Performance Director – LTA

Job Description
The LTA’s vision is “Tennis Opened Up” and its mission is to make tennis Relevant, Accessible, Welcoming and Enjoyable. The Performance Directorate aim is to make GB one of the most respected nations in the world for player development so that we can continue to inspire the tennis audience with major tournament success.
The Performance Director will lead the continued development and delivery of our performance strategy for the LTA Player Pathway. As a senior leader you will lead the Performance Senior Management Team’s (SMT) 6 heads of function across women and men’s tennis, pathway, science and medicine, wheelchair pathway, operations and, coach development to achieve our 2 strategic objectives of:
a) Enabling 5 new players to break into the top 100 by 2023, and 5% market share of the Top 100 singles ranking by 2028.
b) Winning 2 medals at both the 2020 and 2024 Paralympic Games

Key Accountabilities
• Lead the development and implementation of performance strategy with SMT, and report regularly on progress against objectives / business metrics to the CEO and Executive Team.
• Lead and manage SMT to integrate and align excellent coaching, science, medicine, performance and data analyses, lifestyle and welfare support appropriate to each stage of the LTA Player Pathway.
• Ensure the principles of best-practice in player health, wellbeing and safeguarding are adhered to throughout the LTA Player Pathway.
• Ensure the continued development and implementation of standardised scouting and evidence-based selection processes at every stage of the LTA Player Pathway and for GB representative teams.
• Work with the Heads of Men and Women’s Tennis to recruit and support the Davis Cup and Fed Cup Captains to deliver GB teams with excellence and sustain success.
• Enable the Heads of Men and Women’s Tennis to deliver a framework for the development of our highest potential players into the ATP / WTA top 100 through the Pro Scholarship Programme.
• Support the Heads of Men and Women’s Tennis to work with the Head of Competition in building a competition calendar which will optimise the talent development at each stage of the LTA Player Pathway.
• Enable the Head of (U14) National Performance Pathway to deliver a pipeline of talent through the Counties, Regional Player Development Centres and National Academies.
• Enable the Head of Performance Coach Education and Development to develop coaches with expertise specific to each stage of the LTA Player Pathway, and capable of delivering the Performance Coaching Principles with excellence.
• Inspire and develop our human capital throughout the pathway, by developing our coaches and leaders.
• Maintain a culture of continuous learning and improvement by nurturing strong relationships with all key stakeholders including private academies and coaches.
Inspire those on and around the courts, namely coaches and players alike.
• Provide media interviews and briefings on all aspects of the performance programme and support other staff required to do so.
• Work with the communications and marketing teams to leverage international success and, drive the LTA’s mission to open tennis up through educating players and their personal coaches about the opportunities they can take to support the mission.

Organisational Management
• Lead SMT to create an annual operational plan and detailed budgets.
• Oversee performance investment processes with centres and players at each stage of the LTA Player Pathway.
• Ensure strategy implementation is robustly tracked and monitored with regularly reporting of progress against agreed business metrics.
• Ensure the implementation of the LTA Clean Sport strategy and culture throughout the LTA Player Pathway.

Relationships
• Report to the CEO on all aspects of the performance strategy and its implementation.
• Chair the Performance Advisory Group working with the CEO to agree agendas and prioritise actions.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key external stakeholders, who support GB in becoming one the most respected nations in the world for player development. For example, ITF, ATP, WTA, UK Sport, Sport England and the EIS.
• Be a respected voice of authority across the domestic tennis landscape
• Be an active member of the LTA Executive team.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with other GB Performance Directors and Tennis HP leaders from other leading nations in order to capture and share best practice.
• Working with the support functions of HR, Marketing, Comms, Digital, Coaching, Finance.

Person Specification
Previous Experience of:
– An inspirational leader with proven experience of developing talented teams and delivering sustained success – Essential
– A proven ability to provide strategic direction and develop talent – Essential
– Proven track record of leading and managing successful performance programmes at World and/or Olympic level, but not necessarily in tennis – Essential
– Thorough understanding and appreciation of world class standards in junior and senior high performance sporting environments – Essential
– Comprehensive understanding of coaching, sport science and medicine, international competition and talent pathways – Essential
– A team player that actively seeks the support and collaboration of colleagues – Essential
– The ability to manage and communicate “up and down” within a complex, hierarchical organisation – Essential
– Developing strong external relationships with a wide array of stakeholders – Essential
– Creative problem solver – Essential
– An excellent communicator (written and verbal) – Essential
– Strong advocate for and practitioner of the desired behaviours behind the LTA values of Excellence, Integrity, Passion and Teamwork – Essential

Knowledge, Training & Qualifications:
– Educated to degree level – Preferable
Personal Attributes:
Teamwork
• Build effective relationships at all levels to influence and support others
• Work effectively, inspiring and motivating a team

Integrity
• Excellent problem solving and decision-making skills
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently to meet challenging deadlines

Passion
• Passionate about the Vision and Mission of the LTA
• Thinks creatively and with confidence
• Maintain a positive mind set in the face of difficult or pressured situations

Excellence
• Adaptable and highly organised, with the ability to multi-task and prioritise
• Help others in the team grow and learn

How to apply
To apply please contact Stewart King: Stewart King Partner, Global Head of Performance sking@nolanpartners.com

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