High Performance Lead

Volunteer Opportunities » High Performance Lead

High Performance Lead
British Powerlifting International Programme

Role purpose

The High Performance Lead is responsible for the strategic leadership, management and professionalisation of the British Powerlifting International Programme.

The role exists to create one clear, consistent and well-governed international programme across all British Powerlifting international teams, while enabling Head Coaches to deliver effectively within their own teams.

The postholder will provide leadership, structure, accountability and support to Head Coaches and international coaching teams, ensuring that British Powerlifting’s international activity is aligned with the organisation’s long-term strategy, governance standards, athlete welfare responsibilities and performance ambitions.

This is a strategic and management-focused role. It is not intended to be the personal coach to international athletes, the sole selector, the travel administrator for every team, or the operational manager of every competition trip.

The role should remove day-to-day international programme management from the CEO, while maintaining clear escalation routes for matters requiring CEO, Board, Safeguarding, Disciplinary, Anti-Doping or Finance input.

Contract basis and time commitment

This is a paid role, either employed or subcontracted depending on British Powerlifting’s final requirements and legal advice.

Expected commitment: approximately two days per week, averaging 14–16 hours per week across 40 weeks of the year.

The role will require flexibility. Some weeks will be lighter, particularly outside selection and international competition periods, while other weeks will require additional time around team selection, pre-event preparation, international championships, post-event debriefs, Head Coach reviews and Board reporting deadlines.

The role should be structured around an annualised workload rather than an expectation that the postholder is constantly available. Clear boundaries should be agreed at appointment to ensure the role is realistic, sustainable and attractive to suitable candidates.

Reporting line

The High Performance Lead reports to the CEO.

The postholder will work closely with the CEO on long-term international performance strategy, implementation planning, risk management, budget priorities and Board reporting.

The postholder will also liaise with relevant British Powerlifting leads and subcommittees, including but not limited to:

Recruitment and Volunteer Manager
Safeguarding Lead
Anti-Doping Lead
Disciplinary Committee
Technical Lead / Chief Technical Officer
Competition Manager
Finance Officer
Coaching and Education leads
Selection or Performance Committee structures
Home Nations, divisions and relevant international team personnel

Role summary

The High Performance Lead will:

Lead the strategic development and implementation of the British Powerlifting International Programme.
Manage and support International Head Coaches.
Create consistent standards across international teams.
Ensure all international teams operate as part of one British Powerlifting International Programme.
Develop clear performance goals, team expectations and programme KPIs.
Support transparent, consistent and well-governed selection processes.
Oversee international programme systems, communication standards and post-event review processes.
Work with relevant leads to ensure safeguarding, anti-doping, coaching licence, disciplinary, technical and governance requirements are embedded into international team activity.
Reduce the operational and people-management burden currently sitting with the CEO.

Key responsibilities

1. Strategic leadership of the international programme

The High Performance Lead will develop and maintain a clear international programme strategy aligned to British Powerlifting’s 2026–2032 organisational strategy.

This will include:

Producing a multi-year International Performance Plan.
Translating British Powerlifting’s overall strategy into specific international programme priorities.
Setting performance objectives for each international team.
Developing team-by-team expectations across Classic, Equipped, Bench, Sub-Junior, Junior, Open and Masters teams.
Establishing measurable KPIs for international activity, including performance outcomes, athlete experience, coach development, selection consistency, pathway progression and governance compliance.
Reviewing international results and trends to identify where British Powerlifting should prioritise support, investment and development.
Ensuring the international programme balances medal success, athlete development, pathway growth, equipped development and positive athlete experience.
Providing regular strategic updates to the CEO and, where required, the Board.

2. Management and support of Head Coaches

The High Performance Lead will act as the primary management lead for International Head Coaches.

