Paralympic Sport Director

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association•Park City, UT

8h•Onsite

About The Position

The Paralympic (“Para”) Sport Director is responsible for setting the vision and owning the full Para sport system (Para Alpine, Para Snowboard, and Para Nordic), ensuring aligned strategy, structure, and performance from development through elite levels. This important leader must have broad experience at the development and elite levels, a successful track record, combined with a deep passion for Skiing and Snowboard competition and developing talent at all levels. They must have ambition, drive and an inspiring vision for the future of our Para programs, with excellent communication skills in order to effectively lead at various levels with our broad range of important stakeholders, and to build a sustainable, high-performing system that consistently delivers results over time. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to lead, encourage, and support athletes in achieving excellence and making the United States of America the Best in the World in Olympic and Paralympic skiing and snowboarding. We value all backgrounds, identities, and walks of life because it reflects who we are, who we seek to serve, and because diversity of all kinds makes our organization stronger. If you want to work for an organization that strives for equity and fosters an inclusive culture, we encourage you to apply.

Requirements

Understands and agrees with US Ski & Snowboard’s values; Grit, Excellence, Team, Fun, Integrity.
A minimum of 8 years’ experience of participating in Para snow sports.
Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary programs and staff across complex, multi-team environments.
Deep understanding of the Para sport ecosystem, including classification, international competition structures, and development pathways.
Excellent at building relationships, being collaborative, listening, and communication skills, both verbal (including public speaking) and written.
Must be a strategic and long-term thinker, but also must be detail and task oriented.
An attitude and mindset for thinking outside of the box and pushing the boundaries to achieve excellence.
Strong time management skills and works well under pressure.

Nice To Haves

First-hand experience of working with successful World Cup level athletes and also within development pathways preferred.
Extensive multi stakeholder experience preferred with a passion for developing talent at all levels.
Experience of working in the US and Europe preferred.
European foreign language skills are a plus.
Education level of a BA/BS preferred.

Responsibilities

Set the overall strategy for our Para programs and define the path to the podium for individual athletes.
Establish and implement the framework and infrastructure to support the strategy and plan for the Para programs.
Ensure coaches are developing, supporting and inspiring each and every athlete on the team.
Hold elite athletes and coaches accountable. Ensure all programs and athletes fully leverage the resources available to further elevate performance.
Establish and monitor short and long-term performance metrics across all Para disciplines, with clear accountability mechanisms for athletes, coaches, and programs.
Lead and align a national Para development system across clubs, regions, and national teams, ensuring clear athlete pathways and integration from grassroots through elite levels.
Partner with Sport Education and development stakeholders to ensure coaching, classification, and development systems support long-term athlete progression.
Determine and oversee training and development for our coaches.
Establish team selection criteria, and oversee application of those criteria.
Develop and manage all training area relationships, pushing to deliver better opportunities for athletes in the US and oversees.
Ensure a culture of proactive communication, transparency, accountability and feedback between the organization, the coaches, the athletes, and other stakeholders.
Ensure a world class athlete experience by establishing athlete mentors, athlete liaisons, providing a constructive athlete onboarding and offboarding experience, driving effective team building activities (for both staff and athletes), etc.
Work closely with the USSS Chief of Sport with regard to general program plans, progress and initiatives, fundraising, etc.
Establish the method of operation, reporting structures, and staff duties for the Para sports and facilitate the communications that follow those lines.
Manage head coaches including via regular reviews, sharing of best practices, professional development plans, organizational OKR’s.
Responsible for all Sport department employee recruitment including identifying, attracting, retaining, and developing best in the world coaching talent to lead our Para teams.
Create an inspiring, high performing atmosphere that enables empowerment, innovation and initiative to be adopted by all coaches, team managers and technicians.
Implement continued professional improvement opportunities for each staff member, according to their responsibilities and needs.
Manage, oversee, and track the development and implementation of all levels of the Para strategic plan.
Coordinate World Cup and Paralympic operations.
Maintain a strong working relationship with FIS staff and committees and hold leadership positions with influence, as appointed.
Work directly with the Events Department to ensure that major events support the athletic direction of the Para program.
Oversee the Para financial budget and articulate and advocate for support within the Organization.
Ensure regular and timely expense reporting from all Para programs, which conform to the reporting standards established by the CFO.
Provide monthly budget updates and financial forecasts with the Director of Finance.