Description
U.S. Soccer Overview
We are U.S. Soccer and we are the future of sport in the United States. Our mission is to make soccer the preeminent sport in the United States. We embrace diversity, technology and global connections to drive the growth of our sport and serve our athletes and fans. We seek motivated, passionate, skilled people who can think, create and work on a team.
U.S. Soccer is a growing company that looks for team members to grow with it. U.S. Soccer offers a comprehensive compensation package, casual work environment, an inclusive culture and an atmosphere for professional development.
The Federation’s core principles set organization-wide standards to identify and foster our culture and inform how we interact and hold each other accountable. These principles guide U.S. Soccer: We Win Together. We Aim High. We Champion Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. To be successful as a USSF employee, it is critical to demonstrate and live up to these principles every day and with every interaction with peers, stakeholders, and partners.
The Federation’s core values are the individual attributes and characteristics that staff embody to uphold the organization’s principles and succeed. These values guide our employees: Integrity. Commitment. Teamwork. Respect.
Position Description
The Director, Strategy, reporting directly to the Head of Strategy, is responsible for enterprise-wide strategic program management. In this role, they will focus on overseeing and advancing strategic initiatives and organizational alignment to support U.S. Soccer’s short, mid-, and long-term objectives. This role will lead ongoing enterprise-wide program management efforts, including creating, tracking, and reporting on organizational initiatives, metrics, and KPIs. The role will also be responsible for efficient information flow regarding strategic projects amongst the executive team, CEO, President, and Board of Directors. Working within the U.S. Soccer Strategy group, the role will engage cross-functionally across soccer, revenue, and operational functions within U.S. Soccer to drive alignment and accountability.
Major Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage enterprise-wide strategic program management, overseeing the development of goals, metrics, and KPIs with departments, and establishing a structured reporting process to ensure consistent tracking and alignment of cross-departmental initiatives with U.S. Soccer’s top priorities
- Own a robust internal reporting framework to provide regular updates on goals, metrics, and KPI performance to the executive team, CEO, President, and Board of Directors, including preparation of synthesized reports and insights on organizational performance
- Support the ongoing business planning process by collaborating with the executive team and department leaders on resource allocation, investment prioritization, and budget management to ensure alignment with U.S. Soccer’s strategic objectives
- Direct project life cycles, including scoping, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing, ensuring on-time, within-budget delivery
- Establish and promote best practices in program management, goal setting, and information sharing, collaborating with cross-functional teams to track implementation of priorities and maintain alignment on KPIs and strategic goals across the organization and key partnerships
- Monitor and report on key risk indicators related to strategic projects and initiatives, proactively identifying potential challenges and recommending mitigation strategies to leadership
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required
- 4-8+ years professional experience, preferably within a corporate strategy function in industry, and/or at a top-tier strategy consulting firm
- Excellent project management and associated communication and stakeholder management skills
- Proactive and highly organized self-starter who can work independently and with ambiguity
- Proven ability and robust experience managing and leading project teams
- Outstanding quantitative, financial, research, modeling, and problem-solving skills
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills
- Ability to communicate with senior executives both inside and outside the organization
- Strong intellectual curiosity and ability to apply learnings to create new opportunities
- Ability to spot issues and manage risk
- Desire to be part of a team and drive continual growth of oneself and colleagues
- Ability to manage and drive forward multiple projects while maintaining zero-defect attention to detail
- Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality
Desired Qualifications:
- Passion for the sport of soccer
- A strong understanding of the culture of soccer and its fans across North America
- Knowledge of Sports, Entertainment, Media and Technology industries
- Prior experience working in the sports industry, non-profit, or national governing body
- Ability to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities to support U.S. Soccer’s initiatives
- Fluency both verbal and written in Spanish, or another language, is preferred
Working at U.S. Soccer is a unique opportunity. Employees who work at U.S. Soccer have the following attributes:
- High emotional intelligence, and the ability to motivate and mentor others
- Demonstrate work ethic as a self-starter
- Desire to be part of a team
- Committed work ethic
- Pursue lifelong development and learning
- Communicate in a direct, open and honest manner
- Accountable for actions/decisions and do not make excuses
- Practice self-assessment and self-reflection
- Believe and commit to the company’s culture and organizational goals
- Adopt a company centric approach
- Possess a growth mindset—keeps an open mind and seeks new challenges
- Request feedback and are open to criticism
- Has the ability to be firm but fair
- Build relationships through genuine interpersonal skills
U.S Soccer is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, military status, political belief, or any other characteristic protected under the law. This policy applies to all our employment practices within our organization. We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA, veterans, parents, and persons with disabilities to apply.