Sports Analytics Manager
Canva Designer · United Arab Emirates
Apply & track with Apply EdgeWe're Hiring: Sports Analytics Manager
Our teams collaborate across Sports Operations, Performance, Coaching, Scouting, Marketing, Commercial, Technology, Finance, and external sports partners.The RoleWe are seeking an experienced Sports Analytics Manager to lead the development and application of analytics across sporting performance, talent evaluation, strategy, operations, and commercial decision-making.The ideal candidate will combine strong statistical and analytical expertise with a practical understanding of sports. This role will transform complex datasets into actionable insights that help coaches, executives, scouts, athletes, and business teams make better decisions.Key ResponsibilitiesDevelop and implement sports analytics strategies aligned with organizational objectives.Build analytical frameworks to evaluate sporting performance, team effectiveness, player contribution, and operational outcomes.Collect, integrate, clean, validate, and analyze sports performance and operational data.Analyze player, team, match, training, competition, and event data.Develop performance metrics and analytical models appropriate to different sports and competitions.Create dashboards and reporting tools for coaches, athletes, executives, scouts, and operational teams.Translate complex analytical findings into clear and actionable recommendations.Partner with coaching and performance teams to identify areas for sporting improvement.Support player evaluation, recruitment, scouting, talent identification, and roster decisions.Develop player-performance profiles, benchmarking models, and comparative analyses.Analyze opponent performance, tactical patterns, strengths, weaknesses, and competitive trends.Support game preparation through opponent analysis and performance insights.Evaluate tactical, technical, physical, and situational performance where relevant.Analyze historical performance to identify trends, patterns, and predictive indicators.Develop predictive models for player performance, team outcomes, injury risk, workload, or other relevant use cases.Apply statistical methods, machine learning, and advanced analytics where they provide meaningful value.Conduct scenario analysis to support roster planning, competition strategy, scheduling, and resource allocation.Evaluate the effectiveness of training programs, tactical changes, and performance interventions.Integrate data from tracking systems, event feeds, wearables, video analysis, scouting platforms, and other sources.Establish data-quality standards and validation processes for sports datasets.Work with Technology and Data teams to improve data architecture, pipelines, integrations, and analytical infrastructure.Evaluate new sports-data providers, analytical technologies, and emerging performance tools.Develop automated reporting and analytical workflows to improve efficiency.Benchmark athletes, teams, competitions, and sporting programs against relevant standards.Support scouting and recruitment teams with objective, data-driven evaluation.Identify undervalued talent, emerging players, performance trends, and strategic opportunities.Provide analytical support for player contracts, transfers, acquisitions, or roster decisions where applicable.Analyze commercial and fan data to support sponsorship, ticketing, media, merchandising, and engagement strategies.Support audience segmentation, fan behavior analysis, and sports-business forecasting.Develop models to evaluate the financial and sporting impact of strategic decisions.Monitor key performance indicators and communicate material trends to leadership.Establish analytical governance, documentation, methodologies, and reporting standards.Present findings to senior executives, coaches, technical staff, and other non-technical stakeholders.Protect confidential athlete, team, commercial, and strategic information.Ensure analytics activities comply with applicable data-protection, privacy, competition, and organizational requirements.Lead analytical projects from problem definition through modeling, validation, implementation, and post-project evaluation.Mentor analysts and promote analytical capability across the organization.Continuously improve analytical methodologies, tools, models, and decision-support processes.Key Performance IndicatorsAnalytical project delivery rateModel accuracy and reliabilityData quality and completenessDashboard adoptionReporting turnaround timePlayer evaluation accuracyScouting recommendation effectivenessTalent identification successPerformance improvement attributable to analyticsOpponent-analysis effectivenessPredictive model performanceForecast accuracyTraining and performance insight adoptionDecision-support utilizationAnalytical automation rateData-processing efficiencyStakeholder satisfactionAnalytical recommendation acceptanceStrategic initiative contributionRecruitment decision supportPlayer benchmarking coverageCompetitive intelligence coverageCommercial analytics impactFan insight utilizationCost efficiency of analytics operationsData-source reliabilityProject ROIResearch and innovation outputAnalyst productivityOverall contribution of analytics to sporting and business outcomesIdeal CandidateThe successful candidate should have strong experience in sports analytics, sports science, performance analysis, data science, statistics, business intelligence, scouting analytics, or sports strategy, preferably within a professional sports, league, federation, sports technology, media, or performance environment.The candidate should demonstrate:Strong understanding of sports analytics and data-driven decision-making.Excellent statistical, quantitative, and analytical capabilities.Experience analyzing player, team, match, training, or competition data.Strong knowledge of statistical modeling, forecasting, experimentation, and predictive analytics.Experience with Python, R, SQL, or comparable analytical technologies.Familiarity with sports-data providers, tracking systems, performance platforms, or video-analysis tools.Experience developing dashboards using business-intelligence or data-visualization platforms.Strong understanding of data quality, data management, and analytical governance.Ability to communicate analytical findings to non-technical audiences.Experience working with coaches, scouts, athletes, executives, or sports-performance professionals.Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.Ability to distinguish meaningful performance signals from statistical noise.Strong project-management and stakeholder-management capabilities.Commercial awareness and understanding of the broader sports industry is highly desirable.Experience applying machine learning or advanced analytics to sports problems is highly desirable.Strong attention to detail and commitment to analytical integrity.High standards of confidentiality and professional judgment.Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.Experience working with international and distributed teams is highly desirable.