The Role

We are looking for an U9 Academy Head Coach to lead and deliver a holistic coaching programme for U9 players, building impactful connections with children and their families at the beginning of their academy journey, helping them settle into our Academy, and creating a challenging yet caring environment that fosters development across the Academy pillars.

Who we are

We are one of the most famous clubs in world football, with a rich heritage and history of success – read more about our history, here.

Beyond that, we are passionate about our local community and, behind the scenes, we have a wide variety of opportunities and career paths for all. We have a very defined purpose: to act for a winning team, culture and community. We achieve this by ensuring we are courageous in the pursuit of progress, we champion our community and each other, and that we do the right thing (even when no one is looking).

Your day-to-day

• Oversee player development - you'll take pride in planning and delivering high-quality, age-appropriate training and games programmes, and you will conduct player reviews, contribute to progression and pathway meetings and regularly assess current football performance and future potential
  
• Uphold compliance - you will ensure all coaching activity complies with Premier League, FA and EPPP requirements, maintaining accurate and up-to-date documentation
  
• Collaborate with colleagues across our Academy - you'll work closely with multidisciplinary teams, our Head of Academy Coaching, Coach Developer and Foundation Phase Lead to enhance programmes and support ongoing coach and player development 
  
• Support player transitions - you will eagerly build positive relationships with players and families, supporting smooth transitions from pre-academy and academy development squads into our Academy
  
• Assist with talent identification - you'll partner with our Talent Identification department and have input into our talent selection and trialist processes
  

What we are looking for

• Extensive experience coaching elite academy players - you've got a track record of working with elite academy players and proven EPPP knowledge, and experience of using FIP, Hudl, Teamworks and Sports Session Planner, and you're proud of your previous experience of coaching young players who have progressed to play professional football in the Premier League or Football League
• Credible expertise - you hold a UEFA B Licence, an FA Youth Module 3 Coaching Award (or equivalent), and you have gained or are working towards an FA Advanced Youth Award for Coaching
• Background in designing coaching programmes and training sessions - you lean on your knowledge of skill acquisition (theory and practice) and child development (pedagogy) to create effective football training sessions that help players transfer their learnings to the game
• Motivation and drive - you're an ambitious individual with a commitment, passion and patience for long term player development 
• Certificates in First Aid and Safeguarding - you've got an FA Safeguarding Certificate and a First Aid Certification
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills - you're able to operate as part of a Coaching team and within the guidelines set by our Academy Manager and you build impactful relationships with colleagues, as well as deep rapport with players and their families 
  
• Organised and adaptable mindset - you come with exceptional organisational and time management skills
  
• Ambassador for our club - you can act as a role model at all times, embodying our Academy's values of discipline, humility and respect as well as our club's wider values

Why choose us

At Arsenal, we want everyone to feel a sense of trust and belonging, so we are proud of both our club values and also what we offer to our employees. As one of our Gunners, you will receive:

• An exciting reward and recognition scheme
• Generous holiday allowance which increases with your length of service
• Great internal learning and development programmes
• A flexible hybrid working model
• Priority access to apply for match tickets
• A competitive health and wellbeing benefits package
• A leading Employee Assistance Programme
• Great discounts with some of our Partners

Discover why ‘Our Gunners’ are proud to be part of our team - view their stories here.

Arsenal for Everyone

Arsenal for Everyone is our commitment to promoting and embracing equality, diversity and inclusion, so that everyone connected to the club feels like they belong to the same Arsenal family. We believe that diversity of background, skills and experience drives our success on and off the pitch. 

Disability Confident Leader

We are a Disability Confident Leader. We actively welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you need disability-related adjustments to the recruitment process, please indicate this in your application.

If you are likely to meet the definition of being a ‘disabled person’ according to the Equality Act 2010, you may be eligible to apply for an interview via the Disability Confident Scheme - please indicate this in your application form below. The information you share with us about your health or disability will not be used in recruitment decisions.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to ensuring that our environments for children, young people and adults at risk remain safe and inclusive. We therefore require successful candidates to complete a DBS check and other essential background checks prior to starting their employment. Depending on the responsibilities of the role, a DBS will be either a basic, standard, or enhanced check.

Application Closing Date - Sunday 28th September 2025

Please note: we reserve the right to close the position early if application volumes are particularly high. We encourage you to get your application in sooner rather than later.

Updates on the status of your application will be sent via email, please routinely check your spam and junk folders, as occasionally emails sent via the Teamtailor platform will find themselves there.

Good luck!