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General managers are individuals employed in the sport and physical activity sector who are experienced managers. They may be, for example, a centre manager, operation manager, business manager, contract manager, governing body manager or head of department. They could also be a sport development manager or other manager in a community sports setting.
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General Manager
The role
Once general managers are qualified in their chosen role, within this role, they will have:
General managers can:
General Managers can also specialise in four industry areas:
What it takes
The following common or transferable skills are most frequently asked for by employers in general manager job adverts across the UK:
| Skills and behaviours | % Prevalence in job ads |
|---|---|
| Customer Service | 54% |
| Management | 50% |
| Sales | 44% |
| Leadership | 44% |
| Communication | 41% |
| Operations | 37% |
| Coaching | 15% |
| Budgeting | 13% |
| Strategic Planning | 13% |
| Innovation | 13% |
To find out more about the minimum knowledge, skills and behaviours an individual must understand and demonstrate to become a general manager, you can visit our occupational professional standards library.
Getting in
There are several ways that you can become a general manager. Look at the options below to explore what option works best for you.
If you already have qualifications in the sport and physical activity sector, then you can work towards becoming a general manager by completing management and leadership-focused CPD courses such as:
You can browse all of the CIMSPA-endorsed general manager CPD courses in our Endorsed Training Directory.
If you are already working in a relevant general manager role within the sport and physical activity sector (example roles include leisure centre manager, business manager or sports development manager) and you have three years of experience within this role, then you can apply to become a CIMSPA General Manager Member. Your employer should support you to gain General Manager professional status with training, mentoring, and supervised experience to gain knowledge and skills as a key part of your career progression. This will enable you to undertake a higher-level general management role and prepare you for future progression in senior management.
Some colleges and universities have embedded content aligned with the General Manager occupational professional standard into their learning programmes.
In the Endorsed Training Directory, you can check what courses our CIMSPA endorsed colleges and universities offer as well as course entry requirements, a summary of course content/material, as well as more information on how to apply.
You can become a General Manager by completing an Operations Manager or Chartered Manager apprenticeship.
You can find out more about completing an Operations Manager or a Chartered Manager apprenticeship via The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) website.
Training
Typical earnings
Not currently available
Demand
Not currently available
Typical working patterns
Not currently available
As well as exploring new career pathways, as a general manager, you can also choose to progress your career by completing further training or continued professional development (CPD) in your role. This training can be added to enable general managers to show their expertise in additional areas such as health and safety, risk assessment and leadership.
You can explore CIMSPA-endorsed general manager CPD courses via our Endorsed Training Directory.
The content of the job posts displayed on the CIMSPA jobs board are pulled in through feeds from websites which are not under the control of CIMSPA.
CIMSPA will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on the jobs board.