Hartlepool United is pleased to announce that Martin Jesper is joining the Club in the role of Acting Executive Director with immediate effect. He will have overall responsibility for the Club's strategic, operational and stakeholder engagement activities, reporting directly to the Board of Directors.
Martin originally qualified as a chartered accountant, however over the last 15 years he has become an established business transformation professional of aspirational, yet underperforming, organisations - familiar with the short and medium-term challenges currently faced by the Club. For the last 8 years, Martin has been actively involved in professional football. He has held senior executive roles at Darlington FC and then at Heart of Midlothian FC – with a range of responsibilities that has covered all areas of football club activities. Since leaving Hearts in 2017, he has completed a 2-year MSc in Sports Directorship (Leading High Performance Sporting Organisations) and continued to advise a number of professional clubs across the league pyramid.
Club Chairman Raj Singh said: “Martin has been providing constructive challenge to the Club's short and medium term plans over the last 3 months. His combined business, sporting and leadership expertise are ideally placed to help the Club through the challenges that lie ahead and I am sure that everyone will support him in his role”.
Martin added: “This is an exciting, yet hugely challenging, role. Alongside every other club, Hartlepool United faces a period of immense uncertainty and I look forward to working with everyone connected with the Club to help create a sustainable club model and performance improvements both
on and off the pitch.”