Senior Manager, Team Facilities, Fifa World Cup 2026

More than a job
 
Senior Manager, Team Facilities, FIFA World Cup 2026
 
The FIFA World Cup 26™ will mark the first time that the tournament features 48 teams and will be hosted by three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
This new format redefines excellence, generating unique opportunities for greater participation and engagement from fans and players in North America and all over the world. Now is your time to be a game changer and join the workforce that is planning and delivering this unique and unforgettable experience.
Reporting organisationally to the Executive Director of Operations, the Senior Team Facilities Manager will be a key member of the FIFA26 Team Services team, and work in close collaboration with the FIFA Zurich Team Services Lead and other key individuals responsible for overseeing overall operational readiness of state-of-the-art teams' and referees' facilities, in particular training sites (base camps and venue-specific) for the FIFA World Cup 2026 (USA, Canada and Mexico), FIFA test events and other tournaments in collaboration with FIFA Zurich.
 
 
The main responsibilities and oversights of the Senior Team Facilities Manager for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ include: 
 

• Managing the relationship with all training site owners.
• Coordinating rental fee negotiations with host cities representatives and/or training sites owners in collaboration with FIFA Zurich.
• Leading preparation and implementation of readiness exercises (simulation exercises) at all teams'/referees' facilities with all FAs involved.
• Overseeing the readiness of the infrastructure and maintenance progress lead by Technical Services project.
• Contributing in planning of TBC inspection visits in the years leading to the tournament.
• Team Facilities staff planning: recruitment, training and management of Team Facilities Managers and Coordinators.
• Coordinating training sites rental fee payment before and after the tournament.
• Collaborating with relevant FAs and service providers on pitch management projects for the FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA test events and other tournaments.
• Identifying, securing, and following-up on the contracting teams'/referees' facilities across the tournament(s) footprint, in particular training sites for the FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA test events and other tournaments in collaboration with FIFA Zurich.
• Coordinating preparation of maps and drawings for training sites and hotels (incl. security perimeters, parking allocation, media facilities, etc.).
• Leading cross-functional interaction with all FAs and other Stakeholders (HCs', Clubs'/TS' owners, etc.) involved in operations across all teams' and referees' facilities.
• Representing Team Services at infrastructure and operational meetings and inspections to analyse if training facilities are in compliance with FIFA requirements.
• Contributing to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Team Base Camp brochure (TBC Brochure) and potentially TBC Brochure of other FIFA test events with provision of adequate information, updating it on regular basis.
• Leading Team Base Camps', Referee Base Camp' and Venue-Specific Team Facilities' operational planning and implementation.

 
The specific competencies we require for this position are:

• Be fluent in English (oral and written); any additional language skills (especially Spanish) will be a bonus.
• Excellent knowledge of the local culture and facilities in USA, Canada, Mexico.
• Master's Degree is an additional asset
• Ability to hire, develop, coach, appraise and retain experienced and less experienced employees.
• Very good and well-founded international football or other sports and training facilities knowledge.
• Comfortable working in an international, demanding and constantly-changing environment.
• Minimum 6 (six) years of experience in sports event management, international experience preferred
• Strong good knowledge of event planning and event project management processes.
• Bachelor's Degree in Sports Management or Event Management preferred
• Be able to adapt to and work well with people from other cultures and backgrounds.
• Capacity to make decisions in their area through problem-solving skills and an ability to use sound judgement to achieve results.
• Strong good knowledge of event & competition operations as well as sport facility operations.
• High energy levels, motivational leadership, effective negotiation skills, excellent communication skills and positive relationship-management skills.
• Strong administrative and IT skills including MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).

 
Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA-Strasse 20, 8044 Zurich