This post provides detailed information on the sports facility manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they typically perform.
It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the sports facility manager role by most employers.
What Does a Sports Facility Manager Do?
A sports facility manager supervises the daily activities, maintenance, and scheduling of sports facilities, ensuring a secure and pleasing environment for staff, visitors, athletes, and other stakeholders.
The sports facility manager job description entails managing the activities, maintenance, and arrangement of sports venues, such as stadia, arenas, and entertainment centers, ensuring facilities are safe, clean, and accurately prepared for sports events and operations.
It also involves participating in event planning, budgeting, and staff supervision, and coordinating with teams, vendors, and stakeholders.
The sports facility manager duties also include maintenance of facility, safety, and security, and ensuring that games kick off without a drawback.
Their responsibilities can be as simple as performing basic upkeep and maintenance of the facility or as complex as carrying out financial and event management functions that include safety compliance, staff supervision, and budgeting.
Sports facility managers perform a wide range of duties using various tools and technologies, including booking and scheduling software, security systems, marketing and analytics tools, maintenance management systems, and communication platforms.
Where Sports Facility Managers Work
Sports facility managers work mostly in arenas, gym, or stadia, but the opportunities opening up are also in the parks and recreation departments, in swimming pools, and golf courses.
In highly sports-loving countries, such as the United States, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Brazil or Latin America, sports facility managers are in high demand.
Sports Facility Manager Training and Certification
You can begin your sports facility management career by obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management (with specialization in facility management where position), Business Administration (with focus on sports management), or in a related area.
In addition to a degree, you will need to acquire some practical knowledge and experience in sports facility management by taking up internship, part-time, voluntary, or entry-level positions.
This will enable you to develop valuable skills you will need to succeed as a sports facility manager when you eventually get the role, including event planning and management skills, decision-making skills, and the ability to manage and motivate a team.
You can advance your career and prepare for advance roles with a Master’s degree in Business Management and also take some professional certificate courses in Sports Facility Management to arm yourself with specialized knowledge to effectively perform scheduling, budgeting, customer service, and maintenance functions.
Sports facility managers can also improve their knowledge and expertise by completing relevant certification programs.
For example, the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) is one that is highly regarded within the industry and that can be of especial benefit to sports facility managers.
Sports Facility Manager Job Description Example/Sample/Template
The sports facility manager job description may consist of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities depending on the organization they work for:
- Manage the daily operations of the facility, including maintaining equipment, managing staff, scheduling events, practices, and rentals, and ensuring effective use of the facility
- Ensure the smooth operation of sports facilities and provide a perfect experience for athletes and onlookers
- Provide effective leadership that ensures all sport facilities staff understand and work to assist business objectives
- Maintain and keep the facility clean and safe through engagement in routine maintenance assignment and personal improvement
- Oversee areas related to HR within facility operations, health and safety, stakeholder engagement, and procedures
- Discover and plan future sport facility development, especially in planning for the best operational efficiency and end user experience
- Guide and motivate the facilities operations assistant management team in the areas of personal development plans, individual work programs, and team review
- Collaborate with other senior colleagues, teams, facility users, coaches, and other stakeholders to review best practices and innovation in customer service
- Implement safety protocols, manage emergency procedures, and conduct regular inspections to ensure safe and secure environment
- Build and enforce facility policies and processes, such as facility maintenance, booking and scheduling processes, and safety protocols to ensure smooth operations and compliance with regulations
- Manage finances and carry out financial planning, forecasting for the facility, and budgeting, and ensure planned maintenance and equipment renewal is scheduled and resourced accordingly to ensure outstanding customer service delivery
- Ensure proper setup and logistics for events, working with event organizers and teams to meet their needs
- Provide and supervise the facility’s operational budget, including expense control and revenue generation
- Consistently review the quality of services across the relevant sports facilities, ensuring there is a culture of on-going service development
- Appoint, instruct, and oversee facility staff, including security, customer service, and maintenance personnel, providing advice and guidance on all aspects of facility operations and customer service development
- Ensure safety of facilities for all users, including responding to emergency situations, enforcing safety protocols, and maintaining security measures
- Work closely with budget operators within sports facility operations to ensure revenue and expenses remains at the approved budgetary targets for the designated sports facilities
- Ensure full compliance with all legal commitments, such as building, fire, and health and safety regulations
- Compile, examine, and explain data associated with facilities to allow accurate management decisions in executing sports plans.
Download sports facility manager job description template (pdf).
Sports Facility Manager Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success
The sports facility manager requires certain technical skills, industry knowledge, and a number of personal attributes to be successful on the job and career and to qualify for hiring by most recruiters/employers, including:
- Communication: The ability to interact and communicate effectively with different stakeholders, including vendors, sponsors, athletes, teams, event organizers, and internal staff is strongly required among sports facility managers. For successful collaboration and smooth operation of the facility, sports facility managers should make both their written and oral communication to be brief and clear.
