Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.

Target Resume Now

About the Role

The Executive Director is the founding leader and public face of the NWSL Foundation, accountable for setting and stewarding the research agenda, convening the ecosystem, and establishing the Foundation as a trusted leader in women's athletic health research. This role requires a leader experienced in developing credible research agendas, synthesizing complex information, and mobilizing resources for impact, comfortable engaging with researchers, clinicians, league leadership, players, and donors.

Responsibilities

Own and steward the Foundation’s multi-year research agenda, grounded in elite women athlete needs and informed by the global research landscape.
Identify gaps, redundancies, and under-resourced areas across women’s athletic health research.
Guide prioritization of research questions to ensure relevance, rigor, and actionability.
Serve as an authoritative voice in shaping norms, priorities, and standards across the field.
Design and lead flagship convenings, including an annual research symposium.
Facilitate alignment and collaboration across academic institutions.
Create structured forums for debate, synthesis, and agenda validation.
Position the Foundation as a coordinator and catalyst.
Establish and oversee research governance structures, including Research Advisory Committees and peer review standards.
Ensure funded, endorsed, or elevated research meets high standards of scientific rigor and ethical integrity.
Protect scientific independence while maintaining relevance to elite sport environments.
Define clear criteria for when and how research may involve NWSL athletes.
Ensure research questions and outputs are designed to be usable in practice.
Partner with High Performance and Medical leadership to pressure-test relevance and applicability.
Support responsible translation of validated research into guidance, frameworks, or insights.
Establish disciplined protocols for research involving NWSL players, prioritizing player welfare, consent, and trust.
Evaluate when athlete participation meaningfully advances the research agenda.
Coordinate closely with League leadership, clubs, and the Players Association as appropriate.
Lead fundraising to sustain and scale the Foundation’s agenda-setting work.
Inspire donors around impact, credibility, and long-term field leadership.
Develop integrated league moments that support fundraising without diluting mission.
Represent the Foundation to philanthropic, academic, and institutional partners.
Build and manage a high-functioning Foundation Board and committee structure.
Partner with the Board on strategy, fiduciary oversight, and long-term vision.
Establish a lean, high-impact operating model and team.
Oversee budget, endowment stewardship, compliance, and reporting.

Requirements

Senior leader with experience building or leading research-adjacent, philanthropic, or mission-driven institutions.
Demonstrated ability to convene and influence senior academic, clinical, and practitioner stakeholders.
Strong judgment and credibility in navigating complex, politically sensitive environments.
Proven fundraiser who can inspire confidence and investment in long-term impact.
Comfortable operating at the intersection of research, elite sport, governance, and philanthropy.
Passion for women’s sports and advancing athlete health through systemic change.

Work Type

Hybrid Work Model: Three days in-office and two remote days per week.

Experience Level

Senior leader

Salary/Compensations

$125,000 - $165,000

Benefits

Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), sick days, and an end-of-year office closure.
Robust Health Coverage: Medical, Dental, Vision, and Mental Health benefits for employees and dependents.
401k with employer match and safe harbor contributions.
Commuter Benefits, Short/Long-Term Disability, Life Insurance, Gym On-Site, Voluntary Pet Insurance, and more!

About the Company

The NWSL Foundation exists to advance the health and longevity of women athletes by supporting women’s health research and convening and coordinating the women’s athletic health research ecosystem.
The Foundation helps guide the research agenda to ensure critical questions are identified, research efforts are aligned across institutions, and findings are translated into practical insights and resources for the benefit of the public and women and girls who participate in athletics.
The Foundation’s role is not to replicate academic research or function primarily as a grantmaker. Instead, it serves as a field-shaping platform—aligning researchers, practitioners, and funders; reducing redundancy; elevating rigor; ensuring practical application, and enabling research that meaningfully advances women athletes’ health, performance, and longevity.
Anchored by an initial endowment, the Foundation will operate with scientific independence, disciplined governance, and a clear focus on actionability.

Equal Opportunity

The NWSL is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.
We celebrate diversity and are deeply committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all employees. All employment decisions—including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, and termination—are made without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at careers@nwslsoccer.com.