Content Manager - England

We are excited to be searching for a Content Manager who will lead execution and support the strategic direction of content across the England national team's digital channels, driving positive sentiment and commercial growth aligned with The FA's strategic objectives.

Are you a creative with a passion for England national teams?

We are excited to be searching for a Content Manager who will lead execution and support the strategic direction of content across the England national team's digital channels, driving positive sentiment and commercial growth aligned with The FA's strategic objectives.

What will you be doing?

• Work collaboratively within a group of England Content Managers to ideate, produce, and publish creative, best-in-class content across England's digital channels (combined 42M audience) covering international men's, women's, and development teams.
• Key account contact, as part of the England Content Managers group, for the wider business on all things England content related to marketing, communications, and commercial matters.
• Manage daily agency and vendor relationships to ensure the delivery of industry-leading creative.
• Work across key live events (i.e. matchdays, major tournaments, senior/development camps, and commercial activity) in an editorial and channel management capacity.
• Support the content leadership team to develop revenue-generating content streams and identify future commercial opportunities that engage both existing and new audiences.
• Develop strong and collaborative relationships with England's technical teams and players to ensure that content creation and ways of working contribute to The FA's objective of creating winning England teams.
• Work in collaboration with The FA's communications team (in and out of camp) to ensure output is closely aligned with agreed external messaging.
• Support commercial and marketing objectives by driving the creation of industry-leading and audience-first campaigns and content formats that deliver the mutual aims of The FA and its partners, as well as promoting opportunities to purchase tickets and merchandise.
• Provide regular and detailed insights into the performance of England's social digital content to the rest of the department and business, driving an evolving strategic approach and embracing a knowledge-sharing culture.
• Creative collaboration with all specialised functions (e.g. video, graphics, photography, insights, operations) of the content team.
• Executes additional tasks as required to meet FA Group's changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and well-being can be maintained.
• 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.

What are we looking for?

Essential for the role:

Knowledge:

• Ability to translate brand and marketing plans into actionable content plans.
• Thorough knowledge of men's and women's football, particularly England teams (senior and development levels.)
• Thorough understanding of the current digital landscape (particularly social media), including platform algorithms, audience consumption habits and emergency trends.
• Thorough understanding of integrated analytics tools (e.g. Meta Business Studio.)
• Strong understanding of how to deliver commercial content within the organic digital/social space.
• Awareness of what a live football cycle (matchdays, tournaments) looks like.
• An understanding of what makes for engaging and high-performing content for England fans across multiple platforms.

Experience:

• Minimum of three years' experience working in a similar role (includes publishing.)
• Managed a range of agencies and vendors - supplying briefs and delivering face-to-face feedback.
• Strong evidence of creating, and publishing, engaging, entertaining and informative content.
• Developed strategies for large-scale channels/audiences.
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal.)
• Presenting to large and senior management groups (e.g. technical teams/players.)
• Hosting internal meetings (e.g. creative sessions.)
• Managing content calendars (across multiple channels)
• Briefing internal creative teams (e.g. video editors, graphic designers, social producers.)
• Strong stakeholder communication and collaboration (internal and external.)
• Ability to manage a large digital community, responding to conversations and producing reactive content where appropriate.
• Excellent time management and productivity.

Technical Skills:

• Ability to work as part of a team and to be comfortable with evolving, changing and potentially overlapping responsibilities in high-pressure environments.
• Expertise in producing highly engaging digital/social content across a wide range of formats.
• Strong project management and organisation skills.
• Highly creative with excellent editorial judgment.
• Passionate about content and maintaining the highest standards.
• Knowledge of digital analytics, particularly key social media metrics and how to use them to measure performance and inform future editorial decisions.
• Comfortable making quick editorial decisions in high-pressure situations.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and respond to tight deadlines, especially around England games/tournaments.
• Confident in proposing new and alternative solutions to existing practices.
• Ability to think on their feet and come up with innovative, cross-platform ideas that engage audiences and drive acquisitions.
• Ability to create compelling post copy across multiple platforms.

Beneficial to have:

• Journalism background and qualification (e.g. NCTJ.)
• Strong understanding of the sports industry.
• Line management (objectives setting/career development support.)
• An appreciation and passion of other entertainment sectors (e.g. lifestyle, technology, music, fashion.)
• Willingness to innovate and embrace new technology and tools.
• Proficient user of image-editing software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop.)
• Proficient user of video-editing software (e.g. Adobe Premiere Pro.)
• Budget management experience.
• Paid media experience.
• Experience working directly with digital platforms.

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 in 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 encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
• Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
• A hybrid working model offering 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

Our Organisation

The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.

The FA oversees England international teams across men's, women's, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup and Women's Adobe FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.

We currently work 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.

Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of Wembley Stadium or St. George's Park unless the role is advertised as a home-based contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.

The FA, For All, For You

Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.

https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/about-the-fa/2021/fa_a-game-for-all-strategy.ashx

A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments - Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change - which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.

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.