Head of Women’s Football

About us

Football Australia is situated on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the histories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit to building a brighter future together.

Football in Australia is a melting pot of approximately 2 million participants represented by over 200 different cultures; we are proud to be the most diverse and globally connected sport within the Australian sporting landscape.

This diversity in culture, ideas, and experience makes us strong and prepares us to achieve our vision to ‘be a leading football nation where everyone is inspired to live and love the game’. To achieve this, we live by our company values which are:

Welcome: Open doors, open minds, open hearts – One Game for All

Ready: Always ready, always ahead

Connect: Together, united

Excel: Our best, every day in every way

Protect: Guarding the game, Securing the future

What we offer

• At Football Australia we want to look after our people and below are just some of the many benefits of joining our team:
• Flexible work arrangements
• Birthday Leave
• Study Leave
• Wellbeing & Lifestyle leave
• Paid Parental leave in addition to statutory government offering
• Volunteer leave
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Partner discounts
• Workplace Banking Program
• Social Activities such as 5-a-side futsal

About the role

The Head of Women’s Football is a senior leader within the Football Department, responsible for providing technical leadership, strategic oversight and driving system alignment across participation, pathways and performance environments in women’s football. The role operates within a system-focused model, working collaboratively to deliver aligned, high-quality football outcomes.

The role exists to strengthen access, progression and depth across the women’s football ecosystem, applying deep expertise in player development and talent identification to build sustainable capability and long-term performance. It focuses on aligning environments, improving development quality and supporting clear, equitable pathways from entry-level participation through to elite performance.

Working as part of the Football Department leadership team, the Head of Women’s Football contributes to whole-of-football strategy, shared decision-making and collective accountability for system performance and international competitiveness.

Role responsibilities

This role is Football Australia’s senior technical authority for women’s football, operating within a system-focused Football Department model.

Technical Leadership – Whole-of-Football with Player Development Focus

• Act as the organisation’s senior technical authority for women’s football, providing whole-of-football technical leadership across participation, pathways and elite performance environments.
• Apply deep expertise in player development and talent identification to shape, align and continuously improve development environments, identification processes and progression pathways.
• Ensure strong technical alignment between development environments and Women’s National Team programs, supporting depth, progression and long-term performance outcomes.
• Support technical capability uplift across the women’s football ecosystem by strengthening player development and talent identification practice, through mentoring, knowledge-sharing and alignment with coach and workforce development initiatives.

Strategic, System & Stakeholder Leadership

• Partner with the Executive Director Football, organisational leaders and system partners to co-design and implement integrated women’s football strategies, informed by sound technical judgement across the football system.
• Provide system leadership to align pathways, resolve cross-domain dependencies and support coherent delivery across Member Federations, clubs and national programs.
• Contribute expert insight to Football Department and growing talent depth.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with Member Federations, clubs, leagues, coaches and key partners to enable system alignment and continuous improvement.

System Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Apply insights from the Talent Development Ecosystem (TDE) Audit, research and performance data to inform system-level decision-making and continuous improvement across women’s football.
• Monitor pathway effectiveness, talent progression and development outcomes, identifying risks, gaps and opportunities to strengthen system performance.

National & International Engagement

• Act as Football Australia’s senior operational and strategic representative for women’s football with international and regional bodies, including FIFA, AFC and ASEAN Football Federation, as well as domestic partners such as the Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Commission, and relevant government agencies.
• Support the Executive Director Football in system-level engagement, advocacy and representation as required.
• Leverage established international best practice in women’s football to inform domestic system alignment and capability uplift.

Leadership, Culture & Capability

• Contribute to the leadership and culture of the Football Department, modelling inclusive, collaborative and system-focused leadership behaviours.
• Support technical capability uplift across the women’s football ecosystem by strengthening development and talent identification practice through mentoring, knowledge-sharing and alignment with coach and workforce development initiatives.

Role outcomes

The priority outcomes of this role are to deliver an accessible, technically aligned and system-coherent women’s football ecosystem that enables sustainable participation growth, clear development and progression pathways and high-quality performance and leadership opportunities for women and girls.

