Sport Manager, Water Polo

LA28•Los Angeles, CA

3d•$88,000 - $115,000•Onsite

About The Position

LA28 is looking to identify a Sport Manager for Water Polo for the 2028 program. Please make sure you highlight your water polo specific experience, including the level of events you have managed and delivered (e.g. club, collegiate, national, international), in your resume. The Sport Manager – Water Polo will play a critical role within the LA28 Sport team, reporting to Sport Manager – Aquatics, while leading all aspects of operational planning for Water Polo. This role will liaise directly with World Aquatics for water polo. As well, the position will also be expected to collaborate with the centralized Sport Planning team as well as other LA28 functions (i.e. Venues and Infrastructure, Venue Management, Ticketing and Hospitality, Games services, Transport, Accommodation, Food and Beverage, Accreditation, etc.), and across the organization (including but not limited to Athlete Relations, Strategy, Marketing, Commercial, Technology, HR, and Finance).

Requirements

Minimum 5+ years’ experience delivering national and international level water polo events in a leadership role
Extremely detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills
Strong communication, team building, and interpersonal skill
Well-developed problem-solving skills and ability to work independently to resolve issues
Fluent working with Office suite products including Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
Self-starter with experience in defining tasks, seeking feedback, and evolving work
Required proven ability of building good interpersonal relationships with people across the organization and with external stakeholders, while balancing assertiveness with diplomacy
A collaborative mindset; someone who prioritizes the team and fosters a culture of high performance without ego
An innovative viewpoint, willing to challenge the status quo and thinking ahead to the future possibilities within the Movement
Ability to implement and manage change effectively
Extensive knowledge of water polo and event operations experience and exposure at multiple levels, including professional leagues or teams, federations, universities, and grassroots

Nice To Haves

Direct Olympic and Paralympic sport experience at a previous OCOG, multi-sport Games or experience delivering IF level events is a significant asset
Understanding and expertise within water polo at the international and national level as well as coordination with international and US Sport governing bodies

Responsibilities

Competition and Training Venue(s) Design Liaise with World Aquatics for the development and design of competition and training venues
Coordinate with LA28 Venues and Infrastructure and Event Management and other sport/discipline specific input into the development and design of competition and training venues
Competition Management & Planning Act as the subject matter expert for water polo within the organization and especially in the development and refinement of Event Operating Plans
Collaborate with World Aquatics on the development of the competition schedule and training schedules for water polo
Validate sport equipment requirements for water polo ensuring that all World Aquatics requirements have been scoped
Provide sport specific feedback as required for all pre-Games, testing and Games-time planning across the organization via centralized planning activities lead by Sport Planning including relevant Sport Delivery Plans as well as venue specific planning activities with other functions
Provide input to Sport Planning on the development of sport testing and readiness events
Coordinate with Timing, Scoring & Results to ensure all World Aquatics requirements are integrated into planning for both systems and infrastructure related to managing the competition
Competition Management Workforce Collaborate on the Sport Workforce strategy and planning for water polo, liaising USA Water Polo and the local sport community where relevant to identify paid staff, National Technical Officials and Sport Skilled Volunteers currently engaged in local and regional events
Lead the recruitment process for roles within Competition Management for water polo
On-boarding and day-to-day leadership of all Competition Management workforce within water polo
Support the development of water polo specific testing and Games-time training workforce
IF, NGB & Sport Community Relations Act as the point of entry to LA28 and the stakeholder manager for World Aquatics
Liaise with World Aquatics and coordinate with other Sport Managers to ensure clear and coordinated communication when managing a multi-discipline sport
Manage and track all World Aquatics communication and brief Head of Competition Management and VP of Sport on the status of relations and Games-time planning
Manage Pre-Games IF Site visits for water polo, developing an effective agenda, liaising with FAs and Stakeholders on their participation and producing site visit reports and presentations
Manage the completion and tracking of all inputs to each Sport Delivery Plan (SDP) for water polo
Administration & Program Management Provide reports and updates on the status of deliverables and tasks to communicate overall progress in the planning for water polo
Support the development of budgets and projects plans with well researched and validated sport and discipline specific information and planning assumptions
Competition Management – Testing & Games-Time Lead all competition management workforce for water polo to ensure a seamless and world class delivery of operations to support the competition, athlete and IF spaces within the competition and training venues
Act as the integration point within the organization for all IF related requirements for delivery of the competition and training for water polo