This will include:

Providing regular one-to-one support and performance discussions with Head Coaches.
Agreeing annual objectives with each Head Coach.
Ensuring each Head Coach has a clear role description, team plan and communication plan.
Supporting Head Coaches to manage their assistant coaches, developing coaches and team support staff.
Ensuring coaching teams are appropriately resourced for international events.
Supporting Head Coaches to address issues with conduct, communication, team culture, selection preparation, competition-day processes or athlete feedback.
Creating an annual review process for Head Coaches, including performance outcomes, athlete feedback, coach feedback, communication quality, governance compliance and delivery against team objectives.
Supporting the Recruitment and Volunteer Manager with Head Coach recruitment, role agreements, expectations and onboarding.
Helping to develop a consistent culture across all international coaching teams.

The High Performance Lead should not normally directly coach individual athletes unless specifically agreed for a defined purpose. The role is to manage Head Coaches and the programme, not to replace Head Coaches.

3. One British Powerlifting International Programme

The High Performance Lead will be responsible for moving British Powerlifting away from separate, disconnected teams and towards one coherent international programme.

This will include:

Creating shared standards across all international teams.
Ensuring Head Coaches learn from each other and share good practice.
Developing consistent templates, processes and expectations for all teams.
Creating an annual international programme calendar.
Reviewing the role, purpose and delivery of squad sessions.
Exploring opportunities for cross-team training days or national squad days.
Supporting better links between Classic, Equipped and Bench teams.
Supporting equipped development by identifying ways to expose suitable lifters to equipped lifting and strengthen equipped coaching capacity.
Ensuring athlete information, team expectations and key documents are held centrally and consistently.

4. Selection process oversight and assurance

The High Performance Lead will oversee the international selection process to ensure it is transparent, consistent, well-documented and aligned with British Powerlifting policy.

This does not mean the High Performance Lead should personally select every team or override Head Coaches without process. Their role is to ensure the process is robust.

This will include:

Owning the annual review of international selection policies and procedures.
Ensuring Head Coaches understand and apply selection policies consistently.
Ensuring selection criteria, dispensation expectations and reserve processes are clearly communicated to athletes.
Ensuring conflicts of interest are declared, recorded and managed.
Ensuring selection recommendations are supported by clear rationale.
Supporting the creation or operation of a selection committee if approved by the Board.
Ensuring any decisions outside normal protocol are clearly documented and escalated for appropriate sign-off.
Working with the CEO and Board to improve confidence in selection transparency.

5. International competition preparation and standards

The High Performance Lead will ensure that each international team has a consistent preparation process before major championships.

This will include:

Creating and maintaining a standard international lifter information pack.
Creating and maintaining a first-time international lifter checklist.
Creating a standard pre-competition communication timeline for Head Coaches.
Ensuring lifters receive timely information on travel, accommodation, accreditation, Sport80, ADEL, IPF requirements, kit, contact details, deadlines and team expectations.
Ensuring critical information is shared by email and centralised documents, with WhatsApp used for reminders and urgent updates only.
Ensuring each team has a clear pre-event plan covering coaching roles, athlete needs, equipment requirements and communication routes.
Ensuring athlete-specific pre-competition planning takes place where appropriate, including openers, goals, communication preferences and competition-day expectations.
Ensuring equipped teams have sufficient practical equipped coaching resource where possible.

6. Competition-day role clarity and risk reduction

The High Performance Lead will ensure Head Coaches have a standard framework for competition-day delivery.

This will include:

Requiring each coaching team to define session roles in advance.
Ensuring role allocation covers warm-up lead, attempt-slip lead, board/screen monitor, kit/equipment support and athlete-specific handlers where needed.
Introducing and monitoring an attempt selection confirmation protocol for medal, record or high-risk attempts.
Ensuring Head Coaches understand escalation routes for safeguarding, disciplinary, anti-doping, medical or welfare issues.
Supporting Head Coaches to manage developing coaches appropriately.
Reviewing competition-day issues after each event and ensuring lessons are implemented across teams.

The High Performance Lead is not expected to attend every international competition. Attendance should be agreed in advance based on strategic priority, team need, risk level, available budget and workload.

7. Post-event review and continuous improvement

The High Performance Lead will create a consistent post-event debrief system for all international teams.

