Women's Referee Recruitment & Retention Officer (Part-Time)

Organisation: The Football Association
Salary: Competitive
Location: Home-Based
Contract type: Permanent (Part time)
Closing date: 6 October 2026
Job Description: Inspire the Next Generation of Women Referees

The FA is seeking a passionate and driven Women's Refereeing Recruitment & Retention Officer to help shape the future of women's refereeing in England. This is a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on the game by increasing the number and diversity of women referees nationwide and enhancing the experience of women match officials at every stage of the pathway.

Working at the heart of a national strategy, the successful candidate will lead recruitment and retention initiatives that create accessible, inclusive and sustainable routes into refereeing, while collaborating with County FAs, leagues, clubs, education providers and wider football partners to strengthen local pathways, boost engagement and support long-term participation across the women's game.

This role is a part-time position, requiring 3 days per week in role.

What will you be doing?

Lead national recruitment initiatives to increase the number and diversity of women referees, ensuring activity is targeted, evidence-led, and aligned to FA Refereeing Strategy 2035.
Develop and deliver retention strategies that improve engagement, support, confidence, wellbeing and long-term participation for women referees across the grassroots and developing pathway.
Support delivery of the women's refereeing strategic objectives linked to workforce growth and improved referee experience, working closely with the Senior Manager – Women's Refereeing and wider refereeing department colleagues.
Embed the Refereeing DNA into recruitment, onboarding, development, and engagement activity so that women referees receive a consistent, values-led experience from their first contact with refereeing.
Connect recruitment and retention activity to the National Referee Curriculum, with particular focus on the Foundation and Perform stages to support new referees, developing officials, and those progressing through the early pathway.
Support the identification of high-potential female match officials through targeted talent identification activity, referrals and local partnerships, contributing to the development of a diverse national talent pool
Build strong partnerships with County FAs, leagues, clubs, schools, colleges, universities, community organisations, and education providers to grow local women's referee pathways and diversify routes into refereeing.
Design and coordinate national campaigns, local activation plans, and targeted interventions that encourage women and girls to start, continue, and progress in refereeing.
Monitor workforce data, participant feedback, course conversion, registration, retention, and engagement measures to identify trends, evaluate impact, and inform continuous improvement.
Work with communications, learning, development, safeguarding, and operations colleagues to ensure recruitment and retention activity is joined up, inclusive, safe, and accessible.
Provide regular updates, insight, and recommendations to the Senior Manager – Women's Refereeing on progress against recruitment, retention, experience, and participation objectives.
Executes additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety, and well-being can be maintained.

What are we looking for?

Candidates who can demonstrate some or all of the following:

Experience of designing, delivering or supporting programmes, projects or initiatives that drive recruitment, retention, participation, engagement, learning, workforce development or community growth.
A passion for creating inclusive environments and encouraging greater participation among women, girls and underrepresented groups in sport.
Strong relationship-building skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders and partners.
Excellent communication and engagement skills, with experience presenting, facilitating or influencing across different audiences.
Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple activities, manage priorities and deliver outcomes.
Ability to use insight, feedback and data to evaluate activity, identify opportunities for improvement and measure impact.
A proactive and solutions-focused approach, with the confidence to work independently and as part of a team.
A commitment to inclusion, safeguarding, wellbeing and creating positive experiences for participants, volunteers or customers.

We recognise that skills and experience can be gained in many different settings. If you are excited by this opportunity but do not meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply.

Advantageous but not essential:

Knowledge of football, refereeing or the women's and girls' game in England.
Understanding of the referee pathway, workforce development pathways or talent development programmes.
Experience working within football, sport, education, community development or a membership-based organisation.
Experience delivering participation, volunteer, recruitment or engagement initiatives through local delivery partners.
Experience developing targeted campaigns, engagement plans or programmes aimed at women, girls or underrepresented groups.
Experience using digital platforms, learning management systems, CRM tools or reporting dashboards to monitor engagement and outcomes.
Experience as a referee, coach, mentor, volunteer, educator or participant within sport.
An understanding of the barriers and opportunities associated with attracting, developing and retaining diverse volunteer workforces.

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles. To achieve this, we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire, which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves on offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encourages you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well-being.
Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
Private medical cover funded by The FA.
A contributory pension scheme.
An additional 'Thank You' day's leave, volunteering days, as well as 25 days of annual leave (based on a full-time, permanent contract)
A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

Currently, we are working within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model, and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary. The contractual location of this role can be found on the FA Careers page.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
How to apply: https://careers.thefa.com/jobs/vacancy/womens-referee-recruitment--retention-officer-part-time-hb0319-home-based-/3251/description/

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Women's Referee Recruitment & Retention Officer (Part-Time)