Head of Player Development

About the Collingwood Football Club

Collingwood Football Club (CFC) was founded in 1892.

Local residents, community and business leaders and politicians all hoped that having their own football club could help bring a measure of pride to a downtrodden suburb.

In 2025, CFC is one of the great icons of Australian sport. Our history spans 130 years, 16 premierships and more finals appearances than any other club. Most importantly, Collingwood has grown from being a football club to a sports club with a commitment to our community.

Collingwood is not made by a President, a Captain, a Coach or a CEO. It's not just any one player, employee, supporter or fan, Collingwood is made by many.

The opportunity

Reporting to the AFL Senior Coach,
the 
AFL Head of Player Development
will holistically and innovatively manage and lead the Player Development Program, promoting the overall growth of CFC players to learn, develop and master skills so that they can perform at the AFL level.

Key responsibilities include:

• Ownership and responsibility for developing and implementing CFC's Player Development Program including a development framework that ensures player development is prioritised, coordinated and measured across the Football Department.
• Leading, coaching and developing CFC's Player Development team (including VFL Coach) to promote a positive educational approach to learning and delivery of innovative skill development programs.
• Design and oversee delivery of the development curriculum for development players (1st – 4th year) that educates players according to fundamental game plan, roles and DNA whilst maximising individuals strengths within the system,
• Manage and oversee the individual development plans for the whole playing group in partnership with the coaching, high performance and player wellbeing teams.
• Lead the completion of player assessment and individual plans for the development players and work with coaching staff to facilitate individual players assessments for the rest of the playing group.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across the Football Department to foster a strong development, learning and growth orientated culture that develops Collingwood people.
• Lead and manage CFC's VFL Coaches to ensure alignment and consistency of coaching philosophy at VFL level.
• Coordinate and implement regular communication and reporting to all stakeholders (including Senior Coach and EGM Football) in relation to player development progress.
• Ensure the training schedule provides opportunities for delivery of the CFC Development Program and for the wholistic development of players.
• Analyse vision from training and games to provide players and coaches with feedback to affirm strengths, identify areas for improvement and methods to fast-track development.

About you

To be successful as the 
AFL Head of Player Development,
 you will have:

• Qualifications in Psychology or Teaching;
• Level III Coaching Accreditation;
• Five plus (5+) years experience working in an elite athlete development environment;
• Strong background in a sport (at an elite or high level);
• Proven experience in designing and implementing athlete development programs and plans;
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of the on and off field requirements of elite footballers;
• Proven personal integrity and leadership experience with demonstrated success in building, developing and managing high performance teams;
• Strength in coaching, teaching and communications skills;
• Strong IT skills with an ability to use a range of high performance software and interpret data;
• Capable of working a wide array of hours with a varying time schedule to suit the seasonal priorities of the football industry.

Football Club's are fast-paced environments but you will engrain yourself into the Collingwood culture, remain agile, adaptable, and consistently champion our Company values of 
DO BETTER, SIDE BY SIDE, A NEST FOR ALL and FLY HIGHER.

What we offer

As a valued staff member of our Sporting Club you will be a part of a fun, inclusive and flexible work environment:

• 5 Days Gifted Club Leave (in addition to your 4-weeks Annual Leave)
• Additional Football Special Leave
• Access to state of art High Performance Gym Facility
• Access to Professional Development and Learning Development Courses
• Access to exclusive partner offers, the likes of Nike, Emirates, AIA Vitality, La Trobe, CUB Economy, Business Class with Emirates, Sonos and TaylorMade
• Opportunities to support with Collingwood community outreach and volunteer programs (Magpie Nest Cafe)

To Apply

If you are interested in this position, please send through your CV and cover letter that addresses why you are interested in working with the Collingwood Football Club, how your skills/experience would qualify for the position, and how you would contribute to the culture of the organisation.

Please send this application to  Applications close
COB Friday 31 October 2025
 (however, we may close this earlier if we receive a large volume of applications).

Please keep reading…

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized folks tend to only apply when they check every box.

So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point above, please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit.

We believe in being a Nest For All – we champion respect, diversity and inclusion to make our Club a safe and welcoming place for all. The Collingwood Football Club is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified and diverse candidates. We provide a welcoming, safe and flexible approach to work and provide an environment that benefits from and enables the best from everyone.

As an organization we are committed to protecting children and young people from harm. It is essential that anyone involved with the Collingwood Football Club understands their responsibility in relation to child safety. Our organization requires all applicants to obtain a 'Working with Children Check' prior to appointment.

To learn more about working at Collingwood Football Club and our values, please visit