New IUSCA Guide Introduces Framework for S&C Role Classification and Salary Alignment
The International Universities Strength and Conditioning Association (IUSCA) has published a new IQF Role Classification & Salary Alignment Guide, providing a practical international framework for evaluating Strength and Conditioning roles against their actual scope, responsibilities and employment expectations.
The guide forms part of the wider development of the IUSCA Job Board and is designed to provide employers and practitioners with a clearer common reference point for understanding the level of professional practice required by a role and whether its salary, requirements and employment conditions are appropriately aligned.
The Challenge of Employment Standards Without Universal Statutory Regulation
Strength and Conditioning is not subject to a universal system of statutory professional regulation or licensure across many of the profession's major employment markets, including the UK, US and Australia.
Professional standards nevertheless exist through employers, sporting organisations, professional bodies and industry accreditation systems. In particular settings, these organisations may establish specific qualification, certification or accreditation requirements for employment.
However, without a common statutory framework defining levels of professional practice, there remains considerable scope for variation in how S&C roles are structured, described and advertised.
Job titles may describe very different levels of responsibility. Qualification and experience requirements can vary substantially between otherwise comparable positions. Salaries may bear little relationship to the professional judgement, autonomy or accountability expected of the practitioner. In some cases, remuneration is not disclosed at all.
For an increasingly international profession, this also creates difficulties when comparing roles across different countries, sporting systems and professional structures.
Clear professional frameworks therefore have an important role in supporting transparent employment standards, proportionate recruitment criteria and understandable career pathways.
The IUSCA International Qualification Framework for Strength and Conditioning provides such a reference point by describing progressive levels of professional practice according to practitioner capability, autonomy, responsibility, complexity and professional judgement.
The new IQF Role Classification & Salary Alignment Guide extends this framework into employment.
It explains how advertised roles may be classified against the IQF and how salary, qualification requirements, experience expectations, responsibility and practitioner autonomy can be assessed for proportional alignment.
The guide is intended to support employers, practitioners, universities and the wider Strength and Conditioning community by improving role clarity and encouraging fair, proportionate and transparent recruitment practice.
Classifying the Role, Not Just the Job Title
A central principle of the framework is that job titles alone do not determine the level of a role.
Two positions carrying the same title may sit at different IQF levels if they differ substantially in autonomy, responsibility, complexity, athlete population, supervision, leadership or decision-making expectations.
For example, an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach working under close supervision may sit at a different IQF level from another Assistant Coach who independently designs programmes, manages athlete outcomes and works across complex interdisciplinary environments.
Similarly, requiring a master's degree or advanced professional certification does not automatically make a position a high-level role if the actual responsibilities remain limited, supervised or predominantly delivery focused.
The framework therefore considers what the practitioner is actually expected to do.
A Professional Pathway from Supervised Practice to Strategic Leadership
For employment classification, the IUSCA Job Board will most commonly use five levels across the IQF practitioner pathway:
IQF Level 2: Supervised Practitioner
Structured delivery under supervision, with limited responsibility for independent decision-making.
IQF Level 4: Practitioner
Independent practice within a clearly defined scope, with accountability for decisions and outcomes within that scope.
IQF Level 6: Scientific Practitioner
Full professional accountability, evidence-informed programme design, complex decision-making and responsibility for athlete or cohort outcomes.
IQF Level 7: Advanced Scientific Practitioner
Senior or strategic responsibility across teams, systems or departments, including leadership of other practitioners and complex interdisciplinary practice.
IQF Level 8: Master Practitioner / Thought Leader
Strategic leadership, governance, standards development and influence extending across organisations or the wider profession.
Roles can also be recognised as transitional or developmental where their responsibilities reasonably span two adjacent levels.
Does the Salary Match the Role?
Classification identifies the level of professional practice a role appears to require.
The next question is whether the salary and employment conditions are proportionate to that level.
The guide therefore introduces a Salary and Role Alignment rating, considering whether salary, employment conditions, qualification requirements, experience expectations, responsibility and practitioner autonomy appear reasonably aligned.
Four ratings are used:
GREEN: Appropriately aligned
Salary, requirements and role scope appear appropriately aligned.
AMBER: Some mismatch may exist
Some mismatch exists, but the role is not clearly or materially below expected standards.
RED: Materially below expected level
Salary or employment conditions appear materially below the level expected for the responsibilities or requirements.
GREY: Insufficient information
Salary has not been disclosed or there is insufficient information available to make a reasonable assessment.
This allows the Job Board to distinguish between two related but separate questions:
What level of practice does the role require?
and
Are the salary, requirements and employment conditions proportionate to that role?
The guide explicitly treats IQF classification and salary alignment as related but distinct assessments.
Indicative Minimum Salaries Where Pay Is Not Disclosed
Salary transparency is an important part of the framework.
