Chef de Mission – Commonwealth Games Wales
Team Wales are on the look out for the next Chef de Mission, the figurehead lead who will work with the team for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. Held every four years, it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations.
74 teams participate in the Games from Commonwealth nations and territories. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. The expected attendance at the Glasgow 2026 Games is 3500 athletes and officials. The Games are known as ‘the friendly Games’ but competition is fiercely high; and for some non-Olympic sports, the Commonwealth Games is the only opportunity for athletes to compete on a global stage.
Commonwealth Games Wales
Who are Commonwealth Games Wales?
Commonwealth Games Wales (CGW) is the organisation responsible for leading Commonwealth Sporting activity across all of Wales, with our key members being the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) in Wales. CGW is 1 of 74 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) across the world. It is a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation whose mission is to ‘To deliver inspirational and impactful Games’, ‘To drive equality in sport and society across the Commonwealth’ and ‘To excite and empower athletes and young people’.
What does CGW do?
CGW selects the team that will deliver Wales’ strongest performance across all of the individual NGBs and leads the team at the Games in a manner that will inspire and motivate the athletes to deliver their very best performance. CGW also uses the Commonwealth Games as a platform to engage with all individuals across Wales and Welsh communities about elite sport.
As a nation, as-well as the organisation, Wales and CGW have enjoyed unprecedented success in recent Games and CGW wants to ensure the continuation of this trend and deliver an outstanding, inspiring and life changing experience for our athletes in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2026.
Role of the Chef de Mission
The Chef de Mission will be the figurehead lead of Team Wales, reporting into the CEO of CGW.
The key attributes of the role include inspiring and motivating Team Wales (athletes and support staff), act as the spokesperson for the team in the run up and during the Games and represent Wales at official functions.
During the build-up and Games time, the Chef de Mission will work closely with the President, Chair and Executive Board, CEO and Executive Team.
The Chef de Mission will:
- Lead and inspire Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow.
- Create an inspirational environment at the Glasgow 2026 Games enabling the athletes and team to excel.
- Be a proven leader, able to inspire confidence in the team, the media, the event organisers and all other stakeholders of CGW.
- Be the spokesperson for Team Wales in the lead up to and during the Games.
Key Responsibilities
The Chef will:
- Encourage a positive team culture; promoting a performance agenda.
- Attend Team Wales Senior Leadership Team meetings
- Attend the Chef de Mission Seminar and other meetings with the Glasgow 2026 Organising Committee, along with relevant key members of the Senior Leadership Team.
- Build and maintain an influential relationship with the Glasgow 2026 Organising Committee.
- Attend Team Camp/training sessions as required.
- Attend Team send off and homecoming events.
- Through the Head of Engagement to ensure a positive relationship with the media, attending press conferences as required. The Chef de Mission will be one of the designated spokespeople for Team Wales, including the announcement of Team Captain and Team Flag bearer.
- Attend CGW Board and CGW Performance Leads meetings as required.
- Work with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure effective communication with team support staff before, during and after the Games.
- Represent the Team at the Chef de Mission meetings and to Games organisers as required.
- Attend Senior Leadership Team meetings at the Games.
- Support the Team at events and victory ceremonies.
- Support the process to select the Flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
- Support debrief meetings after the Games and assist in providing a post Games report of findings and recommendations to the CEO.
Accountabilities
Accountable to the CEO.
Time commitment
The appointed Chef de Mission should expect to commit the time equivalent of half a day a month for 2025. The time commitment would increase to at least the equivalent of one day a month from January 2026 until the Games (there is a need to be flexible and willingness to increase availability closer to the Games if/when needed). The Chef would also be expected to participate in a visit to Glasgow, in addition to the Chef’s seminar. At Games time it is likely the Chef will be in Glasgow for two to three weeks working full time.
Closing deadline: January 13th 2025
Please send a cover letter and a copy of your CV to [email protected]
Chef de Mission Person Specification
| Essential Requirements | Desirable Requirements | |
| Knowledge and Experience | Experience of dealing with media requests and media interviews Previously demonstrated the ability to inspire others through leading by example and encouraging teamwork Experience of high-performance sport | Have a good working knowledge of Welsh Sporting Bodies Credibility within the sport environment, particularly with NGBs Knowledge of the operating procedures applied within a multisport team Credibility with key sports media Multi-sport Games experience |
| Skills and attributes | Strong communication skills Accomplished public speaker Be a team player Excellent communication skills to sports, Team Wales staff, and to Board Ability to relate to, and engage with, a wide range of stakeholders Ability to embody Commonwealth Games Wales and Commonwealth Games Movement values | Ability to communicate in the Welsh language |
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