FA Women's National League Independent Non-Executive Director
Key Information
- Division:Football Operations
- Location:Variable
- Vacancy Type:Voluntary
- Closing Date:19 August 2026
Join the Board of the FA Women's National League as an Independent Non-Executive Director
This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in the future growth and governance of one of the most important competitions in women's football. As an Independent Non-Executive Director, you will bring your expertise, insight and independent perspective to the FA Women's National League Board, supporting strategic decision-making, providing constructive challenge and helping to shape the long-term success and sustainability of the women's game. We are seeking individuals who are passionate about women's football, committed to high standards of governance and able to bring objective, independent judgement.
What will you be doing?
- Contribute to the development, scrutiny and implementation of the strategic direction of the FA Women's National League and its competitions.
- Champion high standards of governance, transparency, accountability and decision-making across the competition.
- Bring an independent perspective to Board discussions, ensuring decisions are made in the best interests of the competition and the wider women's game.
- Support effective risk management, regulatory compliance and good governance practices.
- Provide oversight and scrutiny of the Board's performance, strategy delivery and key decision-making processes.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of policies relating to the FA Women's National League and its competitions.
- Support the review and development of Competition Rules and Regulations, ensuring they are fair, proportionate and aligned to the strategic objectives of the competition.
- Exercise sound judgement, integrity, independence and objectivity in all Board discussions and decisions.
- Ensure conflicts of interest are identified and managed appropriately.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality regarding Board business and sensitive matters.
- Support collaboration on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusion, safeguarding, refereeing and other policy areas impacting the competition.
- Participate in Board committees, working groups and sub-committees where required.
- Act as an ambassador for the FA Women's National League and women's football.
- Build and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders across the game while retaining independence of judgement.
- Provide independent oversight, support and constructive challenge to executive and operational leads where appropriate.
- Undertake ambassadorial and stakeholder engagement activity in support of the competition.
- Promote and uphold The FA's values, governance standards and commitment to the long-term success of women's football.
- 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.
- 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
- Understanding of good corporate governance
- Passion for women's football
Experience
- Experience of developing and deliver successful strategies;
- Experience of working with Boards
- Experience of developing relationships with and influencing a range of stakeholders,
- Experience of operating in positions of leadership
- Established networks
Technical Skills
- Leadership skills
- Strategic management
- Financial management
- Commercial acumen / Business development
- Communication and Influencing skills
Beneficial to have:
Knowledge
- Strategic understanding of women's sport
- Knowledge of the workings of women's football and the roles of the relevant football stakeholders
- An understanding of safeguarding in football
Experience
- Experience of working / volunteering in sport
- Coach / referee / workforce development
Technical Skills
Extensive expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Commercial
- Marketing
- Communications / Media
- Broadcast
- Financial
- Facility development
Definition of Independence;
“Independent” means a person who is:
a) free from any close connection to The FA and a close connection shall be deemed to include, without limitation, the following:
i) the person is, or has been within the last six months, actively involved in The FA's affairs or held any position or role within The FA (including, without limitation, being a Member of Council, a member of any committee of The FA or an employee, director or officer of The FA);
ii) the person holds, or has held within the last six months, a position or role with any Football Stakeholder (including, without limitation, being an employee, director or officer of any Football Stakeholder);
iii) the person has, or has had within the last six months, a Material Business Relationship with The FA; and
iv) the person has close family ties (including by way of being connected with an individual as a spouse, civil partner, former spouse, former civil partner, parent, step or adopted parent, grandparent, child, step child, adopted child, descendant, qualifying co-habitant or next-of-kin) with any directors, senior employees or committee members of The Association or any Member of Council; and
b) viewed as independent from the perspective of an objective outsider;
Term;
3 years
Time Commitment;
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.
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.
ABOUT US
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 the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park, all with a purpose to inspire positive change through football.
Our game can tackle some of society’s core challenges. It can bring communities together, nationally and locally. It can be a platform for inclusion, ensuring there is a place for all. It can get people active and promote wellbeing often at a time when we need it most. With UEFA EURO 2028 – hosted in the UK and Ireland – on the horizon, we have an incredible opportunity to transform football across the country.
Now is the time to inspire positive change.
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 homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.
THE PROCESS
We believe that assessment and selection should be robust, fair, and inclusive.
Following receipt of your application and the closing of the application process, you can expect a period of circa two weeks for us to thoroughly screen and shortlist, ahead of any next stage and interview.
Please note, we receive a high volume of applications so this can vary but we ensure that our assessor panel reviews all applications, and no use of automated screening or AI is used.
At an interview, we want to ensure that we see the best of you as an individual and increase our understanding of your skills and experience relevant to the demands of the role. It is very much a two-way process with importance placed on the candidate experience so that regardless of outcome, you feel valued, and treated fairly and hopefully have a positive experience.
No process is ever the same, but we would like to create an environment that is welcoming and ensures the experience is as enjoyable as possible.
We tailor our assessment and selection depending on the nature and demands of the role. The FA Resourcing Team will provide you with as much notice as possible about the process and the format of any interview will always be communicated to you in advance, including what to expect on the day and who you will be seeing.
We often receive a high volume of applications, and for certain roles, we will supplement your application, utilising our on-demand video interviewing platform. On-demand video interviews enable you to answer preset questions, in the comfort of your own home or office setting and at a convenient time for you, giving us greater insight into you as an individual and the skills and experience you might bring to the role and working at The FA.
We also utilise Microsoft Teams for virtual interviews and of course host you at our world class venues, Wembley Stadium and our National Football Centre, St. George’s Park.
GROUP STRATEGY
WE HAVE MOVED FOOTBALL FORWARD.
From 2020 - 2024, we have – in collaboration with our key partners – been able to deliver meaningful change across the game.
From winning our first major tournament in over 50 years to delivering thousands of high-quality pitches to the grassroots game.
BUT WE CAN’T STOP NOW - AND WE WON’T.
This new strategy is about doubling down. Our game can tackle some of society’s core challenges. It can bring communities together, nationally and locally.
It can be a platform for inclusion, ensuring there is a place for all. It can get people active and promote wellbeing often at a time when we need it most.
With UEFA EURO 2028 – hosted in the UK and Ireland – on the horizon, we have an incredible opportunity to transform football across the country.
NOW IS THE TIME TO INSPIRE POSITIVE CHANGE.
Our ultimate purpose is to ‘Inspire positive change through football’ – everything we do ultimately ladders up to this end goal.
The 2024-2028 strategy focuses on tackling four long-term strategic challenges that will fulfil this purpose and drive real change across the game, our ‘Game Changer’ objectives.
Underpinning these Game Changers are then four activities and approaches that will enable us to meet challenges head on, our ‘Drivers’.
EDI STRATEGY
Our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.
A GAME FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION
Our 2024 – 2028 strategy outlines three fundamental pillars for delivering a game free from discrimination – Boosting Representation, Driving Inclusion and Tackling Discrimination.
These pillars ensure that our work uniting communities, improving lives, and inspiring positive change on and off the pitch will remain a core priority for English football for years to come.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The FA 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.