Performance Coach

The Performance Coach will support the Director of Performance in the creation of a high-performance culture driven by a player-centric approach and a focus on individual and team development. This role is responsible for implementing and delivering best-practice strength and conditioning provisions for Angel City FC players. This individual will lead, deliver, and enhance the club’s strength and conditioning approach to ultimately prevent injury and enhance individual and collective athletic performance. 

Serving within a multi-disciplinary medical & performance team, the individual will be expected to effectively communicate daily with other high-performance staff regarding physical programming and target performance goals required to improve the profile, reduce the risk of injury occurrence, and maintain on-field performance, and lead long-term athletic development pathway of Angel City players. All of the above should be guided by the objective use of data, research, and the use of various technologies to monitor progress & performance.

 

Summary: 

The Performance Coach will lead the design and delivery of early-stage rehabilitation and reconditioning for injured players, bridging the gap between the club’s medical and technical staff to ensure a structured, objective and performance-focused return-to-play process.

This role reports to the Director of Performance.

 

Responsibilities:

• Support the Director of Performance in the design and delivery of a clear, transparent, and collaborative culture and soccer operations model for the franchise.
• Work closely with performance and medical staff members to deliver individualized return-to-play programming in the gym and on the pitch with a particular emphasis on end stage rehabilitation. 
• Liaise daily with the performance and medical departments regarding player status and wellness.
• Use GPS, internal load and wellness data to ensure progressive and appropriate loading; benchmark against pre-injury and positional norms
• Deliver graded exposure to football-specific actions (e.g. accelerations, decelerations, high-speed running, duels, aerials, tactical scenarios) before reintegration
• Lead the on-pitch and gym-based re-conditioning of injured players from late rehabilitation to return to team training and match play. 
• Translate medical and physical status into football-relevant language and actionable plans for coaches (e.g. what a player can/cannot do in specific drills)
• Enhance existing return to training protocols; Maintain high-quality documentation of RTP plans, session content, test results and progression decisions. Maintain records within the performance database to support ongoing injury surveillance and process improvement.
• Ensure the latest clinical, scientific, and technical innovations for applied practice are implemented while maintaining the highest level of care.
• Develop and deliver enhanced analysis and reporting on RTP performance and outcomes to ensure the club’s approach is insights-led.
• Educate and support players, as well as produce appropriate visuals, on all performance and recovery-related strength and conditioning themes.
• Collaborate with the Director of Rehabilitation, Directors of Medical and Performance and  to ensure all players receive individual physical programs, monitoring, and management to track long-term player development.
• Establish a healthy working relationship that includes open and frequent communication, collaboration, and trust with colleagues across technical and operations staff. 
• Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team to deliver excellent outcomes in an elite performance environment.
• Enforce team rules and league rules applicable to players and coaching staff.

 

Requirements:

• Understanding of sports science and related disciplines, including their impact on athletic performance.
• Demonstrable experience of designing and delivering gym and field-based rehab / reconditioning programmes for injured athletes.
• Proven ability to work within an MDT and communicate clearly with medical staff and coaches, including presenting rehab progress and RTP status.
• Experience as a strength and conditioning coach at the elite level of women’s soccer is a plus. Technical proficiency on the pitch is required. 
• Ability to lead small technical sessions or work with athletes individually for LTD or RTP.
• Strong applied skills in strength and power development, running mechanics and speed/agility training, conditioning and load management, and the use of GPS and athlete monitoring systems.
• Experience in conducting scientifically underpinned assessment, monitoring, and evaluation procedures.
• Understand sports science technologies such as Catapult, Polar, Vald, and Athlete Management System and how they can be utilized to drive performance & development.
• Experience in software including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, & Google Drive, as well as visualization tools.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with players and staff at all levels.
• Positive influencer, comfortable with leading dynamic change.
• Detail-oriented, organised, and comfortable managing multiple complex RTP cases simultaneously
• Calm decision-maker under pressure with a solution-focused mindset.
• Excellent organizational skills & attention to detail.
• A desire to continually innovate in collaboration with the rest of the High-Performance Team.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to build meaningful, strong, and strategic relationships with players and club staff.
• Understanding of learning, development, and high performance with a proven ability to create optimum learning environments for players.
• Track record of consistently high performance in a professional environment.

 

Qualifications

• CSCS, UKSC, or equivalent
• Applied elite soccer experience, work within the elite female soccer space preferred

 

ACFC Perks & Benefits

• Fully funded comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401K plan
• Flexible PTO policy  
• Paid Parental Leave
• Cell Phone reimbursement
• Catered lunch
• Complimentary tickets to home games
• Bi-annual performance reviews

 

Compensation

In addition to the benefits above, this role has a pay range between $85,00 - $95,000 annually.