Application Deadline: 22 February 2026
Department: Policy and Social Impact
Location: Various - Travel to Clubs required
Description
The Premier League is seeking to appoint new Panel Members to its PLEDIS Panel; the diverse group of independent experts who determine whether requirements of the Premier League’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard for Professional Football Clubs have been met by its clubs.
The PLEDIS is an ambitious and progressively challenging evidence-based framework. It drives continuous improvement in equality, diversity and inclusion to create meaningful and sustainable change. It covers all areas of a Club’s activities, including its role as an employer, its match day operations, its academy, first team, Community Foundation and fans.
The Panel assessing our clubs is convened by the Premier League but is independent and objective. We are seeking to appoint Panel Members with a wide experience of equality matters – preferably at a senior, strategic level – to develop a thorough understanding of the objectives and scope of the PLEDIS and comprise the Assessment Panels which visit our clubs (as well as undertake training and preparatory work as required).
We are committed to building a diverse and experienced Panel and welcome applications from individuals with a broad range of skills and professional backgrounds, including business, football, the public sector, and high-level charity contexts. This includes, but is not limited to: ex-professional footballers, those who have held roles within football governing bodies or clubs including coaching or management, expertise aligned to the PLEDIS themes, and professionals with experience working across global markets. We value the unique perspectives that each individual can bring to this important work
Who we are
The Premier League is home to some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its Clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds. It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in over 900 million homes in 189 countries.
We have a wide variety of responsibilities. These include organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised broadcast and commercial rights. The work we do in conjunction with the Clubs also goes far beyond the 90 minutes. We support and provide a framework for youth development, we protect the organisation’s intellectual property, support the wider game and community programmes, undertake international development work and liaise with governing bodies and other leagues.
The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values. All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.
The Role
About the PLEDIS
The PLEDIS framework is set around four key themes:
- Leadership and Commitment
- Promoting EDI; Challenging and Preventing Discrimination
- Data, Insight and Delivery
- Learning and Development
Our Clubs work towards three levels of achievement: Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced; with submissions assessed independently and verified during Panel Assessment Meetings. Panel Members’ roles are to verify that the requirements of the PLEDIS have been met and to provide advice and high-level recommendations to help Clubs further develop their EDI work.
Panels are made up of independent experts from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, all of whom have significant experience at a senior, strategic level in progressing EDI within organisations. Each Panel convened is constituted to ensure it is made up of members with expertise in or highly developed knowledge of:
- Football, including a broad understanding of the professional football environment;
- Current equality legislation and practice as it relates to all the protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act;
- Senior management or leadership, preferably of a significant, complex, outward facing organisation.
The role of the Panel
Prior to Panel Assessment Meetings with Premier League clubs, members are required to give in-depth consideration assessment documentation. During Panel Assessment Meetings members are required to:
- Consider a Club’s presentation and ask probing questions of Club representatives to check and challenge the progress they are making towards equality;
- Identify strengths and weaknesses in a Club’s equality work and make informed recommendations to help them develop further;
- Make an objective decision in regard to whether the Club has met the requirements of a level of the PLEDIS.
The Panel is supported in its role by an independent Assessor Consultant team and Secretariat.
Requirements for the role
- Experience of embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in strategic planning, delivery and assessment of equality objectives in either a football, business, high-level charity or public sector context;
- Experience of assessing against standards.
- Knowledge of current equality legislation, specifically the Equality Act 2010 and related secondary legislation and guidance;
- Knowledge of the major contemporary equality, diversity and inclusion priorities facing professional football;
- Knowledge of professional football’s organisational architecture and of the football regulatory framework in England and Wales;
- Knowledge of wider social inclusion issues;
- The ability to provide practical and relevant examples of good practice with regard to equality, diversion and inclusion;
- A clear recognition of the role of the Panel in the assessment process;
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to offer constructive challenge, including at senior / executive level.
Exclusions to Panel Membership
Please refer to the PLEDIS Conflict of Interest Policy for exclusions to Panel Membership.
Panel Members will be asked to sign a Premier League Service Agreement and to adhere to the Panel Membership Terms of Reference and the PLEDIS Panel Conflict of Interest Policy.
The Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard ‘
Championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Premier League’ can be downloaded here.
The PLEDIS is also available in the following formats: large print, braille and as audio files. Please contact pledis@premierleague.comto request alternative formats.
Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. For further information, please see our Safer Recruitment Guidance.
To apply please visit our careers page and apply with your CV and a cover letter. The closing date for applications is 22 February 2026.
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact recruitment@premierleague.com.