This will include:

Collecting structured feedback from lifters, Head Coaches and support staff.
Reviewing athlete experience, communication, coaching support, selection issues, logistics, safeguarding, anti-doping and performance outcomes.
Producing short post-event learning summaries.
Ensuring Head Coaches receive feedback relevant to their team.
Identifying recurring issues across teams and turning these into system improvements.
Reporting key themes to the CEO.
Maintaining an annual international programme improvement tracker.

8. Governance, safeguarding, anti-doping and disciplinary liaison

The High Performance Lead will ensure the international programme operates within British Powerlifting’s governance framework.

This will include:

Working with the Safeguarding Lead to ensure international teams follow safeguarding requirements, particularly for Sub-Junior athletes and athletes under 18.
Ensuring emergency information, parental consent and welfare information requirements are embedded into international team processes.
Working with the Anti-Doping Lead to ensure international athletes, coaches and support staff understand anti-doping expectations, whereabouts responsibilities, ADEL requirements and escalation routes.
Supporting the implementation of anti-doping education within the international pathway.
Working with the Disciplinary Committee and CEO where conduct, suspension, coaching licence or selection issues affect the international programme.
Ensuring international coaches hold the required coaching licences and meet safeguarding, anti-doping and DEI requirements.
Ensuring any exemptions are transparent, documented and approved through the correct route.
Supporting consistent use of live verification systems where required for coaching licences and eligibility.
Ensuring Head Coaches know when to escalate issues rather than attempting to manage risk informally.

The High Performance Lead does not replace the Safeguarding Lead, Anti-Doping Lead, Disciplinary Committee or CEO. Their role is to make sure international programme practice is aligned with those functions and that issues are escalated appropriately.

9. Coach development and international coaching pathway

The High Performance Lead will support the development of a stronger international coaching pathway.

This will include:

Working with Head Coaches to identify assistant and developing coach opportunities.
Supporting consistent onboarding for international coaches.
Helping define expectations for assistant coaches, developing coaches and team managers.
Reviewing coach feedback and athlete feedback to identify development needs.
Supporting a culture of learning between international teams.
Working with Coaching and Education leads to identify education needs relevant to international coaching.
Helping ensure equipped coaching expertise is identified, supported and developed.

10. Budget, planning and resource advice

The High Performance Lead will work with the CEO and Finance Officer to advise on international programme priorities and resource needs.

This will include:

Providing input into international programme budgets.
Identifying where limited resources should be prioritised for greatest strategic impact.
Supporting decisions around coach attendance, squad sessions, development days and team support.
Ensuring financial recommendations are linked to agreed programme priorities.
Supporting clearer expectations around funded and self-funded activity where relevant.

The High Performance Lead should not be expected to personally administer all travel bookings, invoices, expenses or competition logistics unless explicitly agreed and resourced.

Expected outputs in the first 3 months

By the end of the first 3 months, the High Performance Lead should have:

Met with the CEO and agreed immediate priorities.
Met with all current International Head Coaches.
Mapped all international teams, Head Coaches, assistant coaches and key support roles.
Reviewed current selection policies and identified priority risks.
Reviewed current international athlete feedback and identified the top system improvements required.
Produced a simple 90-day action plan.
Drafted standard expectations for Head Coaches.
Drafted a proposed annual rhythm for Head Coach meetings, team planning, selection review, squad sessions and post-event debriefs.
Identified any urgent safeguarding, anti-doping, coaching licence or governance risks requiring escalation.

Expected outputs in the first 6 months

By the end of the first 6 months, the High Performance Lead should have:

Implemented a standard Head Coach reporting and support structure.
Finalised or updated the international lifter information pack.
Finalised or updated the first-time international lifter checklist.
Implemented a standard pre-event communication timeline.
Implemented a standard post-event debrief process.
Implemented a standard competition-day role allocation template.
Implemented an attempt confirmation protocol for high-risk attempts.
Produced a draft International Performance Plan.
Supported the CEO with a Board-level update on international programme progress.
Created a clear risk and improvement log for the international programme.

