Athlete Leadership and Engagement Support (Consultancy)

Organisation: British Elite Athletes Association
Salary: £250 per day
Location: Remote. Will require, at times, travel to support role, including meetings. Expenses paid.
Contract type: Fixed Term (Part time)
Closing date: 25 June 2026
Interview date: 29 June 2026
Job Description: The British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA) is seeking someone to support the delivery and development of athlete leadership across the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance system. This role will help ensure that athlete voice is meaningful, connected, and has a tangible impact across sports.

ABOUT THE ROLE
This role plays a key part in shaping and delivering athlete leadership across the high-performance system, ensuring that athlete voice is effectively embedded and influences how the system operates.

Working across a range of sports and system partners, the role will:
- Support the development and delivery of athlete representation structures
- Strengthen engagement with athlete representatives
- Contribute to leadership and mentoring initiatives

This is a practical, delivery-focused role, working closely with athletes, National Governing Bodies, and system partners to ensure athlete voice is not only heard, but actively drives change.

This role is being employed on a fixed-term, part-time basis for six months. You will initially work one day a week, with the flexibility to increase if required.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Athlete Leadership & Representation
- Support athlete representatives across multiple sports
- Work with Athlete Support Managers and NGBs to assess needs and shape support
- Coordinate delivery of athlete representation support processes
- Build strong relationships to support engagement and effectiveness Athlete Advisory Forum (AAF)
- Support the organisation and effectiveness of AAF activity
- Strengthen links between AAF members and athlete representatives
- Contribute to development opportunities for athlete leaders

Leadership & Mentoring
- Support the development of athlete leadership initiatives
- Contribute to mentoring programmes and future planning
- Assist with insight gathering and alignment across activity Workshops & Engagement
- Promote and support delivery of athlete-focused workshops
- Work alongside Athlete Support Managers to deliver engagement activity

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential
- Ex-World Class Programme Athlete
- Strong understanding of the high-performance sport environment
- Excellent communication and relationship building skills
- Ability to work independently and manage priorities
- Experience working across stakeholders (desirable)
- A genuine interest in athlete leadership and athlete advocacy

Behavioural competencies and qualities
- Enthusiastic, self-starter with strong communications skills and initiative
- The ability to work independently under your own initiative
- Ability to build strong professional relationships
- Working with integrity and honesty to gain the trust, confidence and respect of key stakeholders including colleagues
- Well-organised with the skills to prioritise workload effectively
- Committed, enthusiastic and motivated
- Willingness to accept and encourage constructive challenges
- Promote shared values and organisational culture

ABOUT THE BEAA
The British Elite Athletes Association works under three pillars: support, representation and community. We exist to represent the interests of elite athletes by providing them with independent, confidential support and expert advice, mediation, and advocacy within the sporting system.

We are primarily funded by UK Sport but operate with full independence, standing by athletes throughout their time on the World Class Programme and beyond.

The BEAA has a support team working directly with athletes to provide support on a wide range of issues they may experience, for example: with their sport’s selection process, a grievance with a team member, a disciplinary, a duty of care or welfare issue or concern over their mental health and wellbeing.

More broadly, the BEAA represents the athlete voice in key areas of decision making across the high-performance system and runs a network of Athlete Representatives.

The BEAA works in collaboration with others within the high-performance system, including the National Governing Bodies of Sport, Home Country Sports Institutes, the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association and UK Sport. Other key partners include UK Anti-Doping, Professional Players Federation, MIND and the NPSCC Child Protection in Sport Unit and Ann Craft Trust.

Since being founded in 2004 by athletes, for athletes, our influence and standing within the high-performance system has grown, and we are proud to play a central role within British high-performance sport today.
All athletes funded via the World Class Programme are members of the BEAA. They can contact our expert staff for support, turn to us for representation, and know that we connect the elite athlete community across sports. We are also proud to provide support to athletes in pathway sports, and a select number of sports who benefit from our involvement privately.
How to apply: Applications by CV and covering letter to: recruitment@britisheliteathletes.org with subject header Athlete Leadership and Support role application. Closing date: Thursday 25 June 2026 Remote first round interviews will be held week beginning 29 June