Performance Sports Manager (Maternity Cover)
Heriot-Watt University
Job Type
Full Time
Location
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Salary
£37,694 to £47,389 per year
Closing Date
25 August 2026
Classification
IQF Level 7
Job Summary
This role leads Oriam’s Performance Department during a maternity cover period, ensuring high-quality delivery across performance services and maintaining a strong duty of care to athletes. The post holder is responsible for the overall running of the department, staff leadership, delivery of financial and performance targets, management of sports scholarship programmes, coordination of academic and external services, sport science and S&C service delivery, health and safety compliance, departmental budgeting, and performance education. The role requires degree-level sport science education, at least five years’ experience delivering sport science services in a similar performance environment, team management capability, multidisciplinary experience, and strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.
IUSCA IQF Classification
This role appears to align with IQF Level 7, as it involves leading the Performance Department, managing a multidisciplinary staff team, overseeing scholarship programmes, coordinating external and academic service contracts, managing health and safety compliance, overseeing departmental finances, and contributing to wider sport and active wellbeing strategy. The role also includes planning and delivering sport science services, including education workshops, testing, gym-based S&C sessions, conditioning sessions, rehabilitation-based sessions, and recovery sessions.
The role requires advanced practitioner and service leadership capability, particularly because the post holder directly line manages staff including the Lead Sport Scientist, Squash Head Coach, Football Head Coach, and Athlete Lifestyle & Performance Coordinator. This indicates responsibility for service quality, interdisciplinary working, staff coordination, and the decision quality of others, which places the role beyond Level 6 autonomous practitioner scope.
Associated IUSCA IQF Certification
IUSCA IQF Level 7 Accredited International Strength and Conditioning Practitioner (aISCP*m)
Salary and Role Alignment
Amber. The advertised salary is transparent and the upper end of the range may be broadly acceptable for a university-based Level 7 performance sport management role. However, the lower end appears low for a post that includes departmental leadership, direct line management of multiple staff, financial oversight, commercial targets, health and safety compliance, multidisciplinary service coordination, sport science and S&C delivery, and responsibility for the overall performance department.
IUSCA recommended minimum salary: £45,000 per year
This minimum recommendation reflects the Level 7 classification, the management of practitioners and coaches, departmental responsibility, financial and operational accountability, and the requirement for at least five years’ experience in a performance environment. A higher salary may be appropriate where the role includes substantial strategic authority, long-term programme development, budget ownership, or responsibility for service standards beyond the maternity cover period.
IUSCA Alignment Statement
This role has been classified by IUSCA based on publicly available information. The classification is intended to support professional transparency and help practitioners and employers understand the relationship between role scope, responsibility, autonomy, qualification expectations, and salary alignment. Applicants should review the original advert before applying.