Full-Time New England Regional Program Manager
Job Description
At Big City Mountaineers, we work alongside the transformative powers of nature to leave a lasting impact on the lives of youth from disinvested communities. BCM creates opportunities for 12 to 18 year-old students to connect with nature and uncover their own sources of strength, resilience, confidence, serenity and joy by providing free, fully outfitted, and professionally led backcountry trips. The BCM experience is rooted in nature where youth take on healthy and relevant challenges and explore different parts of themselves.
Big City Mountaineers programs occur on the ancestral territories of many of this nation’s first peoples. Our regional hubs are on the lands of the Ute, (Denver), the Sioux and Anishinibawaki (Minneapolis), the Ohlone, Ramaytush, Chochenyo, and Muwekma (San Francisco Bay Area), the Duwamish (Seattle), the Cowlitz and Chinook (Portland), and the Massachusett and Pawtucket (Boston).
For over thirty years, the BCM idea and organization has shown staying power beyond the norm and has a stable operating budget to match. Big City Mountaineers is an organization of a dedicated team of full-time staff, seasonal trip instructors, and volunteers headquartered in Golden, CO.
Position Overview
The New England Regional Program Manager (RPM) is responsible for managing BCM programs based out of Boston. This includes delivering high quality and mission focused day hikes, overnights, weeklong backcountry expeditions, and year-round outdoor programs to partnering youth agencies in the surrounding area. RPMs are responsible for hiring and supporting seasonal instructors, coordinating program logistics, liaising with partner agencies, managing a regional budget and occasionally facilitating programs directly. RPMs are supported directly by and report to BCM’s National Program Director.
RPMs have the secondary emphasis of community engagement. A successful Program Manager will build and maintain strong partnership with youth agencies, volunteers, instructors, and local stakeholders.
The New England RPM will need to spend some time in both the city and surrounding public lands where outdoor programming is held. RPMs can expect to travel to the BCM headquarters in Golden, CO for professional development and national team meetings up to four times a year.
Essential Duties
Community Engagement
RPMs develop and maintain relationships within the communities we work with and serve. This centers on establishing and maintaining partnerships with appropriate youth serving agencies, as well as local BCM supporters. RPMs also work to recruit adult volunteers locally to participate in our programs as well as collaborate with the program team nationally to promote volunteer efforts more broadly. Occasionally RPMs will be required to participate in (or lead) outreach efforts, promotional activities, and fundraising efforts in collaboration with the other members of the BCM team.
Program Leadership
RPMs are responsible for facilitating high quality outdoor programs that are consistent with BCM’s standards and mission as well as relevant to our youth agency partners. To this end, RPMs oversee and orchestrate program logistics including but not limited to securing food, transportation, and any necessary permits or reservations to ensure trips happen in an efficient and cost-effective way. RPMs are additionally expected to hire, train, and supervise a regional team of instructors and volunteers with the support of the broader BCM team. Lastly, RPMs will maintain clear and consistent communication with various stakeholders in their region, in order to maintain a culture of safety and address a partner agency’s expeditions needs. RPMs will also play a significant role in designing, codifying, and systematizing BCM’s program model in collaboration with colleagues working in BCM’s various regions.
Risk Management
RPMs are expected to actively manage risk as it directly and indirectly applies to outdoor programs. During the program season this includes reviewing student registration forms, waivers, and other key documents, conducting thorough pre-trip briefings and post trip de-briefings with instructors and volunteers, equipment inspection and management, serving as an on-call resource for programs in the field, and managing emergency and incident response procedures with the support of the broader BCM team.
During the fall, winter, spring months RPMs are expected to work collaboratively with the national program director to recognize and address gaps in any safety protocols as well as develop or update risk management trainings for field instructors and volunteers.
Program Administration
RPMs keep accurate records of programs, participants, and events using BCM’s data management systems. This includes inputting and tracking student and adult participation in programs using common databases and administering surveys and assessments. RPMs work collaboratively with the program team and executive director to create a budget for their region and are responsible for staying within that budget throughout the year.
Qualifications
- Personal and professional values consistent with BCM’s mission, values, and principles
- Highly motivated to increase access to the outdoors for youth from disinvested communities
- Ability to work both collaboratively and independently, and to know when each is required
- Interpersonal awareness, ability to cultivate trusting interpersonal relationships and connect with people across lines of difference
- Organized and capable of managing administrative details
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in multiple formats (written and verbal)
- Able to flexibly respond and problem solve when challenges arise in the field and when planning a program
- Comfortable giving and receiving feedback
- Ability to set priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously
- Ability to inspire passion for BCM’s work and programs, internally and externally
- Strong understanding of current outdoor industry / outdoor education safety standards and best practices for organized backcountry travel
- Willingness to hold self and others accountable for all program and organizational policies.
Preferred Qualifications
- Spanish speaking or bilingual
Requirements
- Demonstrated experience in outdoor program development, facilitation, and management
- Experience working with youth who come from racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse communities
- Ability to work remotely and communicate effectively with employees across the country; comfortable and familiar with technology platforms that enable such communication (google workspace, zoom, salesforce, slack)
- Willing and able to travel locally to meet in-person with agency partners and regionally to Headquarters in Golden, CO as job and duties require
- Current WFR or WMET and CPR certification or ability to attain one within 60-days of employment start date
- Clean driving record and reliable transportation
Employment & Compensation
This is a full-time, exempt position, with a starting annual salary range of $45,000 – $55,000/year. The Regional Program Manager will be eligible to receive medical, dental, and vision insurance within one month of hire. Big City Mountaineers employees enjoy a generous paid time off policy and flexibility in terms of work schedule and location, as well as parental leave.
Expected start date for this position is January 24, 2022.
How to Apply
Please submit a current resume and thoughtful cover letter detailing why you believe your experience, capacity, and passions align with BCM’s needs to recruiting@bigcitymountaineers.org. Combining both documents into a single PDF is preferred. All applications must be received no later than Sunday, December 5, 2021. If we feel you might be a good potential fit for the role, we will be in touch to schedule an interview; first round interviews will occur on a rolling basis and begin, at latest, by December 13. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job and understand that that candidate may come from a less traditional background. We encourage individuals to apply even if you don’t meet every one of our qualifications listed. Big City Mountaineers is invested in cultivating a diverse candidate pool and is interested in connecting with candidates whose identities and/or lived experience is similar to the students we serve. If you have questions about this position please email our national program director Fred Sproat Fred@bigcitymountaineers.org321 total views, 0 today