Academy Auditor (Coaching)
This is an exciting opportunity to work across the Premier League, EFL, and the FA.
As part of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) — the Professional Game’s national strategy for developing youth footballers in England — professional club Academies are placed into one of four categories (Category 1 to 4). These categories are based on a combination of factors, including investment levels, facilities, staffing, and the quality of provision across key multidisciplinary areas.
To effectively categorise Academies and to support the continual raising of standards in elite player development, an independent standards organisation has been developed, mandated by the professional game, to monitor safety, compliance and the quality of work being delivered across both the male and female environments. The female talent pathway aims to support the development of more and better home-grown players through two key programmes.
The independent standards organisation oversees a multidisciplinary assessment of Academies across Leadership and Management, Coaching, Performance Support, Education, Player Care, Safeguarding, Pathway and Productivity.
As part of the above, the Coaching Auditor will be responsible for auditing organisations and practices across the multidisciplinary areas of development pathways.
The Role
Review and Evaluation of Coaching and Multidisciplinary Programmes:
- Using the Academy Standards assessment framework, assess the quality of Coaching provision across talent development pathways
- Accurately and fairly report findings, identifying quality, risk and development areas
- Manage the end-to-end auditing/quality assurance process, ensuring the operation runs as smoothly as possible for the club and auditing team
- Ensure a consistent assessment is given, no matter the auditor or club
General Responsibilities:
- Deliver annual Club visits to ensure adherence with Safe to Operate and Compliance guidelines and the Youth Development Rules and FA Criteria
- Support the development of a suitable Academy standards framework and auditing practices
- Using outcomes from Club audits to undertake trend analysis to inform future learnings
- Meet tight deadlines
- Ensure the auditing team maintains an up-to-date knowledge of good practice
Role Requirements
- Experience working, coaching and leading development programs with young athletes, especially within an academy system or development squads (male or female pathways)
- Leading or mentoring other coaches, including designing CPD programmes or overseeing coaching frameworks
- Sound knowledge of talent identification and pathways
- Experience in navigating complex and highly pressurised working environments and cultures, establishing effective working relationships across a diverse range of stakeholders (sporting directors, senior decision makers, first team managers/coaches).
- Working within a multidisciplinary environment, collaborating with analysts, sports science, medical, education, player care, safeguarding, etc
- Previous experience in reviewing, assessing and developing recommendations for multidisciplinary development programs at a strategic level
- Prior leadership and management experience
- Experience working with children and adults at risk, and/or knowledge and understanding of issues that affect their safety and well-being
Knowledge:
- High practical and theoretical understanding of coach and talent development demands in elite level sport (age-appropriate coaching principles, long-term player development models, talent ID and progression mapping)
- Understanding and appreciation of context and cultural differences between clubs of different sizes and philosophies
- Sound knowledge of talent identification and pathways
- Understanding and comfort in Quantitative and Qualitative assessment
PGAAC is an equal opportunity employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values. All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.
Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. For further information, please see our
Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. For further information, please see our
Safeguarding Policyand
Safer Recruitment Guidance.
To apply, please visit our
To apply, please visit our
careers pageand apply with your CV and a cover letter. The closing date for applications is 24 May 2026.
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact
recruitment@premierleague.com.
About The Premier League
The Premier League is home to some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its Clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds. It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in over 900 million homes in 189 countries.
We have a wide variety of responsibilities. These include organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised broadcast and commercial rights. The work we do in conjunction with the Clubs also goes far beyond the 90 minutes. We support and provide a framework for youth development, we protect the organisation’s intellectual property, support the wider game and community programmes, undertake international development work and liaise with governing bodies and other leagues.
The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values. All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.