- Effective Time Management: Sports facility managers need time management skills to be able to prioritize tasks, handle multiple projects, and meet deadlines to ensure smooth operations. Excellent time management will also help sports facility managers to maintain records on the infrastructure, processes, and machines that organizations depend on for operations, ensure that projects are completed on time, and time scheduled properly.
- Strong Leadership: This comprises the ability to inspire and oversee staff, delegate tasks effectively, provide guidance, resolve issues, develop a positive team environment, and reach successful outcomes. Having this skill will help your team achieve their best and meet deadlines within a specified period.
- Problem-solving: In order to keep the facility run smoothly, sports facility managers need the ability to think on their feet and devise effective solutions. They need the willingness to learn and manage different tasks so they can understand the complexity of sports facility management. But with the right knowledge and skills, they can discover innovative solutions that make managing facilities easier and more efficient.
- Organization: Sports facility managers need strong organizational skills to manage multiple tasks effectively, make the best use of them, and meet deadlines. Organizational skills also help in monitoring the facility, scheduling shifts, and solving problems if they arise.
- Customer Service: Effective customer service ensures that athletes, onlookers, and event organizers have a positive experience at the facility. It helps sports facility managers in addressing issues, resolving conflicts, creating a positive experience for athletes, and thriving to meet customer requirements.
- Adaptability: Sports facility managers need to be adaptable and resilient in their role for the success of the facility. As the sports industry is fast-paced and ever-changing, they need to be flexible to adjust to these changing situations, sudden challenges, and new technologies. This should not just be to react to changes but seek opportunities for innovation and improvement. With adaptability skills, sports facility managers can easily handle uncertainties, guide their teams through transitions, and ensure the success of their facilities.
- Team Management: Having a team of staff members to manage, such as the company’s maintenance workers, security teams, and cleaning squads is one essential assignment of the sports facility manager role. They must have the ability to find the way for individual employee income, design weekly schedules, and delegate tasks. It’s also crucial that they promote harmony and possess the ability to resolve conflicts between staff members.
- Budget Management: Sports facility managers need financial acumen and tactical knowledge that will enable them to create and manage budgets, track the flow of expenses for maintenance, establish facility fees, set the right membership prices and ticket costs, hire new employees, determine employee salaries, and make financial strategic decisions to optimize resources while maintaining high-quality standards.
- Strategic Facility Planning: Sports facility managers need to plan for future growth, optimize facility use, think strategically about long-term goals, and align with organizational objectives. They need to possess the skills for predicting trends, controlling resource allocation effectively, and ensuring that facilities assist the overall corporate strategy.
- Interpersonal Skills: Sports facility managers need the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with athletes and staff, and other people. Their interaction must be compassionate and their communication very clear and understandable. This also requires the ability to collaborate with other departments or organizations.
- Knowledge of Sports: Sports facility managers need to develop a genuine passion for sports and a deep understanding of the sports industry. They need to get familiar with emerging trends and best practices as well as safety standards and regulations related to sports facilities.
- Technical Knowledge and Maintenance: Having a strong understanding of the technical aspects concerning facility management is very important for sports facility managers. They need knowledge of building systems, plumbing, electrical, and other vital infrastructure in order to oversee maintenance activities, troubleshoot technical issues, and ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
- Risk Management and Safety: Sports facility managers must be adept in identifying potential risks, implementing safety protocols, and ensuring compliance with safety regulations. They need the skill that will enable them conduct risk assessments, develop emergency response strategies, and encourage a culture of safety. When risk management is prioritized, both the organization and its residents will be protected.
Sports Facility Manager Job Description for Resume
If you have worked before as a sports facility 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 sports facility manager job description provided above.
You can express the duties and responsibilities you have carried out as a sport facility manager in your resume’s Professional Experience by utilizing the ones provided in the above sports facility manager job description example.
This will show to the recruiter/employer that you have been successful working as a sports facility manager, which can boost your chances of getting the new job, especially if it requires someone with some sports facility manager work experience.
Conclusion
This post has provided detailed coverage of the sports facility manager job description, highlighting the major responsibilities and duties that they typically perform.
It also provided information on the required skills and training sports facility managers need to be hired and to be effective on the job.
Individuals who are interested in the sports facility management career and want to learn about the duties and responsibilities of the position will find this post helpful.
Employers looking to make a detailed job description for the sports facility manager role for use in hiring competent candidates will also find this article useful.
They can apply the sports facility manager job description template provided on this page in making one for their organizations.
