Lead Pre-Academy Scout

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is an English Premier League Club, based in North London.

Led by the late great Bill Nicholson, the Club became the first in England to win the League and FA Cup Double in 1961, and the first in the UK to win a European Trophy two years later. Spurs has since been home to some of the game’s great entertainers, including Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne, David Ginola, Gareth Bale, Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane.

In April 2019, the Club opened an iconic new stadium that sits at the heart of a £1billion sport-led regeneration of North Tottenham. The stadium is the largest football club stadium in London and is a multi-use venue with the ability to host a variety of events 365 days a year, including NFL, boxing, rugby, concerts, and other major events, plus visitor attractions including Stadium Tours and the Dare Skywalk.

The stadium development scheme has to date created more than 4,000 new jobs for local people, with circa £300m pumped into the local economy each year.

Tottenham Hotspur has:

• A clear strategy to develop talent from within its Academy, showcased by a strong track record of Academy players graduating to the first-team squad.
• A £100m state-of-the-art Training Centre that supports the Club’s ambition to attract, develop and retain the best talent.
• Commercial partnerships with globally recognised brands including AIA Group Limited (AIA), one of the world’s leading providers of life insurance services, and Nike, the world’s leading sports footwear and apparel company.
• A commitment to minimizing its environmental impact across Club operations, being named as the greenest in the Premier League for the past three years. Tottenham Hotspur is a signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, committing to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and become net zero carbon by 2040.
• An award-winning Foundation that is renowned for creating opportunities to help enhance the lives of people in its local community through education, employment, health, and social inclusion programmes.

JOB PURPOSE

Working to help identify and secure the most talented local players to Tottenham Hotspur FC from U6-U8 by implementing robust coverage and selection strategy.

 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• To work as an integral member of the full-time Academy Recruitment team in identifying Pre-Academy players for Tottenham Hotspur
• To build strong relationships with parents, grassroots clubs, organisations and maintain appropriate communication links
• Responsible for identifying and securing the most talented Pre-Academy aged players in their designated geographical area
• Develop a relevant network of contacts in youth football within the designated geographic area and specified age range to maximize coverage of that area and ensure the Club has a working knowledge of all talented young players within the local area
• Help design and implement a scouting strategy for the designated age groups
• Co-ordinate and manage age-appropriate scouts on a weekly basis
• Help to organise and support Talent ID events at the relevant age groups
• Contribute to the decision-making process on retention and player signings for the Under 9 Academy group
• Attend and lead monthly scouting meeting
• Prepare in advance of those meetings updates of all scouting activity and targeted players.
• Support line management with ad-hoc scouting duties
• To project a professional image, maintain an ambassadorial role for the Club and Academy at all times, and adhering to the Club policies and protocols, specifically in relation to the recruitment of young players and to ensure that the reputation of the THFC Academy remains intact.
• To maintain a working knowledge of all players who have either previously been signed/registered with the Academy but have since been released or have had unsuccessful periods of training and assessment, in order to identify any potential 'late developers'.
• To attend Child Protection training as required by the Club and adhere to all guidelines contained within the Club's Child Protection Policy.
• To ensure the necessary forms have been completed and information collated on all potential player recruits in order that they can be registered correctly and timeously.
• To attend all in-service days as required
• To abide by all club policies including (but not exclusive to) Safeguarding, Equality and Health & Safety

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Desirable:

• FA Talent ID Level 2
• FA Talent ID Level 3

Skills & Experience

• Has experience in elite level Academy environment
• Preferably experience of a similar role at Category 1-3 level
• Identifiable track record in scouting and recruitment in the Pre-Academy and/or Foundation Phase

Personal Attributes

• Strong desire to identify and work with the youngest players
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Highly skilled at building, developing and influencing relationships.
• Extensive network of local contacts.
• Ability to prioritise workload.
• Excellent organisational qualities.
• Empathetic, emotionally intelligent
• Intrinsically motivated to deliver a sector leading programme
• An aspiration to be an elite level practitioner
• Can work to a high level on own initiative and as part of a team
• Ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Trustworthy and adherence to codes of conduct, ethics and confidentiality.

Safeguarding is fundamental to the success in all that we do. Successful candidates are to be reminded they would be subject to various background, DBS and reference checks for this role.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club welcomes applications from anyone regardless of age, disability, race, or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.