Performance Innovation Consultant %E2%80%93 Data at Uk Sports Institute
Job Description
The UK Sports Institute is recruiting a Performance & Innovation Consultant – Data, combining high-performance consultancy with specialist expertise across data science, analytics, AI and digital technologies.
Working within the Performance & Innovation (P&I) function, the successful candidate will work directly with sports to turn performance challenges into clearly defined questions and projects capable of delivering meaningful performance impact.
The role has a particular focus on helping sports maximise the value of performance data, designing and leading innovative data-focused projects that improve athlete performance and decision-making.
This is not simply a technical data science position. It requires the ability to understand the performance environment, identify where data and innovation can make a difference, and bring together the right expertise to deliver solutions.
- Work closely with sports to understand and refine their performance requirements and challenges.
- Translate performance needs into clear, answerable questions and well-scoped projects.
- Identify performance gaps where data science, innovation and technical expertise can create meaningful impact.
- Design and lead data-focused projects supporting athlete performance and decision-making.
- Apply expertise across data science, analytics, AI and digital technologies.
- Develop intelligence across the high-performance system to identify emerging opportunities.
- Build strong networks of technical and innovation specialists.
- Connect elite sport with expertise and knowledge from outside the sporting environment.
- Translate external technologies, methods and expertise into practical high-performance applications.
- Engage regularly with sports within training and competition environments.
The role requires an unusual combination of technical expertise and consultancy capability.
Candidates will need to demonstrate the ability to understand complex performance problems, engage effectively with coaches and performance practitioners, and determine where data science can genuinely influence practice.
Relevant expertise is likely to include:
Data Science | Analytics | AI | Digital Technology | Project Leadership | Performance Consultancy | Stakeholder Engagement | Innovation
The successful candidate will also need to be comfortable operating directly within elite training and competition environments and working across different sports and performance challenges.
This is a senior applied role with the potential to influence data-informed practice across the UK high-performance sport system.
Rather than being embedded within one sport, the consultant will work across multiple performance environments, connecting:
Performance Questions → Data → Technical Expertise → Innovation → Applied Solutions → Performance Impact
UKSI has supported British Olympic and Paralympic sport since 2002 and reports contributing to more than 1,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals across its history.
Applicants must submit a CV and responses to the UKSI application questions through the careers portal. Responses should be no longer than two sides of A4 and can either be entered directly or included within the same document as the CV.
UKSI specifically advises candidates that personalised responses are important and discourages generic AI-generated application content.
Applications close: Wednesday 9 September 2026
View the vacancy and apply via UK Sports Institute