Where an employer does not publish a salary, the vacancy will be identified accordingly on the IUSCA Job Board. The guide classifies roles with undisclosed salary or insufficient information as Grey and encourages employers to provide sufficient information for applicants to make informed decisions.
In addition, where no salary is disclosed, the IUSCA Job Board will provide an indicative minimum salary recommendation.
This gives practitioners a useful reference point when assessing the opportunity and provides employers with an indication of the level of remuneration that would reasonably correspond with the role as classified.
Indicative recommendations consider the wider context of the position, including the IQF level, country or region, employment sector, working commitment, contract type, qualification and experience requirements, practitioner autonomy and level of responsibility.
These factors are also central to the wider Salary and Role Alignment framework.
The indicative minimum is not intended to establish a single international salary for a particular job title. Labour markets, sectors and employment structures vary substantially between countries.
Its purpose is to provide a transparent and proportionate reference point based on the actual demands and context of the role.
The IUSCA Aligned Role Designation
Roles that demonstrate appropriate alignment between their responsibilities, practitioner level, qualification and experience requirements, salary and employment conditions may receive the IUSCA Aligned Role designation.
These vacancies will be displayed prominently on the IUSCA Job Board and accompanied by the IUSCA Aligned Role logo, allowing practitioners to identify positions that demonstrate good alignment with the framework.
An appropriately aligned role may demonstrate features including:
A clearly disclosed salary or salary range
Clear role expectations
Proportionate essential criteria
Reasonable experience requirements
Responsibilities that match the likely IQF level
Salary appropriate to the role scope and context
Suitable supervision for developmental positions
Appropriate recognition of senior responsibility in salary and status
For employers, the designation provides visible recognition that a vacancy has been structured in a way that broadly aligns professional expectations, practitioner capability and employment conditions.
For practitioners, it provides an immediate indication that the role has been reviewed against a consistent professional framework.
The designation does not imply that a role will be appropriate for every applicant or constitute a general endorsement of the employer. It reflects the alignment of the advertised position based on the information available.
Looking Beyond Salary Alone
Salary alignment is not determined by a single figure.
The framework considers the wider employment context, including:
Salary
FTE and working hours
Country or region
Employment sector
Contract type
Required qualifications
Required experience
Responsibility for athletes, programmes, staff, systems or strategy
Practitioner autonomy
Postgraduate qualification requirements
Advanced certification requirements
Management responsibility
Strategic responsibility
This is particularly important within an international profession where salaries and employment structures can differ substantially between jurisdictions and sectors.
A lower-level role is not automatically problematic if the salary, support and requirements are proportionate.
Equally, a higher-level role is not automatically well aligned if its salary, contract or expectations are inappropriate.
Addressing Disproportionate Recruitment Requirements
The framework also allows closer consideration of qualification and experience requirements.
Qualifications alone do not determine the IQF level of a role.
A position requiring a Master's degree or advanced certification may still sit at a lower level if its responsibilities are limited, supervised or predominantly delivery-focused. Where high-level qualifications are required, the framework considers whether the role scope and salary are proportionate to those requirements.
Experience requirements are assessed in the same way. Several years of experience may be appropriate where a role genuinely demands advanced judgement, autonomy and complexity management. Requiring substantial experience for a low-paid, narrowly scoped or heavily supervised role may indicate a mismatch.
This provides a basis for encouraging recruitment criteria that reflect the actual responsibilities of the position rather than simply increasing qualification and experience thresholds.
Supporting Greater Transparency Across the Profession
The IQF Role Classification & Salary Alignment Guide forms part of the wider IUSCA initiative to improve employment standards and transparency across Strength and Conditioning.
Relevant vacancies on the IUSCA Job Board can be considered within the same framework, giving practitioners clearer information about:
The likely IQF level of the role
Whether salary and requirements appear appropriately aligned
An indicative minimum salary where remuneration is not disclosed
Any identified areas of mismatch
Whether the position has received the IUSCA Aligned Role designation
Where appropriate, listings may also include short factual editorial notes identifying issues such as disproportionate qualification requirements, salary that appears low relative to responsibility, good overall alignment or insufficient information.
In a profession that operates internationally and, in many jurisdictions, without a common system of statutory professional regulation, transparent, independently governed professional frameworks provide an important common reference point for employers and practitioners.
The objective is to establish greater consistency and transparency while recognising that employment markets, sporting structures and local requirements differ between countries.
As the Job Board develops and further employment and salary data become available, the framework will continue to evolve.
The longer-term aim is to support clearer career pathways, fairer recruitment, appropriate professional recognition and better alignment between practitioner capability, role expectations and employment conditions.
Download the Free Guide
The IUSCA IQF Role Classification & Salary Alignment Guide is available free of charge.
Employers can use the framework when developing or reviewing Strength and Conditioning positions, while practitioners can use it to better understand how advertised responsibilities, requirements and remuneration relate to different levels of professional practice.
Download the free guide and explore the IUSCA Job Board at IUSCA.org/jobs.
