Sport Manager, Blind Football

Sport Manager, Blind Football

LA28 is looking to identify a Sport Manager for Blind Football for the 2028 program. Please make sure you highlight your Blind Football specific experience, including the level of events you have managed and delivered (e.g. club, collegiate, national, international), in your resume.

The Sport Manager Blind Football will play a critical role within the LA28 Sport team, while leading all aspects of operational planning for Blind Football. This role will liaise directly with International Blind Sports Association for Blind Football. As well, the position will also be expected to collaborate with the centralized Sport Planning team as well as other LA28 functions (i.e. Venues and Infrastructure, Venue Management, Ticketing and Hospitality, Games services, Transport, Accommodation, Food and Beverage, Accreditation, etc.), and across the organization (including but not limited to Athlete Relations, Strategy, Marketing, Commercial, Technology, HR, and Finance).

Key Responsibilities:

Competition and Training Venue(s) Design

• Liaise with International Blind Sports Association for the development and design of competition and training venues
• Coordinate with LA28 Venues and Infrastructure and Event Management and other sport/discipline specific input into the development and design of competition and training venues

Competition Management & Planning

• Act as the subject matter expert for Blind Football within the organization and especially in the development and refinement of Event Operating Plans
• Collaborate with International Blind Sports Association on the development of the competition schedule and training schedules for Blind Football
• Validate sport equipment requirements for Blind Football ensuring that all International Blind Sports Association requirements have been scoped
• Provide sport specific feedback as required for all pre-Games, testing and Games-time planning across the organization via centralized planning activities lead by Sport Planning including relevant Sport Delivery Plans as well as venue specific planning activities with other functions
• Provide input to Sport Planning on the development of sport testing and readiness events
• Coordinate with Timing, Scoring & Results to ensure all International Blind Sports Association requirements are integrated into planning for both systems and infrastructure related to managing the competition

Competition Management Workforce

• Collaborate on the Sport Workforce strategy and planning for Blind Football, liaising U.S. Paralympics Swimming and the local sport community where relevant to identify paid staff, National Technical Officials and Sport Skilled Volunteers currently engaged in local and regional events
• Lead the recruitment process for roles within Competition Management for Blind Football
• On-boarding and day-to-day leadership of all Competition Management workforce within Blind Football
• Support the development of Blind Football specific testing and Games-time training workforce

IF, NGB & Sport Community Relations

• Act as the point of entry to LA28 and the stakeholder manager for International Blind Sports Association and coordinate across the 3 blind athlete sports (Blind Judo and Goalball)
• Manage and track all International Blind Sports Association communication and brief Head of Competition Management and VP of Sport on the status of relations and Games-time planning
• Manage Pre-Games IF Site visits for the Blind Football team from IBSA, developing an effective agenda, liaising with FAs and Stakeholders on their participation and producing site visit reports and presentations
• Manage the completion and tracking of all inputs to each Sport Delivery Plan (SDP) for Blind Football
• Coordinate with USABA for the development of technical officials and volunteers.

Administration & Program Management

• Provide reports and updates on the status of deliverables and tasks to communicate overall progress in the planning for Blind Football
• Support the development of budgets and projects plans with well researched and validated sport and discipline specific information and planning assumptions

Competition Management Testing & Games-Time

• Lead all competition management workforce for Blind Football to ensure a seamless and world class delivery of operations to support the competition, athlete and IF spaces within the competition and training venues
• Act as the integration point within the organization for all IF related requirements for delivery of the competition and training for Blind Football

Background & Requirements:

• Minimum 5+ years' experience delivering national and international level Blind Football events in a leadership role
• Extremely detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills
• Strong communication, team building, and interpersonal skill
• Well-developed problem-solving skills and ability to work independently to resolve issues
• Fluent working with Office suite products including Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
• Self-starter with experience in defining tasks, seeking feedback, and evolving work
• Required proven ability of building good interpersonal relationships with people across the organization and with external stakeholders, while balancing assertiveness with diplomacy
• A collaborative mindset; someone who prioritizes the team and fosters a culture of high performance without ego
• An innovative viewpoint, willing to challenge the status quo and thinking ahead to the future possibilities within the Movement
• Ability to implement and manage change effectively
• Extensive knowledge of Blind Football and event operations experience and exposure at multiple levels, including professional leagues or teams, federations, universities, and grassroots
• Direct Olympic and Paralympic sport experience at a previous OCOG, multi-sport Games or experience delivering IF level events is a significant asset
• Understanding and expertise within Blind Football at the international and national level as well as coordination with international and US Sport governing bodies
• Experience collaborating with colleagues on venue design, event planning, management and delivery across multiple functional areas

Education:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

• Ability to work in an office environment, based in Los Angeles, CA.
• The majority of work may be conducted in an office setting, requiring extended periods of time using computers, phones, and other office equipment
• The LA28 office is an open floorplan working environment; employees must be able to work efficiently in an open cubicle environment.
• Hours of work may vary, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, especially during peak event periods.
• Perform other duties as required; the role will evolve over time and may include operational responsibilities during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• This position will require international, domestic, and local trips for IF and NGB events/congresses, as well as venue tours in the Los Angeles area during official IF site visits. International travel may involve travelling to different countries to observe global sporting events and will require a valid Passport. International travel may be up to 1 - 2 times per year for 1 - 2 week intervals. Approximately 20% or less of working hours.
• Domestic travel may involve traveling within the United States to observe global sporting events. Anticipated travel can be 0-3 times per year.
• Local travel will consist of visiting local venues that LA28 is considering using as a competition and training venue as well as competition and training venues in Co-host Cities. Attendance and meetings with local sport clubs, colleges and related organizations may also require local travel as well as observing local sport events. Anticipated travel can be 0-2 times per month and can increase as 2028 approaches.

The annual base salary range for this position is $88,000.00 - $108,000.00. The pay scale provided is the range that LA28 reasonably expects to pay as starting base compensation for this role. All LA28 compensation remains subject to final determination based on individual candidate qualifications, experience, or other reasonable criteria consistent with LA28's operational business needs and applicable law.

LA28 is committed to fair and unbiased recruitment procedures allowing all applicants an equal opportunity for employment, free from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, color, ethnic or national origin, or any other classification as may be protected by applicable law. LA28 will consider for