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Background – Baseball Australia

Baseball Australia (BA) is the governing body for baseball throughout the country and is primarily responsible for the National Team, National Pathways, Australian Baseball League, International Partnerships and other centralised functions and support. BA works with seven State and Territory associations and 300+ clubs across the country, together with 8 domestic + additional international licensees in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). Australia has the 4th biggest Little League program in the world and an emerging schools’ product of Baseball 5.

BA also owns and operates the Australian Baseball League (ABL), working closely with its 8 independently run teams, partners and broadcasters, to deliver what is one of the top 5 Professional Baseball Leagues in the World. In the recent 2021 season, the ABL was broadcast in over 50 countries creating significant international opportunities across Asia and USA.

BA also represents Australian Baseball on the International stage. In addition to the ABL, Team Australia and the Emeralds compete in World Cup competitions and Team Australia participates in the four-yearly World Baseball Classic. Australia is currently ranked in the top 6 in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.

The Role: Chief Executive Officer - Baseball Australia

The challenge for the CEO of Baseball Australia is to focus on a new strategic direction around Baseball that brings together all stakeholders to a common strategy and goals.

Highly effective stakeholder management will be a key element of the role, as the CEO role spans multiple domestic and international bodies, and the Board has identified this skillset as critical to the future success of the organisation.

The CEO has the opportunity to build upon a strong platform for the commercial growth of Baseball in Australia and Internationally. The CEO is required to represent the organisation with confidence and integrity, being able to articulate the strategic direction and influence key stakeholders to work collaboratively to meet strategic priorities and organisational goals. They will need to be a dynamic and collaborative leader with excellent people skills and with the ability to navigate through complex issues, find innovative solutions and to identify and then capitalise on business opportunities. Overseeing the financial health of the organisation, understanding the intricacies of government funding and developing the profile and opportunities for BA and the ABL.

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Responsibilities:

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for providing leadership, direction and overall management of the activities and services of BA. In fulfilling these duties, the Chief Executive Officer will be expected to achieve positive outcomes for the following duties, including:

Strategic Planning and Policy - Initiate, develop and implement strategy, appropriate policies and practices. - Reflect this strategy in an appropriate governance and management structure for the organisation.

Financial - In conjunction with the Board, manage BA operations efficiently and profitably, ensuring revenue sources are diverse and stable to underpin the delivery of BA services. - Ensure BA is aware and proactive in the sourcing of grants and makes timely applications, administers the programs in a professional manner and completes all grants funding reporting.

Participation - Support State/Territory and Grassroot clubs in the overall participation growth of players, coaches, umpires and scorers across Australia in T-ball, Baseball and Baseball 5.

Commercial Sponsorship - Develop and support sales strategies to maximise commercial revenue streams, including renewals and new business acquisition on both the domestic and international fronts. - Develop and implement a strategy to globally monetise the sports assets and BA’s suite of brands, with a focus on the Asian market.

Promotion and Marketing - Ensure the optimal promotion of all BA activities, services and programs while building the profile of Baseball through strong brand and communications programs.

Broadcast and digital - Develop and drive the broadcast and digital strategy for the sport.

Event and Competition Management - Contribute to and develop BA’s event competition portfolio. Contribute to the successful delivery of events and competitions as required.

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High Performance - Work with and support the National High Performance team to ensure the long-term sustainability of all national teams’ success, in particular the Southern Thunder and Emeralds. - Develop and implement a plan to provide the Southern Thunder with every opportunity to perform at the highest level in Premier 12 and World Baseball Classic events.

International - Pursue future International events for Australia. - Develop and implement an Asian strategy to expand the sport’s overall reach across the Asia Pacific.

Australian Baseball League (ABL) - Refine and implement the Board’s strategy for the long-term operations and success of the ABL.

Knowledge:

- Articulating a vision; explaining the benefits and getting buy in to a vision; painting the picture for the future; embedding behaviours aligned to delivering the vision. - Establishing, driving, and maintaining a high-performing culture. - Navigating through complex issues and competing agendas and to prioritise, manage and deliver outcomes that meet strategic objectives. - Understanding how to manage complex and diverse stakeholder groups both externally and internally within the system. - Knowledge of how to navigate International and Australian partners and stakeholders, understanding of the links to IOC / AOC / IPC / PA / CGA - Excellent strategic planning, strong financial and commercial acumen. Corporate Governance knowledge.; understanding of how to manage business budgets. - Demonstrated knowledge of how boards operate and what boards will ask of a CEO. - Understanding of the commercial aspects of running a sports business. - An understanding the structure of Australian sport e.g., community, state, and performance, and the interplay between participation, performance, and commercial growth in Sport. - Understanding of the complex and political nature of the system; understanding how to navigate the macro environment to get results for a high-performing program.

Experience:

- Building and maintaining trusting relationships at board and executive levels. - Setting and executing a long-term strategy. - Understanding of government funding and the commercial aspects of running a sport business. Managing the operational, commercial, and financial performance of an organisation and delivering positive outcomes. - Identifying and developing talent through coaching and performance feedback; experience attracting, developing, and retaining key talent.

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Personal Attributes

- Positive Approach - demonstrating a positive attitude in the face of difficult or challenging situations; providing an uplifting (yet realistic) outlook on what the future holds and the opportunities it might present. - Authenticity – demonstrating openness and honesty, behaving consistently, and acting in accordance with moral, ethical, professional and organisational guidelines. - Self-awareness - demonstrating an awareness of your own strengths and development needs as well as the impact of your own behaviour on others; modifying behaviour based on feedback, self-assessment, and knowledge of impact on others. - Courage - proactively confronting difficult issues; making valiant choices and taking bold action in the face of opposition or fear. - Growth Orientation - actively pursuing development experiences to improve interpersonal and organisational impact. Ambitious personally and for the success of Australian athletes and Baseball Australia on the world stage.

How to apply

To apply, the candidates should write in the first instance Jonathan Harris at SRI; [email protected]:

- Letter of application highlighting relevant experience and details of current remuneration. - An up-to-date CV.

Jonathan Harris Managing Partner, ANZ [email protected] +61 (0)413 939 993

SRI

SRI is a boutique global executive search and consulting firm focused on Sport, Media & Entertainment. We work as one partner-led team with staff based in key global markets across eleven offices on four continents.

We offer dedicated and specific sector, function and region expertise. Our services include executive search, board assessment, succession planning, salary benchmarking, advising clients on their internal and external hiring strategy, new market entry and multi-vacancy projects.

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