Director, Soccer Growth (Competitive & Pre-Professional Focus) presso UNITED STATES SOCCER FEDERATION 1

Description

U.S. Soccer Overview

The U.S. Soccer Federation exists in service to soccer. Our aim is to ignite a national passion for the game. Because we believe that soccer is more than a sport; it is a force for good.

We understand the importance and the power of teamwork, on and off the pitch. That is why we work closely with our Federation partners and members, to inspire, support and guide every level of the game: from the grassroots to the National Teams. We want to bring soccer into every home and every community, right across America. Because we believe that soccer can transform lives like no other sport. Soccer can represent the best of U.S.

U.S. Soccer is in a period of significant growth, with ambitions plans for U.S. Soccer in the near and far future. We are, therefore, looking for dynamic servant leaders to join us on this journey: in service to soccer. Applicants must be able to demonstrate visionary leadership, analytical decision-making, professional flexibility, and an empathic management style that builds bold teams and delivers globally significant results.

Position Description 

The Director of Soccer Growth – Competitive & Pre-Professional Pathways will help lead the design, alignment, and implementation of U.S. Soccer’s future state vision for competitive and pre-professional soccer. This position is central to advancing our core ecosystem strategies, serving as the facilitator and integrator of frameworks that link local, state, and national delivery systems across the landscape. The Director will help lead the advancement of sustainable competition models, club development programs, and participation models that are accessible, affordable, and community-rooted – while ensuring quality, safety, and accountability across the competitive continuum. They will lead cross-function workstreams internally across U.S. Soccer while driving alignment across membership and external partners to support a more aligned and integrated soccer ecosystem. 

This person should have excellent business / strategy skills, a strong technical understanding of soccer, demonstratable experience working in the United States soccer ecosystem, and perceived as a positive leader by other members.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Ecosystem Leadership

• Serve as a pathway lead across U.S. Soccer’s competitive & pre-professional workstreams, ensuring delivery against national milestones and strategic objectives. This person will play a key role in designing and implementing the ecosystem-specific elements of the U.S. Way and Soccer Services.
• Review, support, and enhance operating models that clarify roles, responsibilities, relationships, and incentives across competition platforms.
• Develop and support the integration of national frameworks for competition architecture, sanctioning, shared services, and standards of play across youth and adult competitive levels.
• Align pathways between recreational, competitive, and pre-professional soccer to ensure transparent progression and equitable access for players of all backgrounds.
• Support integration of Safe Soccer, quality assurance, and sustainability standards into all ecosystem operations.

Quality Assurance & Change Management

• Lead the development of aligned oversight models, ensuring consistency in policy, process, and compliance.
• Identify and develop use cases for shared ecosystem services to enhance efficiency and reduce administrative burdens for members (e.g., technology, communications, registration, safeguarding). Serve as a key architect of the incentives and benefits that must be true to drive adoption.
• Manage key stakeholders and relevant change management workflows for members and ecosystem partners as part of the future state.
• Partner with Sporting, Strategy, Compliance, Legal etc. to modernize sanctioning, authority, and clearance policies that underpin an open and coordinated system.

Partnerships & Ecosystem Engagement

• Serve as the primary liaison between U.S. Soccer and ecosystem leaders (e.g., members, leagues, etc.) across competitive and pre-professional workstreams.
• Understand realities and interdependencies across clubs, leagues, and members that exist and operate across multiple segments.
• Convene and manage working groups of member leaders, league directors, and technical experts to co-design scalable solutions.
• Represent U.S. Soccer in cross-segment initiatives, such as college pathways, high school participation, refereeing, and adult amateur system alignment.

Performance, Innovation & Insights

• Partner across U.S. Soccer internal departments team to build a data framework tracking participation, access, affordability, and quality metrics across the ecosystem.
• Direct evaluation and continuous improvement cycles for Soccer Growth pilots and programs.
• Identify and facilitate adoption of digital tools, platforms, and resources to support day-to-day and/or long-term improvement of ecosystem operations, transparency, and interoperability.
• Translate learnings from pilots and stakeholder engagement into functional policies, procedures, and scalable models for future implementation.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5+ years of leadership experience in strategy, governance, program management, or sports ecosystem development.
• Deep knowledge of the U.S. soccer ecosystem, including members (e.g., national associations, state associations), sanctioning processes, and competitive league structures.
• Demonstrated success in leading large-scale operating model evolutions or multi-stakeholder change initiatives, including designing sustainable incentive models.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and facilitation skills – able to bridge vision with execution across diverse partners.
• Experience with policy, charter, and standards development within sport or education sectors.
• Strong financial acumen and project management capability (PMP or equivalent certification preferred).
• Experience as a coach, technical leader, or administrator in competitive or pre-professional soccer strongly preferred.
• Capable of working in fast-paced and demanding environments.
• Must be able to connect “micro” details to the “macro” vision and mission.
• Proficient experience with Microsoft Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook).

Desired Qualifications

• Master’s preferred in business, public administration, sports management, or systems design.

U.S. Soccer offers a comprehensive compensation package, casual work environment, an inclusive culture, and an atmosphere for professional development.

U.S. Soccer is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, military status, political belief, or any other characteristic protected under the law. This policy applies to all our employment practices within our organization. We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA, veterans, parents, and persons with disabilities to apply.