Digital Strategy Manager

Set the bar for greatness...
We are excited to be searching for a Digital Strategy Manager to join our Grassroots Football division. Digital will be a key driver for our new Grassroots Football strategy, which kicks off in 2024. By developing our digital ecosystem to enable a connected, thriving community of grassroots participants, this role will play a critical part in driving the game forward. Working across Grassroots and the wider FA, you will help the organisation leverage user-led digital solutions to make the game easier to run and more enjoyable for all.
What will you be doing?
You'll work with colleagues across FA divisions, County FAs and other partners to agree and deliver digital road maps that help us achieve our 24-28 ambitions.
You'll be driven by our users, championing products and features that solve their biggest challenges.
You'll also be guided by evidence, using data and insight to inform and influence strategic decisions.
You'll be a critical friend to both the Grassroots and Digital Technology (DT) teams, helping the business to articulate digital needs and helping DT translate and refine them. You'll play a key role in capturing requirements and developing user stories.
You'll be a digital evangelist, championing the use of digital technology and practices to engender a digital mindset across the board.
Recognising that people are the most important part of digital change, you'll understand the importance of engaging stakeholders at all levels, building relationships, listening to concerns, and tailoring messaging to resonate with different audiences, ensuring their buy-in and commitment to the change process.
You'll be driven by quality, ensuring robust quality standards, and ensuring those around you achieve the same.
You'll oversee several partnerships with external suppliers and partners, working effectively to ensure the best outcomes for all.
You'll work closely with The FA's Grassroots Digital Customer Service team to ensure appropriate user adoption support is planned and resourced.
You'll be aware of industry trends to inform your ideas and explore new and exciting ways to engage users.
Execute additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group's changing priorities.
Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing can be maintained.
As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
What are we looking for?
Essential for the role:
Experience:
You have experience delivering digital products from concept to completion.
You have experience developing and influencing technology roadmaps.
You have experience articulating, documenting, and translating business needs into digital solutions.
You have experience championing digital technology within teams that may not be digital first.
Skills:
Communicative: You can convey complex, technical concepts simply and effectively, adapting your communication for different audiences.
Organised: You are comfortable managing multiple competing priorities and working to deadlines.
Customer-first: You consider the user in everything you do.
Collaborative: You're a team player and you are energised by working with colleagues across the business.
Driven by quality: You have a passion for excellence in the delivery of digital thinking and solutions.
Strategic: You always consider the 'bigger picture' by asking yourself how our technology is contributing to organisational objectives.
Technical: You are comfortable using digital planning and workshopping tools such as Miro, Jira, Trello, etc.
Beneficial to have:
You have experience in UX, creating or contributing to designs that shape unique, user-centric products and experiences.
You have experience writing formal documents such as business cases or business requirements documents.
You have played a role within grassroots football - as a player, referee, and/or team/club admin - and have experience using some of the FA's digital products. (Or you've done this within another sport.)
Project management skills e.g. Agile.
Change management skills or certification e.g. Prosci.
Awareness of digital trends/best practice.
What's in it for you?
We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.
We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:
Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
Free private medical cover.
A contributory pension scheme.
An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
A hybrid working model offering flexibility on where you work.
For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers
Our Organisation
The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.
The FA oversees England international teams across men's, women's, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Barclays FA Women's Super League, FA Women's Championship, and Women's Adobe FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.
We currently work within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary.
Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of either Wembley Stadium, St. George's Park or our Processing Centre, unless the role is advertised as a homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.
The FA, For All, For You
Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.
https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/about-the-fa/2021/fa_a-game-for-all-strategy.ashx
A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments - Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change - which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.
We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.
As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.