British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), in collaboration with The Football Association (The FA), is seeking a dynamic and experienced delivery partner to lead the BUCS & FA University Women’s Leadership Programme from 2025 to 2028. Now entering its seventh year, the programme supports aspiring female leaders in higher education who are looking to forge careers in the football industry. It offers a powerful opportunity to inspire and equip a diverse group of students to become future changemakers in the women’s and girls’ game.
The programme is rooted in research-led leadership development and centres on eight core behavioural themes aligned to the England Football Learning and Development Compass. These include communication, resilience, leadership, and collaboration. Over the course of a year, students engage in a blended learning model that includes immersive residentials, virtual learning, and real-life leadership tasks – all designed to grow confidence, sharpen career goals, and build strong professional networks.
We’re looking for a partner who understands the higher education landscape, values the power of football as a force for change, and shares our passion for female leadership development. The successful partner will deliver the current programme model in 2025–26 and collaborate with us to evolve and grow the offer in 2026–27 and 2027–28. They will be responsible for delivering engaging, evidence-based content across four key programme touchpoints, as well as supporting student reflection, development, and progression between sessions.
The programme ethos is central to its success. We expect all partners to role-model the behaviours we teach, create a safe and supportive learning environment, and be agile and collaborative in responding to both student and programme needs. From staff training to student coaching, this is a hands-on delivery role that requires a genuine commitment to excellence, empathy, and empowerment. Applicants must demonstrate how they would approach future development of the programme and ensure it continues to meet the needs of our student leaders, reflecting on insights outlined in our Behaviours Model (Appendix 1), 5-Year Impact Report (Appendix 2) and the full programme tender overview (Appendix 3).
Click here to know more about the programme.
Tenders are open until 12 noon on Friday 8 August 2025. If you have a track record of delivering leadership programmes and a drive to support young women to thrive in football, we want to hear from you.
For more details or to request the full delivery budget, contact Dan Matthews at [email protected].
Appendix 1 - Behaviours Model England Football
Appendix 2 - BUCS WLP Impact Report Full.pdf
Appendix 3 - Full Programme Tender Overview