Key Role Outcomes

• An accessible and inclusive women’s football ecosystem that enables equitable access, participation and progression for women and girls across the football ecosystem.
• A technically aligned and high-quality women’s football pathway that delivers consistent player development, improved quality of play and long-term performance outcomes.
• A sustainable and high-performing women’s football ecosystem, underpinned by evidence-led decision-making, strong technical leadership and shared system ownership.
• Improved performance, depth and readiness in Women’s National Teams, reflecting the strength, alignment and effectiveness of the broader women’s football system.

Outcome Focus Areas

• Better Access to Football – Improve equitable access and mobility for women and girls across participation, pathways and elite environments.
• More Football – Increase the availability, diversity and continuity of football opportunities for women and girls across all formats and levels.
• More People Enjoying Football – Create positive, safe and engaging football experiences that improve retention and long-term involvement.
• Better Football – Lift the technical quality and alignment of women’s football environments to support stronger player development and quality of play.
• Winning Football – Strengthen performance, depth and consistency in Women’s Youth National Teams through aligned pathways and systems.

Major interactions

• CEO, FDC, Board of Football Australia
• Head of Men’s Football, Head of Nationals Teams, GM Women’s National Teams
• Football Department Leads
• PFA, MF CEOs and MF Technical Departments
• A-League Club CEOs and Academy Directors/Technical Leads, FIFA, AFC and ASEAN Technical Departments

Skills and experience

Essential

• The following requirements reflect the senior technical, strategic and system leadership expectations of the role.
• Recognised technical expertise in player development and talent identification, with a deep understanding of how girls’ and women’s development pathways operate from entry-level participation through to elite performance.
• Demonstrated experience designing, leading or influencing talent development systems, including age-appropriate development models, identification frameworks and progression pathways aligned to long-term performance outcomes.
• Strong understanding of evidence-led approaches to talent identification and development, including the use of data, observation, context and system insight to inform selection, progression and investment decisions.
• Proven ability to lead strategic change and system evolution, applying innovation and data-informed decision-making to drive outcomes and monitor progress across complex football environments.
• Highly developed communication, influencing and relationship-building skills, with the ability to lead, collaborate and align coaches, practitioners, executives and system partners around shared development principles.

Desirable

• Experience working within women’s football environments, including female player pathways, elite women’s programs or women’s national team contexts.
• Exposure to elite or professional football settings, as a coach, technical leader, performance staff member or senior practitioner, providing insight into high-performance demands and environments.
• Experience contributing to or leading talent identification, pathway reviews or system reform initiatives, particularly in women’s football or developing football systems.
• Strong understanding of leading international practice in women’s football, including benchmarking, performance standards and system design.
• Experience engaging with national or international football structures, such as leagues, federations, confederations or international competitions.

Qualifications

Essential

• Tertiary qualification in sport, business, leadership, law, economics or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and extensive senior experience in professional football or high-performance sport.

Desirable

• Advanced football coaching or technical qualification (e.g. Pro Diploma, A Diploma or equivalent), or comparable senior technical accreditation.
• Formal education or accreditation related to professional football environments, such as sport management, high-performance leadership or football governance.
• Postgraduate or executive education in leadership, strategy or governance.

Unique criteria

The following selected items identify the requirements of the role

☒ Out of hours and weekend work

☒ Intra and/ or Interstate travel

☒ International Travel

☐ Significant periods of work away from home

☒ Significant Responsibilities – This does not contain a comprehensive listing of responsibilities, activities and duties that are required of the incumbent. These may change from time to time at the discretion and needs of the manager/organisation.

Additional requirements

• Full working rights in Australia
• Working with children check (paid/employee) or state-based equivalent
• International Criminal History Record for each country (other than Australia) in which you have resided for 12 months or more in the last 10 years (if applicable)
• Out of hours and weekend work as required

Application deadline: 24th April 2026

Click APPLY NOW to submit your application, including a cover letter and current resume.