Senior Coach - St Dunstan's

Location: St Dunstan's College, Stanstead Road, Lewisham, London, SE6 4TY

Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time

The Opportunity

Chelsea Football Club is looking for an ambitious and passionate Senior Coach to lead the delivery and growth of an exciting community football programme in partnership with St Dunstan's College.

This is a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on young people across Lewisham by delivering high-quality football provision, developing strong community relationships, and creating opportunities for participation and progression through the game. As a senior leader within the programme, you will combine hands-on coaching with programme management, staff leadership and business development, helping to expand Chelsea FC's presence and positive influence across the local community.

If you are an experienced coach with a passion for developing people, leading teams and creating engaging football experiences, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the planning, coordination and delivery of football programmes across Lewisham.
• Deliver outstanding coaching sessions across school, community and player development programmes.
• Support St Dunstan's College in strengthening links with the local community through sport.
• Build positive relationships with pupils, staff, parents and community stakeholders.
• Manage programme schedules and oversee operational delivery across multiple activities.
• Attend regular planning and review meetings with school and programme stakeholders.
• Lead, develop and support contracted and sessional coaching staff.
• Deliver inductions, mentoring, training and CPD opportunities for coaches.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and development conversations with direct reports.
• Ensure all activities are delivered safely and in line with safeguarding requirements.
• Monitor programme performance against participation, quality and commercial objectives.
• Identify and develop new partnerships, initiatives and business opportunities.
• Act as a positive ambassador for Chelsea FC and St Dunstan's College.
• Support wider Football Development projects and club initiatives as required.

What We're Looking For

• Experience working within a football or sports development environment.
• Experience leading and delivering football programmes or projects.
• Experience managing, mentoring or supervising staff within a sporting setting.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• Experience managing programme delivery, operations and scheduling.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
• UEFA C Licence (or FA Level 2 equivalent).
• FA Safeguarding Children qualification.
• FA Introduction to First Aid in Football certificate.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Enhanced DBS check.
• Project Management or Business qualification (desirable).

Our Expectations:

• To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others
• To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead
• To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.   

If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.