The New York Red Bulls have named Jochen Schneider as their head of sport, the club announced Friday.
Schneider, 51, replaces Kevin Thelwell after he returned to the English Premier League in February to take over as the director of football for Everton. Thelwell left a few days before the 2022 MLS season began.
Schneider’s role gives him oversight on all aspects of RBNY’s sporting side. Sporting director Denis Hamlett will remain in charge of the club’s day-to-day soccer operations and report to Schneider.
“I am very pleased to join the New York Red Bulls as their new head of sport and am absolutely honored to be able to return to the Red Bull family,” Schneider said in a release. “I look forward to working closely together with Marc de Grandpré along with Denis Hamlett, Gerhard Struber and all the members of the sporting department to lead this club. I am really excited to work in MLS – the fastest growing soccer league worldwide."
Schneider has held various roles across German Bundesliga clubs, and was most recently the head of sport and communication at Schalke 04 FC. He’s been the sporting director at VfB Stuttgart, where they won the Bundesliga in 2007.
In 2015, Schneider joined the Red Bull family, where he took on the role of coordinator sport global soccer. In June 2017, he was promoted to head of sport & internationalization for RB Leipzig, working closely with Ralf Rangnick.
He helped bring RBNY homegrown product and US men's national team midfielder Tyler Adams to RB Leipzig in 2019.