This post provides detailed information on the athletic equipment manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.
(You will be able to download the athletic equipment manager job description template in pdf below.)
It also highlights the important requirements that you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the athletic equipment manager role by most employers.
What Does an Athletic Equipment Manager Do?
An athletic equipment manager is responsible for providing the necessary equipment for a sports team or institution by handling inventories, maintenance and repair of gears, ordering new equipment, and ensuring proper storage and supply of equipment for all practices and contests.
The athletic equipment manager job description entails getting equipment ready for events, setting it up, and carrying it for travel, as well as maintaining team uniform and occasionally managing staff and budgets.
It also involves ensuring that all equipment is in good condition and meets safety standards, as well as checking for wear and tear and replacing damaged items.
Furthermore, athletic equipment managers usually collaborate with travel departments and often work with the public and support staff to coordinate logistics for games, while ensuring safety regulations are met.
Their responsibilities can be as simple as performing inventory management, cleaning, and organizing gear, or as complex as maintaining detailed records, budgeting, and coordination of travel logistics for away games.
The athletic equipment manager duties also involve ensuring safety compliance and repair of specialized equipment to ensure the effective operation of an athletic program.
They are also expected to act as the central point of contact for all equipment-related needs for diverse sports teams.
Athletic equipment managers engage in a wide range of activities in the course of carrying out their functions using tools and technologies, including Spreadsheets for budgeting, barcoding technology for tracking, ordering, and usage of equipment, and SportSoft software for inventory management.
They also use RFID chips and GPS trackers for monitoring athlete performance and managing equipment loaning, and maintenance tracking systems for scheduling upkeep and prevention of losses.
The athletic equipment manager tasks may also include ordering new equipment as required and organizing equipment storage, as well as handling transportation for away games.
In addition to their duties, they are required to collaborate with players and coaches to understand their specific equipment needs and preferences, offering personalized equipment recommendations and adjustments.
Where Athletic Equipment Managers Work
Athletic equipment managers work with coaches, student-athletes, athletic trainers, administrative staff, and vendors to order and maintain inventory of sports equipment, and ensure that the proper fitting and safety of all athletic equipment, uniforms, and distributions are perfectly done at the right time.
They will work mostly in different sports settings, such as professional sports organizations, universities, colleges, and high schools.
Most athletic equipment managers usually report to the athletic director in their role, managing all aspects of equipment operations within an athletic department.
In larger operations, such as collegiate or professional sports teams, the athletic equipment manager typically report to the director of athletics or a similar senior leadership like the chief of staff for football, who supervises the entire management of the athletic department.
Not all regions view the role of an athletic equipment manager as being equivalently important.
In countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia, the demand for athletic equipment managers and investment in athletic equipment management is high.
Also, in these countries, athletic programs are well-structured and established, and there is a high level of sports participation and development.
Athletic Equipment Manager Training and Certification
Formal education for an athletic equipment manager generally entails a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, including Sports Management or Business, with practical experience acquired through entry-level positions or internships.
This training can be obtained through universities and some other institutions.
For example, the Athletic Equipment Managers Association (AEMA) offers certification programs that help their members improve their expertise of their industry.
On-the-job training is also quite common; here, an athletic equipment manager will be able to learn from their fellow professionals.
Athletic Equipment Manager Job Description Example/Sample/Template
The athletic equipment manager job description may consist of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities, depending on the organization they work for:
- Manage athletic equipment services, like equipment rooms, inventory, procurement, distribution and retrieval, policies and procedures, and vendor relationships
- Clean, maintain, and repair equipment to ensure it meets safety and functional standards, laundering athletic clothing according to fabric and care requirements, as well as overseeing students in equipment assembly and disassembly
- Interview and appoint assistants, train them and evaluate their performance, and organize daily work schedules and follow up on work progress
- Manage sport specific contracts, work with sales representatives, and secure athletic equipment and other related products for assigned sports programs
- Establish and maintain accurate records for all equipment, carry out regular inventory checks, and bring records together
- Serve as budget administrator for equipment budget, tracking, supervising, approving, revising, and forecasting equipment budgets across sports
- Ensure appropriate management of brands and logos, and work with university brand managers to ensure product represents the University properly
- Develop equipment quality standards and guidelines, and ensure equipment rules are followed when supplying and using equipment
- Order and purchase new equipment and uniforms, run related budgets, and coordinate with vendors
- Confirm need for and assist each athletic equipment and clothing order for all sport teams and departments, as well as plan and deliver assignments, and coordinate work schedules
- Prepare, pack, and move equipment for practices and games, especially for away competitions, and make decisions whether equipment should be repaired or replaced
- Manage the purchase of equipment and distributions requirements, and reconcile vendor billings with the athletic administrative specialist when goods are delivered
- Give out equipment and safety wears to athletes and manage the going out and returning procedures of equipment
- Render support in the financial management of the equipment budget for each intercollegiate sports program, and collaborate with sport team head coaches on inventory and purchasing of all equipment and clothing
- Check equipment for faults and team up with the athletic training department to ensure proper fitting and adjustment of protective equipment for student-athletes
- Facilitate good communications between students, parents, employees, and management by applying effective interpersonal and professional communication techniques
- Maintain the highest level of confidence concerning all issues in the athletic department, keeping secret any information obtained through work.
