Posted: 21 November 2021
Link to Apply: https://www.cricketireland.ie/images/uploads/news_images/Job_Spec_and_Advert_-Mens_National_Head_Coach-_Ireland_241121.pdf
BACKGROUND
Cricket Ireland is the governing body for the men’s and women’s game throughout Ireland, with ultimate responsibility for its national and international aspects. The future of Irish cricket is very bright given the growth of the sport driven by significant success on the international stage in the last fifteen years or so, leading to an unprecedented visibility for Irish cricket at home and abroad.
Our emergence as a sport of national significance is growing following the elevation of Cricket Ireland to ICC Full Membership and Test Status, along with entry into the sport’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) that now sees Ireland playing all three formats of the game at the highest level for the foreseeable future.
Cricket Ireland’s new Strategic Plan 2021-2023 is part of a two-stage approach designed to synchronise with the ICC funding cycle to ensure that resources will be available for a more expansive strategy from 2024 onwards – with the entire span of the period 2021-2031 shaped to deliver the overall vision to ‘Make Cricket Mainstream’ in Ireland.
ROLE AND PURPOSE OF THE POSITION
Cricket Ireland is seeking a full-time Men’s National Head Coach, initially on a three-year fixed-term contract. With a T20I and ODI World Cup in 2022 and 2023 there will be a priority focus on white ball cricket and some great opportunities to play on the world stage – although, with planning for a new Future Tours Programme underway, the new head coach will need to balance the focus and team development across all three formats.
Cricket Ireland has developed an outdoor High Performance Centre in Dublin, which should be ready for grass use midway through 2022. In the interim, while this facility is being prepared, the new Provincial Union performance coaching hubs use grass facilities rented from nearby clubs on a structured usage basis.
CI HQ is in North Dublin but similar to commensurate roles in the cricket world, the role demands a national brief across both sides of the border as well as significant time travelling overseas.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Head Coach will:
Be responsible for developing a world-class Ireland cricket team which delivers sustained success in all conditions and formats, inspiring current and future generations of cricketers and supporters with their approach to the game.
Report into the High Performance Director and will have responsibility for the performance and management of the Ireland Men’s and Wolves (A-team) in all three formats of the game.
Lead and line-manage a team of key support staff – an Assistant Coach, two High Performance Specialist Coaches as well as any consultant coaches from time to time – and will be responsible for defining their roles, their performance, providing a structured staff development programme, and annual performance reviews.
Work closely with a multidisciplinary team of head of physiotherapy and medical services; lead strength and conditioning coach; performance analyst; sports psychologist (p/t), nutritionist (p/t), team operations manager and international team operations manager.
Be jointly responsible for reviewing, maintaining and enforcing the disciplinary codes within the Ireland Men’s teams (with the HP Director and Team Operations Manager).
Be a member of the National Selection Panel and will be required to attend High Performance Committee meetings from time to time.
KEY SKILLS
The Head Coach will:
Be an accomplished strategist with clear and ambitious plans for how you will develop and build further success for Irish cricket moving forward. You will need to demonstrate that you can create a winning culture and mind-set in all forms of the game, capable of beating other Full Member countries.
Be an outstanding communicator and people-manager, who will create a vital coach captain relationship and be able to deal with tough, contentious and confrontational situations. Their focus will be on managing competitive, highly-skilled and self-reliant Ireland senior teams; an elite performance environment that demands exceptional standards of professionalism; and be able to deal with all situations relevant to leading a high performance team.
Will ensure (along with the HP Director and National Academy & Performance Manager) that there is a structure in place which allows succession planning from performance and emerging talent groups to develop as cricketers and individuals ready for the international stage.
Need to inspire confidence and demonstrate that you can develop and improve existing talent technically, tactically, physically and mentally, whilst identifying and integrating new talent into a team culture that is both challenging and supportive. This will include delivering senior team camps, small group and 1:1 coaching sessions, and preparation leading into a series/tournaments.
Will provide additional coaching support to the Provincial Union performance coaching hubs on a weekly basis through the coaching staff when not abroad on tours/tournaments.
Develop, monitor and oversee Individual Performance Plans (IPP’s) and include measurable KPI’s within them using the Athlete Management System (AMS) – an electronic database and communication tool for managing and monitoring player status and progress.
Demonstrate great planning, tactical and organisational strengths, and will be responsible for setting out and then executing short-, medium- and long-term plans for the development of Ireland teams. Central to these will be the ability to manage the playing and coaching resources at their disposal to the greatest effect across the three forms of the game.
Demonstrate an innovative approach and a commitment to being at the cutting edge of the latest developments in cricket and elite coaching. You will need to foster strong working relationships across key personnel within Cricket Ireland, including coach development, medical and sports science, to ensure that Irish cricket becomes synonymous with world leading practice in all areas of the game.
Build good close working relationships that result in high level performance outputs from the expert staff.
Develop effective working relationships with the Inter-Provincial teams, drawing on the expertise and experience of head coaches from around the country, and supporting them.
Help design and implement an elite coach development programme with the HP Director to ensure a succession plan for Ireland-based coaches.
Demonstrate the networking ability and key relationships with competitor nations and key stakeholders, for the purpose of building good training and competition partnerships.
EXPERIENCE
Essential
Accomplished coach with a track record of working with senior elite cricket teams, who can demonstrate sustained success in their coaching career
Coached for a significant period at first-class/list-A level
Track record of success at first-class level achieved over an extended period of time.
Hold a minimum ECB Level 3 Performance/Advanced Coach (or equivalent)
Successful record in high performance planning and monitoring, as well as designing and implementing Individual Performance Plans and programmes in elite environments.
Desirable
International coaching experience
International playing experience
Track record at international level achieved
Hold a minimum ECB Level 4 Master Coach qualification (or equivalent)
A Degree (or equivalent) in sport, sports science or coaching
A strong working understanding of key technologies relevant to monitoring, tracking, measuring and analysing individual and team performance.
The selection panel reserves the right to take into consideration the Desirable Criteria during the shortlisting process in the event that candidates fulfil the Essential Criteria
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
High Performance Director
Chief Executive
Assistant Coach; High Performance coaches
International Teams Operations Manager
Support staff: Team Operations Manager; Lead Performance Analyst; Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach; Lead Physiotherapist
Chair of Selectors and national selectors
Provincial Union Head Coaches
Cricket Operations Manager
Women’s Head Coach
National Academy and Performance Manager
CI High Performance Committee
Competitor nations
REMUNERATION
The package will include a salary commensurate with qualifications and experience, relocation and an accommodation package, a bonus scheme, healthcare, pension, company car, laptop and mobile phone.
PROCESS/KEY INFORMATION
The closing date for applications will be 9th December, 9am local time.
Letters of application and full CVs should be sent by email to
recruitment@cricketireland.ie and will be confidential. Please state where you saw the vacancy.
For a confidential discussion about the role, please contact Sam Lavery at Cricketer
Jobs by email at JobsinCricket@mail.com
Preliminary interviews will be held as soon as practicable. You must be eligible to work in the European Economic Area (EEA) and, if not will need to apply for an appropriate employment permit, which can take up to 3 months.
Name of Author: Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland, officially known as The Irish Cricket Union Company Limited by Guarantee, is the governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland. It oversees the national men’s and women’s teams and organizes the Inter-Provincial Series, Super 3s, and All-Ireland club competitions. Ireland achieved Test status for women in 2000 and for men in 2017 when it became a Full Member of the ICC.