Who is Jack Ross? Newcastle United new Head of Football Strategy

Ross was earlier the interim head of coach development at the Magpies.

Jack Ross is set to take on a significant leadership role that will aid in creating a uniform sports mentality throughout the organisation, reporting to a new sports Director.

Alongside senior leadership at every location, he will facilitate communication, teamwork, and the application of best practices in men’s, women’s, and academy football within the Football Directorate.

Jack, who previously managed nearly 300 professional games, started as Head of Coach Development at Newcastle United’s Academy in March 2023 before becoming Head of Strategic Technical Football Partnerships. He has persisted in offering important employees strategic support and mentoring.

Jack will be in charge of developing strategic partnerships with other clubs, bringing in fresh football development and talent pathway options in the UK and abroad, and managing the team’s player loan and emerging talent plan.

The creation of this model aims to promote the growth of Newcastle United’s worldwide brand and intellectual property while also facilitating talent depth and retention.

Who is Newcastle’s new Head of Football Strategy, Jack Ross?

Jack Ross started his career in football as a player. During his playing days, he featured for many clubs throughout his professional career. He represented seven clubs, commencing his football journey in 1995 at Camelon Juniors, a Scottish club.

From there, he spearheaded his football career and continued playing for other clubs until he finally decided to hang up his boots in 2011 when he was playing for a Scottish team, Dunfermline Athletic.

After a few years away from football, Ross then began his managerial career at Alloa Athletic, where he spent a year before becoming St Mirren’s head coach. There, he spent two years and changed the trajectory of St Mirren as he led them to the Scottish Championship and promotion to the Scottish Premiership.

Ross’ managerial shrewdness was rewarded with the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year award. This enticed Championship club Sunderland, who appointed Ross as their next head coach.

However, his time at Sunderland didn’t last long. Ross’s failure at the club resulted in his managerial contract being terminated by the club as they sat sixth in the League One table.

He continued his coaching career after being appointed as Hibernian manager, where he spent three years, and later left for Dundee United. But it wasn’t all glittering as he suffered setbacks at Dundee. The club finally decided to cut him loose after sacking him on 30 August 2022, after only seven games in charge in his second season.

Despite managing lesser-known clubs, Ross’s turning point in his career came when he was hired as the interim head of coach development at Newcastle United in 2023. But his career was lying elsewhere as the club thought he would be more suited to take over the head of strategic technical football partnerships role.

What will be Ross’s role as Magpies’ Head of Football Strategy?

As mentioned earlier, Ross will now oversee “the club’s player loan and emerging talent strategy” and “build strategic relationships with other clubs” in the UK and overseas.

Jack told Newcastle’s website: “This is an exciting opportunity to help the club build on the outstanding progress and successes it has achieved on and off the pitch in recent seasons.”

Newcastle say he will “help to develop a consistent sporting philosophy across the club” and support “communication, collaboration and the implementation of best practice across men’s, women’s and academy football”, all aimed at “enabling talent depth and retention”.

We have appointed Jack Ross as our Head of Football Strategy 🤝Reporting into a new Sporting Director, Jack will take on an important leadership role that will help to develop a consistent sporting philosophy across the club.

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) July 14, 2025

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