Director Of Soccer Analytics at Real Salt Lake
Job Description
Real Salt Lake are recruiting a Director of Soccer Analytics to lead the club's football analytics strategy, with a particular focus on player recruitment, scouting intelligence and evidence-based decision-making.
Working across Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs and the RSL Academy, the successful candidate will oversee recruitment analytics, player evaluation models, data infrastructure and scouting decision-support.
This is a senior opportunity to shape how event data, tracking data, video analysis and applied machine learning inform player identification and recruitment across a multi-team professional football structure.
The Director of Soccer Analytics will lead the development and implementation of a unified recruitment analytics strategy across the organisation.
The role combines football intelligence, advanced statistical modelling, data engineering and applied recruitment analysis, ensuring that scouting and recruitment decisions are supported by robust analytical evidence.
Working closely with the Sporting Director, scouts, coaches and senior leadership, the successful candidate will develop scalable analytical tools, establish consistent player evaluation methodologies and support recruitment decisions across MLS, MLS NEXT Pro and Academy pathways.
- Lead the club-wide football analytics strategy supporting scouting and recruitment.
- Align recruitment methodologies across Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs and the RSL Academy.
- Establish standardised approaches to player identification, evaluation and comparison.
- Develop positional profiles, performance benchmarks and player similarity models.
- Support squad-needs analysis and recruitment shortlisting.
- Coordinate analytical priorities and deliverables around transfer windows.
- Build and maintain advanced player evaluation models.
- Integrate event, tracking and video data to support recruitment decisions.
- Develop performance benchmarking tools and positional comparisons.
- Apply age-curve modelling and contract-value analysis to recruitment targets.
- Explore machine learning approaches to talent identification.
- Translate complex statistical findings into actionable scouting recommendations.
- Manage football data providers and integrations, including platforms such as StatsBomb, Wyscout and SkillCorner.
- Oversee data ingestion, cleaning, storage and integration.
- Maintain high standards of data integrity and accessibility.
- Develop recruitment dashboards, player comparison tools and reporting systems.
- Establish consistent reporting standards across the organisation.
- Evaluate emerging data sources, technologies and research.
- Work collaboratively with the Sporting Director, scouting department and coaching staff.
- Combine data-led analysis, video scouting and live observation to inform player assessments.
- Produce clear player reports and recruitment recommendations.
- Communicate analytical findings to football and executive stakeholders.
- Support evidence-based decision-making across different teams and development pathways.
- Promote knowledge sharing and analytical best practice across the organisation.
Candidates must demonstrate:
- Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science or a related discipline.
- Minimum five years' applied experience in football analytics, recruitment analysis or comparable data-driven scouting environments.
- Demonstrable experience applying analytics to football scouting and recruitment.
- Advanced proficiency in R, Python and SQL.
- Strong experience with data visualisation platforms such as Power BI, Tableau or Looker.
- Extensive experience working with football event and tracking data.
- Strong tactical understanding, including player evaluation, positional requirements and game-model fit.
- Experience supporting recruitment decisions alongside Sporting Directors, scouts and coaches.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet transfer-window deadlines.
- Experience collaborating across complex, multi-team football environments.
PythonRSQLPower BITableauLookerStatsBombOptaWyscoutSkillCornerSecond Spectrum
The role requires the ability to combine statistical modelling, data engineering, visualisation and football-specific interpretation into practical recruitment workflows.
- Master's degree or PhD, strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of machine learning and applied player evaluation modelling.
- Previous experience in scouting, coaching, video analysis or data engineering.
- Experience designing recruitment dashboards and player comparison systems.
- Experience developing scouting reporting infrastructure.
This is a significant leadership opportunity for an experienced football analytics practitioner seeking to influence recruitment strategy at MLS level.
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