Program Coordinator

STARTING SALARY: $45,000 Annually 

BENEFITS OVERVIEW: Personal Leave, Paid Holidays, Medical and Dental Coverage, Disability/Life Insurance, 401k investment plan, Professional Development, and other perks! 

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT: Year-round and full-time. Program Coordinators are primarily office-based positions that support programs. However, PCs may operate under a non-traditional work week schedule depending on crew schedule. The PC may be required to spend up to 30-40% of their time in the field helping implement programs; travel can occur with short notice.

Organizational Background 

Since 1984, Northwest Youth Corps (NYC), a non-profit organization, has given tens of thousands of youth and young adults opportunities to learn, grow, and experience success. Through partnerships with conservation agencies, youth and young adults gain the personal and professional skills needed to carry out a variety of stewardship projects, from which they can earn a paycheck, high school credit, and/or an AmeriCorps educational award. More importantly, these young people gain skills needed to become economically and socially self-sufficient, benefit their communities as citizen stewards, and recognize that they can make a positive difference. NYC also operates an accredited charter school, internship program, and the Idaho jobshiringnearme.org Corps (ICC). 

NYC engages youth and young adults from all walks of life and provides a multifaceted experience that helps propel them into future opportunities and careers. Hard and soft skills are taught and reinforced through formal practical trainings. NYC strives to provide program participants the skills and competencies needed to succeed in a wide variety of professional environments and life circumstances. 

Position Summary 

Northwest Youth Corps runs a full suite of camping and non-camping field-based programs for youth and young adults that run year-round. The Program Coordinator is an office-based position charged with helping prepare, implement, and support multiple programs a year. 

The Program Coordinator (PC) position at NYC is designed to teach and expand leadership skills and support meaningful work within the conservation industry. While NYC seeks to hire Program Coordinators that have experience in youth and conservation programs, Program Coordinators will receive considerable professional development as a part of their role. Specific areas of professional development include project management; human resources; hiring & supervision; risk management & incident response; USDA National Sawyer Certification; logistics and planning; maintenance of partner relationships; leadership; community building; maintenance of crew budgets; meeting facilitation, and event coordination. 

Position Details 

General Duties 

• Supervise and administer the jobshiringnearme.org Corps programming
• Work with Youth Corps Director to develop and implement program goals
• Instill and maintain NYC’s culture and values within the program
• Ensure quality experience for participants and partners.

Department Supervision and Collaborations 

• This position reports directly to the Program Manager.
• This position directly supervises Woodbosses(s) and Crewleaders(s).
• This position collaborates closely with the Operations Department staff, Member Services Department Staff, and possibly external contracted service providers.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  

• Support the continued growth and delivery of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives
• Seek to remove barriers to participation in NYC programs for underrepresented populations

Safety 

• Collaborate with Risk Management Officer to ensure best practices in Program activities
• Member of NYC Emergency Response Team
• Promote a physically and emotionally safe work environment for staff and participants
• Support a culture of continuous improvement and training amongst field team.

Duties and Responsibilities 

The Programs Coordinator must have superior work ethic, strong communication and interpersonal skills. The right person for this position will be hard working, eager to learn, solution oriented, and enjoy working with people from diverse backgrounds. 

• Agency Relations- steward existing partner relationships and build new relationships with stakeholders and stakeholder groups
• Program Coordination- works with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure programs have a coordinated slate of supplies, food, work, campsites, project partners, educational materials/experiences and recreational activities to sufficiently support NYC field crews. Ensures that programs reflect NYC culture of thoughtful risk management, inclusion, challenge, and fun.
• Safety – Ensure that all staff and members are actively following NYC safety and risk management protocols; respond to field incidents and emergencies as necessary.
• Administrative/Record Keeping – Responsible for coordinating the accurate, timely and thorough completion of field paperwork including timesheets, production summaries, and petty cash expense reports.
• Field Staff Supervision and support – Establishes expectations and responsibilities for seasonal field staff around maintaining NYC camp, work, and cultural standards within programs. Provides technical and social/emotional support to field staff and crews prior to and during the implementation of programs.
• Field Staff Development – Provide field staff with thoughtful feedback and evaluation. Establishes individual development plan with Leaders and Woods Bosses.
• Operations – Helps coordinate resupply of supplies, tools and food for crews, as needed.
• Training – Helps coordinate and facilitate effective training for field staff in partnership with other staff to train field staff.
• Constant Improvement – Helps the organization analyze and adjust elements of our programs, training and administrative processes that can be improved and coordinate those improvements.
• Alumni Engagement – support the retention of field staff and participants by being a point of contact with the organization.

Position Qualifications & Certifications 

• Education: Post-secondary education in a related field and/or experience in outdoor recreation, environmental education, youth development or educational fields preferred. Substantial experience in conservation work and/or youth programming will be considered in lieu of post-secondary education.
• Experience: Experience leading or supervising a group/team and experience managing outdoor projects required. Relevant experience in youth leadership, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and/or natural resource management backgrounds preferred. Experience working on manual labor projects, using hand tools, operating chainsaws, and driving passenger vans is desirable.
• Certification: Current Wilderness First Aid and CPR certifications are required; or applicants must obtain certification prior to their employment. Three years of clean driving history is required.
• Physical Condition: Applicants must be in good physical condition; capable of working long hours on strenuous, labor-intensive projects are preferred as training and work projects often require heavy lifting, constant bending, digging, and long hikes to and from the worksite.
• Must possess a valid driver’s license and clean driving record.

Physical Demands/Work Environment 

• Physical Condition: Applicants in good physical condition, capable of working long hours on strenuous, labor-intensive projects are preferred as NYC’s work projects often require heavy lifting, constant bending, digging, and long hikes to and from the worksite.
• Work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person’s working conditions while performing the job.
• Physical demands—the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.
• In the performance of the job duties, the employee will work in a variety of environments from an office setting to remote locations in the wilderness.
• This position will work outside in all types of weather conditions and environments including but not limited to high elevations, remote areas, cold, rain, snow, heat, humidity, wind, etc.
• The noise level in the environment is quiet to loud. PPE is provided when necessary and use is required.
• The employee must – frequently lift and/or move up to 75 pounds (with or without reasonable accommodation).
• While performing the duties of this job, with or without reasonable accommodation, the employee is required to stand; walk; use hands to handle, feel or operate objects, tools or vehicle; reach with hands and arms; sit; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk, and hear.

**This Position Description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice. ** 

Northwest Youth Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer – At Northwest Youth Corps, we believe diversity is an essential source of strength for our communities, and we strive to create a safe and empowering environment for all participants and staff from the widest range of backgrounds and abilities.  While we are privileged to facilitate conservation service on our public lands, with humility, we also acknowledge that injustice and violence was at the heart of acquiring these lands.  Therefore, we are deeply invested in addressing this traumatic legacy by supporting youth and young adults of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, religions, sexual orientations, economic status, and/or other socio-cultural identifiers to learn, grow, and experience success in our programs, and beyond.