**Salary & Benefits:** £23k – £25k per annum

**Hours Required:** Permanent contract 37.5 hours per week (includes evenings and weekends)

**Reporting to:** Head of Academy

**Based at:** Kingston Park Stadium, Newcastle upon Tyne

Our vision is to develop young players who are technically, tactically, and mentally capable of playing for our 1st team or England having a career in the professional game. We therefore are now looking for an ambitious and motivated academy athletic development coach (ADC) to join our team at Kingston Park Stadium.

As academy ADC you will work as part of a team and support the academy coaches and players in line with the club’s vision. The primary focus of the role is to provide athletic development support to all junior academy players.

**Other key responsibilities as part of this role include:**

– Lead and manage all physical development components and the nutrition programme of the junior academy in line with club directives, working in conjunction with other staff and taking a lead role in the development of all junior academy EAPs and PDG players.

– Attend all junior academy training sessions and age group fixtures, providing warm-ups to all field based sessions and matches in conjunction with other staff.

– Plan, deliver, and review physical development programmes and sessions for all players in the junior academy that is tailored to their development needs with regular targets and feedback.

– Update coaches bi-weekly on individual player progress, communicating with international age group staff and liaising with Cumbria satellite centre (CSC) staff to monitor player progress.

– Work in collaboration with staff at schools, clubs, and constituent body (CB’s, counties) to ensure junior academy players follow a single physical development plan, visiting off site where appropriate to develop strong working relationships across the network and providing supporting education to all.

– Provide additional support to all junior academy EAPs in line with their individual development plans in the form of additional off-site training sessions, movement screening, nutritional guidance, robustness provision and lifestyle support.

– Devise and oversee a programme of physical literacy to support the developing player programme, including the education of players, coaches and parents, the introduction of standardised testing protocols and monitoring growth and maturation rates.

– Provide physical development support to the ACE Programme at Gosforth Academy, holding bi- weekly strength and conditioning sessions and providing warmups to all matches in conjunction with other staff.

– Liaise with the academy physiotherapist to devise and deliver injured player rehabilitation programmes as well as assisting in injury surveillance and research projects from time to time.

– Manage and maintain up-to-date athlete monitoring and profiling of all junior academy players, including training attendance, training loads, playing exposure, physical qualities and body composition and on-field performance.

– Support coaches with planning and operational and administrative aspects of the programme (e.g., pre-training registers, camp planning, scheduling, match day itinerary and information dissemination)

**Key performance indicators:**

– Effectiveness of coaching interventions provided to academy players.

– Evidence of progress made by all players towards fulfilling their physical potential.

– Up-to-date record keeping and monitoring of each player over time.

– Development of sustainable practices across the academy.

– Adherence to all RFU/PRL regulations to maintain the academy licence.

– Feedback from players/stakeholders on quality of service provided.

**Essential requirements:**

– Experience working in a rugby environment and understanding of youth development/physiology.

– Appropriate professional qualifications including a relevant degree and UKSCA Accreditation (ASCC).

– Flexibility to work unsociable hours, including evenings and weekends.

– Organised, efficient and able to work both independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

– Initiative and diligence in finding ways to challenge and stimulate players in their development.

– Enhanced DBS clearance and a full driving license with access to a car/transport

**People dimensions:**

– Manage student interns who assist with training and small projects.

– Comfortable in a team environment and motivated to work independently.

**Safeguarding:**

Newcastle Falcons takes safeguarding very seriously and is committed to ensuring that all children and adults at risk are safeguarded at all times when engaging in club activities or services. The club has numerous safeguarding policies and best practice guidelines to support this and expects all employees to adopt such policies and practices at all times.

The club adheres to strict guidelines, policies and procedures when recruiting staff who work with children and/or adults at risk and is committed to ensuring staff receive appropriate safeguarding training suitable to their role/s. Successful applicants are expected to share the club’s approach to safeguarding at all times.

**Equal Opportunities:**

The post holder’s duties must be carried out in compliance with the Club’s Equal Opportunities Policy, with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and subsequent Health and Safety Legislation.

Newcastle Falcons is an equal opportunities employer, all applicants for employment will be given equal opportunities irrespective of sex, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin.

These duties and responsibilities should be regarded as neither exclusive nor exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other reasonably determined duties and responsibilities within Newcastle Falcons, commensurate with the post without changing the character of the post. This post requires an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS). This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). Information on all convictions including spent convictions must be declared, in line with the new Government Filtering System. If you wish to see our Candidate Privacy Notice, please email hr@newcastle-falcons.co.uk

Employment is subject to: the provision of proof of eligibility to work in the UK as well as a successfully cleared enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check and clearance of RFU safer recruitment procedure.

Please apply with a CV and a cover letter to **cheryl.abdul@newcastle-falcons.co.uk**

We will accept no more applications after midnight on **Sunday June 18**.

Any questions please contact Cheryl Abdul, the academy administrator at **cheryl.abdul@newcastle-falcons.co.uk**.