About the Job:
Dorset Cricket | Dorset | Senior Leadership Team
Lead the system that underpins cricket across an entire county.
Dorset Cricket is seeking an exceptional senior leader to shape, strengthen and deliver recreational cricket across Dorset.
This is not a programme management role. It is a system leadership role, responsible for aligning clubs, leagues, schools, volunteers, and partners into a coherent, modern, and sustainable countywide cricket offer.
If you are motivated by building systems that work, not just initiatives that look good, this is a rare opportunity to lead meaningful change at scale.
About Dorset Cricket
Dorset Cricket is a community-focused organisation committed to creating positive social impact through the power of sport. We exist to grow and sustain cricket across the county, using the game as a platform for belonging, wellbeing and opportunity.
Our purpose is to create a lifelong connection to sport. Cricket is more than a game; it is a vehicle for identity, confidence and connection, from a child's first experience through to lifelong participation as a player, volunteer, coach, official or supporter.
We are now entering a new phase of ambition.
Under a unified "We Are Dorset Cricket" approach, we are bringing together governance, leagues, representative cricket, and community programmes under a single clear vision. Our ambition is to build a joined-up, modern cricket system that reduces fragmentation, strengthens collaboration and ensures alignment from playground to performance.
We are committed to:
* Strong, sustainable and well-governed clubs
* Progressive and inclusive leagues
* Safe environments where safeguarding is foundational
* Clear, accessible pathways for young people
* A volunteer workforce that feels valued and enabled
Our ambition is simple: a game for everyone, everywhere
Trust underpins our governance. Safeguarding, inclusion and transparency are embedded expectations, not aspirations.
The Role
As Head of Recreational Cricket, you will sit within the senior leadership structure and act as the system leader for recreational cricket in Dorset.
You will be accountable for delivering the Recreational and Young People portfolios, translating strategy into aligned, outcome-focused delivery across the county.
You will:
* Lead delivery of the Dorset Cricket Strategic Plan across Recreation and Young People
* Strengthen and align Dorset's club and league ecosystem
* Ensure full compliance with ECB standards, regulatory frameworks and safeguarding expectations
* Embed inclusion and safety as non-negotiable foundations of delivery
* Support, enable and develop the volunteer workforce
* Provide clear performance insight, assurance and risk visibility to the CEO, Board and ECB
This role does not create strategy; it ensures strategy is delivered with clarity, consistency and measurable impact.
You will operate across semi-autonomous environments, leading through influence, credibility and clarity rather than hierarchy.
Scope & Impact
Recreational cricket is the foundation of the game. This role influences:
* The health and sustainability of clubs and leagues across Dorset
* The quality of young people's first experience of cricket
* Volunteer recruitment, retention and development
* The safeguarding culture across the recreational system
* Dorset Cricket's reputation and trust within the ECB network
Success will be defined by a joined-up, inclusive and sustainable system, not isolated activity.
About You
We are looking for a senior leader who combines strategic clarity with delivery discipline.
You will bring:
* Significant experience delivering community or recreational sport at scale
* A deep understanding of volunteer-led club and league systems
* Experience working within national governing body frameworks and assurance structures
* The ability to lead complex stakeholder systems without relying on hierarchy
* Confidence operating in environments that require both collaboration and constructive challenge
You will be:
* Outcomes-driven and commercially aware
* Politically astute and relationship-led
* Comfortable with accountability and transparent reporting
* Visible, values-led and decisive when required
Most importantly, you will understand that system health, not programme volume, is the measure of success.
Equality, Diversity & Safeguarding
Dorset Cricket is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion across all areas of the game. We actively encourage applications from women, individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds, people with disabilities and those from under-represented groups in sports leadership.
Safeguarding is a non-negotiable foundation of our work. The Head of Recreational Cricket holds visible leadership accountability for ensuring that children, young people and adults are not only safe, but feel safe across all recreational environments.
The successful candidate will be required to comply fully with ECB safeguarding and governance regulations.
Location: Dorset (with countywide engagement)
Contract: Full-time
Salary: £30-35k + pension + travel expenses
Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer
Closing Date: 17th March 2026
ECB Enhanced DBS check will be required for the role.
To apply, please submit:
* A CV
* A covering statement outlining your suitability for the role and linked skills.
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: andy.coleman@dorset-cricket.co.uk
Dorset Cricket is committed to high standards of governance and leadership and welcomes applications from individuals who share our ambition to make cricket inclusive, sustainable and accessible for life.
Requirements added by the job poster
* Valid driver’s license
* Accept a background check
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