Package details

Salary: £37,000–£45,000 (subject to experience). Reporting directly to the Head of Football Operations, with close collaboration across the Academy Director, Technical Director, coaching team, education team, and programme staff. 21 Days Leave + Bank Holidays; Pension; Business travel reimbursement; National and International travel opportunities; Access to elite football environments, showcase events, and ongoing professional development opportunities.