Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. The PJL is a global showjumping competition focused on elite team competition, sustainable professional sport, and exceptional experiences for riders, horses, and fans. The Director, Sporting Operations will lead competition governance, FEI compliance, calendar and format development, venue and operating partner management, event delivery, logistics, stakeholder support, and horse welfare across the league’s international operations.
Responsibilities
- Support the maintenance of the PJL’s FEI approval, and act as a senior point of contact for federation correspondence and committee queries
- Contribute to the drafting and ongoing revision of series rules, ensuring the calendar, schedules, prize money, invitation criteria, order of go and world ranking points remain fully compliant
- Contribute to ensuring that every aspect of physical competition meets FEI standards — officials, stabling, veterinary and anti-doping procedures, disciplinary process, safety and welfare protocols
- Oversee post-event reporting and submissions to the relevant federations and national bodies
- Shape and maintain the season calendar: reviewing date conflicts, liaising with national federations and venues, and applying for additional or amended dates
- Refine the competition format and weekend structure over time, using operational experience and rider, official and broadcast feedback
- Work with technology and data colleagues on scoring across both the individual event and the full season, and on the integration between operational systems and competition data
- Maintain day-to-day venue relationships, acting as the PJL’s operational point of contact and providing information as required
- Support the negotiation, review and renewal of venue agreements, and contribute the sporting and technical requirements that sit behind them
- Manage the relationship with the PJL’s third-party event operators, holding them to scope, budget and standard, and resolving issues before they reach the field of play
- Commission and review post-event summaries and drive the improvements they identify into the next event
- Identify and help recruit operators and suppliers for future seasons and new territories
- Support the team in ensuring riders, owners, horses, grooms and officials have everything they need to travel to, stay at and compete at PJL events — including transport, customs, accommodation and on-site care
- Support the onboarding of team managers, and act as a senior escalation point for rider, owner, team and groom queries
- Represent the League at industry events and gatherings, building relationships across the sport and gathering market feedback
- Act as an internal authority on equestrian standards, advising wider team on best practice
- Ensure welfare considerations are built into commercial, broadcast, marketing and venue decisions
Skills
- Substantial senior operational experience, preferably within an international sporting series
- A demonstrable track record of delivering complex live events across multiple countries
- Experience managing third-party operators, contractors and venues, including holding them to contractual scope and standard
- Credibility, and the judgement to know when to escalate and when to decide
- Strong commercial literacy: comfortable with budgets, agreements and cost control
- Willingness to travel
- Working knowledge of FEI rules and the practical realities of staging compliant competition — officials, veterinary and anti-doping procedure, stabling, safety and disciplinary process
- Experience of building an operational function from a standing start, including hiring and structuring a team
Company Overview