Expected outputs in the first 12 months

By the end of the first year, the High Performance Lead should have:

Delivered a full annual review of the international programme.
Completed annual Head Coach reviews.
Produced team-by-team performance and development summaries.
Reviewed international selection processes and recommended improvements.
Produced a draft annual international programme calendar.
Developed clear KPIs for each international team.
Improved consistency of athlete communication across all teams.
Improved consistency of post-event reviews and learning.
Supported the development of an international coaching pathway.
Produced recommendations for the following year’s international programme budget and priorities.
Demonstrably reduced the CEO’s direct involvement in routine international programme issues.

Indicative weekly time allocation

The role should average 14–16 hours per week across the year.

1. Strategic leadership and CEO liaison

Expected average: 2 hours per week

Includes strategy development, CEO meetings, planning, priorities, Board update preparation and high-level risk review.

2. Head Coach management and support

Expected average: 4 hours per week

Includes one-to-one meetings, Head Coach guidance, issue resolution, team plan review, role clarity, coach development and performance review activity.

3. International programme systems and athlete experience

Expected average: 3 hours per week

Includes information packs, first-time lifter checklist, communication timelines, squad session planning standards, post-event debrief systems and athlete feedback review.

4. Selection oversight and governance assurance

Expected average: 2 hours per week

Includes selection policy review, selection process oversight, conflict-of-interest management, dispensation expectations, selection committee liaison and documentation standards.

5. Safeguarding, anti-doping, disciplinary and technical liaison

Expected average: 2 hours per week

Includes work with relevant leads to ensure international teams comply with safeguarding, anti-doping, coaching licence, disciplinary and technical requirements.

6. Reporting, administration and continuous improvement

Expected average: 1–3 hours per week

Includes maintaining action trackers, writing short reports, reviewing feedback, updating templates and preparing programme learning summaries.

Workload boundaries

To keep the role realistic at two days per week, the High Performance Lead should not be expected to:

Personally coach all international athletes.
Attend every international championship.
Manage every travel, hotel or accreditation task.
Act as the sole safeguarding decision-maker.
Act as the sole anti-doping decision-maker.
Conduct disciplinary investigations.
Personally select all international teams.
Replace Head Coaches in their team leadership role.
Be constantly available to all athletes and coaches.
Resolve every operational issue without support from the relevant British Powerlifting function.

The role should focus on leadership, structure, management, accountability and escalation.

Person specification

Essential experience

Experience leading or managing coaches, volunteers or multidisciplinary teams.
Strong understanding of powerlifting and international competition demands.
Experience in performance planning, athlete pathway development or high-performance environments.
Ability to manage people, conflict, expectations and change.
Understanding of selection processes, conflicts of interest and transparent decision-making.
Understanding of safeguarding, anti-doping and athlete welfare responsibilities.
Ability to work strategically while producing practical systems and outputs.
Strong written communication and documentation skills.
Ability to work with the CEO, Board, Head Coaches, volunteers and subcommittees.
High emotional intelligence and credibility with coaches and athletes.

Desirable experience

Previous international coaching or team leadership experience.
Experience in a National Governing Body or membership organisation.
Experience developing coach education, talent pathways or squad programmes.
Experience in equipped powerlifting.
Experience working with selection committees or performance panels.
Experience managing paid and volunteer roles.
Knowledge of UK sport governance expectations.

Key performance indicators

Performance should be assessed against realistic system and management outcomes, not only medals.

Suggested KPIs include:

All Head Coaches have agreed role expectations and annual objectives.
All international teams use the standard pre-event communication process.
All international lifters receive a standard information pack.
First-time international lifters receive a clear checklist.
All international teams define coaching roles before each session.
High-risk attempts are managed through an attempt confirmation protocol.
Post-event debriefs are completed for all international teams.
Selection recommendations are documented with rationale.
Conflicts of interest are declared and managed.
International coach licence compliance is monitored.
Safeguarding and anti-doping requirements are embedded into team processes.
Head Coach reviews are completed annually.
Athlete feedback shows improved clarity, communication and consistency.
CEO involvement in routine international programme issues reduces over time.
The international programme operates more clearly as one British Powerlifting team.