Sport Psychology Coach - UOB Sport

Position Details

UOB Sport

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £22,722 to £24,411, with potential progression once in post to £28,259

Band 500

Part Time 21.6 hours - Fixed Term Contract for until June 2020

You may be required to work the occasional weekend.

Closing date: 21st November 2019

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) clearance would be required for this post

Job Summary

This post is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate sport psychology practitioner to join the University of Birmingham and work with elite student-athletes as an integrated member of the University of Birmingham Sport Performance Centre. The Performance Centre is a multi-disciplinary sport science and medicine unit (SSM) with the aim of supporting scholarship and TASS (talented athlete scholarship scheme) athletes in the transition from junior to senior international, and supporting our high performing teams in the pursuit of BUCS success. Under the guidance of the Sport Psychology Lead and working alongside the SSM unit and coaches, the successful candidate will deliver sport psychology support to elite athlete scholars and high performance teams at the University. This includes senior internationals, junior internationals, BUCS champions and BUCS Championship winning teams.

Main Duties

• Under the guidance of the Lead Sport Psychologist and within the framework for delivery of the sport psychology programme, the successful candidate will be responsible for the design, development and delivery of the sport psychology support programme. This will involve working closely with the performance centre practitioners, coaches, scholarship team and external bodies (i.e. TASS, NGB's):
• To support student-athletes from a sport psychology perspective as they transition on to, through and from our programmes (UoB scholarship programme and TASS programme). This will involve working in close partnership with the Performance Centre practitioners, coaches and scholarship management team in the design, development and delivery of a comprehensive sport psychology programme.
• To provide personalised performance profiling and holistic needs analysis of scholar-athletes and priority teams alongside the performance centre practitioners and coaches.
• To design and deliver planned support, which may consist of 1-1 sessions, group sessions, training & competition observation, integrated 'on-pitch' support, and systems-approach support. Support will have the aim of developing a performance mindset, athlete self-awareness, individualised psychological skills and of facilitating the development of psychologically informed performance environments.
• To continually log, monitor and evaluate delivery with regard to programme aims and outcomes.
• To develop online resources for scholars and high performing teams to help with their professional and personal development.
• To assist the Performance Centre Lead and Sport Psychology Lead in encouraging a psychologically informed environment and in facilitating effective interdisciplinary support within the SSM unit through ensuring shared understanding, a common language and ongoing case-formulations.
• To work with performance centre practitioners, scholarship management team and coaches in providing support and advice on sport psychology topics or concerns.
• To liaise with the head of sport psychology where there is any issue/conflict which may have arisen so that the appropriate action can be taken.
• To encourage and facilitate dual career aspirations through enabling effective management of the balance between sporting and academic commitments.
• To work within the guidelines and code of ethics and conduct of the British Psychological Society.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Good degree in sport psychology, psychology, sport science or discipline relevant to the psychological development of elite athletes.
• Sport Psychology qualification or working towards (i.e. British Psychological Society Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology: Stage Two)

Knowledge

• Sound knowledge of sport psychology theory, research and methods of applied practice.
• Awareness and understanding of the University environment and dual-career demands for elite student-athletes.

Skills

• Excellent communication skills (written & verbal), including confidence to present to groups
• Team player able to work as a member of a busy multi-functional team.
• Ability to work under pressure and show initiative.
• Use of Microsoft Access, Excel, Outlook and Word.
• Good organisational skills, the ability to plan effectively.
• An empathy with working within a student environment, with the desire to develop student sport.

Experience

• Experience of supporting the personal development of individuals through coaching and mentoring.
• Experience of delivering high quality sport psychology support to meet the needs of the client.
• Experience of working within a high performance multidisciplinary team

Informal enquires to Hugh Sproston, email: h.d.sproston@bham.ac.uk

We value diversity at The University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community'

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