Athletic Equipment Manager Job Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success
The athletic equipment manager requires certain skills, industry knowledge, and a number of personal attributes to be successful in their job and career and to qualify for hiring by most recruiters/employers, including:
- Exceptional Job Experience: Athletic equipment managers must have excellent job experience in the management of equipment inventory, vendor relations, equipment maintenance, budgeting, and more, which can be obtained through internships, entry-level positions, and volunteering roles.
- Equipment Maintenance and Repair: Athletic equipment managers need the ability to supervise, clean, maintain, and perform basic repairs to athletic equipment to ensure its in good condition and accessible. This practice may take place in various sports backgrounds, including stadia, training centers, sports arenas, fitness centers, and gymnasium.
- Equipment Fitting: Athletic equipment managers must possess the knowledge of fixing equipment properly to ensure safety and performance of athletes. This includes strong technical skill with hand and power tools, blueprint interpretation, and precision fitting and assembly knowledge to identify and find solutions to problems.
- Inventory Control: This includes the ability to manage dispensable distribution of equipment items through delivery and inventory control. Athletic Equipment Managers need to gain valuable knowledge in several athletic equipment management system modules for inventory control.
- Maintenance Tracking Systems: Athletic equipment managers need experience with software that helps monitor equipment maintenance and repair schedules, and knowledge of safety protocols and compliance standards to prevent accidents and maintain a safe environment, as well as help keep the equipment in good working condition.
- Troubleshooting: Athletic equipment managers must be able to examine and fix any kind of issue in a machine. They have to conduct detailed but quick search in the system for the main cause of the problem and the means to solving it. They must understand and work with computerized equipment management facilities for better result.
- Communication: Communication skills comprise listening, speaking publicly, and communicating through writing. This communication may be achieved directly or through digital platforms, and messages must be conveyed clearly to ensure that athletes, coaches, staff, and vendors understand their roles and have trust in one another.
- Time Management: When time is managed efficiently, productivity is maximized and more work is often achieved within tight deadlines. For athletic equipment managers to utilize this skill effectively, they often need to keep track of several operations for successful result. They must stay on schedule and play their part to keep the team’s activities organized.
- Leadership: Athletic equipment managers often lead different teams, including athletes, coaches, and volunteers. They must be good at planning, communication, and decision-making, evaluating performance and managing different equipment-related activities for different sports teams.
- Business and Financial Acumen: The ability to manage budgets, forecast equipment requirements, and analyze costs is very important for the athletic equipment manager role. The job requires a strong understanding of business approach, finance, and economic standards and impact of sports events.
- Technical Expertise: Athletic equipment managers need to understand the specific needs of different sports and the equipment required to meet those needs. This will help them select the appropriate gear.
- Adaptability and Problem-Solving Skills: Athletic equipment managers require adaptability and problem-solving skills in their role to be able to address unforeseen problems, find solutions, and adapt to changing team or budget conditions. The sports industry evolves very fast with lots of challenges to conquer and opportunities to grab. Therefore, athletic equipment managers must react quickly, adapt, revise their priorities, and always consider the big picture.
- Knowledge and Passion: A basic knowledge of sports is very important in an athletic equipment management role. Managers need to understand sports and its procedures for a better chance of doing extremely well in their career. They should also add passion to their knowledge of sports to define purpose, sustain motivation during high-pressure moments, and ignite the resilience to go beyond expectations.
- Honesty: Honesty is an essential quality that athletic equipment managers must have to ensure there is fair play for everyone concerned. Honesty is the key attribute that athletic equipment managers can utilize in building trust among athletes, professional organizations, and the public.
Download athletic equipment manager job description template (pdf).
Athletic Equipment Manager Job Description for Resume
If you have worked before as an athletic equipment manager or are presently working in that role and are making a resume or CV for a new job, then you can create a compelling Professional Experience for your resume by applying the sample athletic equipment manager job description provided above.
You can express the duties and responsibilities you have carried out as an athletic equipment manager in your resume’s Professional Experience by utilizing the ones provided in the above athletic equipment manager job description example.
This will show to the recruiter/employer that you have been successful working as an athletic equipment manager, which can boost your chances of getting the new job, especially if it requires someone with some athletic equipment manager work experience.
Conclusion
This post has provided detailed coverage of the athletic equipment manager job description, highlighting the major responsibilities and duties that they typically perform.
Individuals interested in becoming an athletic equipment manager will find this post helpful in learning about what they do and the job requirements they need to meet to be able to work as an athletic equipment m.
Employers needing to hire competent individuals for the athletic equipment manager position will also find this article beneficial. They can apply the athletic equipment manager job description template provided on this page in making a detailed one, for use in attracting the best talent to their organization.
