National Health and Wellbeing Lead

Football Association of Ireland•Dublin, OH

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), as the national governing body for football, plays a vital role in communities across Ireland. Through its Social and Environmental Sustainability Strategy (2024), the FAI has identified Health and Wellbeing as a core pillar, aligning closely with national policy and the vision of Healthy Ireland. Existing initiatives such as the FAI Club Mark programme provide a strong foundation for governance and quality standards across grassroots clubs, creating an ideal platform to embed health and wellbeing practices. Healthy Ireland is the national framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Ireland. It represents a proactive response to the social, economic and environmental factors that influence health, with a vision that everyone can achieve their full physical and mental wellbeing potential. Central to this approach is the recognition that health is shaped within everyday settings - where people live, learn, work, and play - and that promoting wellbeing is a shared responsibility across society. The Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan emphasises place based approaches to health promotion, identifying community settings as key channels for impactful interventions. Sports clubs, in particular, are recognised as powerful environments for fostering inclusion, participation and positive health behaviours. In partnership with the Department of Health, the FAI is committed to further strengthening the role of football clubs as inclusive, accessible, and health-promoting environments. This collaboration builds on existing successes in community engagement, participation initiatives and volunteer development and aims to deliver long term sustainable impact at local level. The National Health and Wellbeing Lead will be responsible for developing, coordinating, and embedding a national Health and Wellbeing framework across grassroots football clubs in Ireland. The role will ensure alignment with the FAI’s strategic objectives and national health policy, while supporting clubs to create environments that promote physical, mental and social wellbeing. Working in partnership with key stakeholders, the successful candidate will drive the integration of health and wellbeing into existing club structures, including the FAI Club Mark programme and support the delivery of targeted initiatives at grassroots level. The role requires a proactive and collaborative approach to enable clubs to enhance participation, strengthen community connections and contribute to improved health outcomes nationwide. This position is funded by the Department of Health for an initial three-year period and will be managed by the Football Association of Ireland.

Requirements

A minimum of two-years’ experience in sport management/ development/ governance, and/or health promotion/public health and/or community development
A relevant third level degree with a health / sport element (Level 7 NFQ or above)
Knowledge and understanding of the concepts and principles of health promotion, and in particular the settings-based approach to health promotion
Knowledge and understanding of Healthy Ireland Plan and relevant National Policies
Knowledge and understanding of the FAI Club Mark programme
Excellent administrative and IT skills with a strong working knowledge of IT related packages and systems
Exceptional interpersonal skills with demonstrably strong ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders at all levels
A self-starter and self-motivated; must demonstrate experience of working on own and as part of a team
Demonstrate skills in area of programme planning, evaluation and budgetary control
Ability to work independently on own initiative and perform as part of a team
Ability to effectively manage multiple projects and deadlines
Excellent communication (written and verbal) and organisational skills
Good understanding of FAI structures.

Nice To Haves

Experience in Health Promotion
Previous experience of working within sport at a professional or volunteer capacity.

Responsibilities

Coordinate the development of the FAI Healthy Club initiative.
Engage with clubs to identify needs in relation to promoting health and wellbeing.
Develop an implementation plan which aligns with existing FAI programmes and national priorities in relation to health and wellbeing.
Lead the development of resources to support the implementation of the healthy clubs, for example, toolkits and good practice guidelines.
Develop and deliver training on promoting health and wellbeing at club level including champion training.
Manage strategic partnerships with statutory, voluntary and community groups supporting the healthy club.
Identify and develop the online resources required to enable club engagement throughout the country.
Support the development and application of knowledge and research relating to healthy clubs and create a communication channel for information and knowledge generated.
Develop and manage strong relationships with partner organisations to develop opportunities for productive collaborations across and within sectors.
Monitor and report on the progress of implementation of the healthy club including managing and collating data.
Agree an evaluation model for the FAI Healthy Club
Provide regular updates and briefings as required on the project.