Closing date: 18th January 2016

Reporting to: Director of Participation & Growth
Location: Strong preference for London based candidates

The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales and has recently shared our exciting vision to make Cricket a game for everyone – played, watched and loved by more people. A key element of this strategy is to significantly grow and diversify participation in the game.  This includes a focus on attracting new players and participants, both female and male, across a variety of formats and wider participation opportunities.  Critically, this will also demand a focus on inspiring children to take up a lifelong association with this game that so strongly fosters both their personal and physical development.
In order to deliver this, and in line with our values to “push new boundaries” and “be the best”, we are undertaking a significant restructure of the Participation and Growth department and its management team.

As a result, we are looking to recruit a Head of Growth. This newly created position will play a critical leadership role in growing and diversifying participation in the game, ensuring that cricket delivers on its ambition to sit at the heart of the wider community.

 
Job Purpose

• Facilitate the development of Cricket as a “Sport for All” in England and Wales
• Inspire the next generation of kids to participate in the game of cricket and take up a lifelong association with the game
• Diversify our participation base through a strategic inclusive focus on targeted growth segments, initially this will be Woman’s and Girls, Multicultural (in particular, South Asian Communities) and Disabilities
• Drive the vital role that Cricket can play in improving the quality of people’s lives in the community
• Provide more opportunities for people to play casual versions of the game
• Work closely with the Head of Participation to facilitate a seamless transition from new and emerging programmes into the mainstream club and league structures where appropriate
• Actively contribute to the senior management team within the Participation and Growth function and across the wider ECB business
• Contribute to growing the fan base of the game

Key accountabilities and responsibilities

• Develop and lead the adoption of the new junior participation pathway for children aged 5-11 years of age across schools, clubs and the wider community.
• Actively partner with Chance to Shine to expand Crickets relevance in schools and facilitate a greater conversion from school based programs into more sustainable participation
• Launch a national school ambassador program
• Drive the partnership with the professional game so as to inspire a whole generation of children to engage and play cricket
• Develop women and girls cricket through the support of the national “This Girl Can” campaign and expansion of appropriate participation pathways
• Work with key stakeholders to ensure a participation legacy from England hosting the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017 and launch of Women’s Super League competition
• Drive an inclusive culture for Women and Girls in Cricket participation as a key priority for the game. Ensure that all stakeholders understand and respect the importance of strong engagement with this critical stakeholder for the game
• Develop disability cricket, ensuring appropriate participation opportunities are provided for players with a disability
• Review the accessibility of cricket for all impairment groups
• Drive an engagement strategy with different Multicultural groups, particularly those of South Asian descent, to facilitate a stronger partnership with the game
• Leverage the power of cricket to achieve wider social outcomes such as health, educational attainment and cohesion.
• Partner with appropriate groups to engage with those from lower socio economic communities
• Develop insight led opportunities, that respond to current lifestyle trends, for casual and social cricket - encouraging fans of the game to pick up a bat and ball in a less formal environment whilst also attracting new consumers to the sport
• Consider innovative partnerships with other stakeholders in grassroots sport to create joint solutions to similar issues
• To review the effectiveness of current participation programmes and measure the ROI from investments made against long term participation generated
• Develop the Last Man Stands programme
• Consider the role of Indoor cricket, formats, facility provisions, etc.
• Review local activity and cascade best practice across other CCBs

What we are looking for?

• Proven experience in driving significant growth in sports participation, with a particular focus on engagement strategies for primary school aged children
• Experience in developing growth strategies that prioritise centrally administered functions and regional delivery plans to ensure outstanding “end to end” implementation
• An understanding of the inclusion and diversity strategies required to integrate sport into the local community
• A detailed understanding of the key growth segments of Woman’s and Girls, South Asian Communities and Disabilities
• Passion for driving social cohesion opportunities
• Experience in leveraging large scale events to deliver a participation legacy
• A collaborative and instinctive leader, highly accountable, with the energy and proven experience to drive a change agenda

 
So if you are keen be a part of a global game that still maintains a strong sense of community and belief that the game of Cricket can genuinely make a difference in people’s lives, we would love to hear from you.

Click here to apply