Employment Criteria

Assistant Instructor positions in North Carolina, Florida, Bahamas and Patagonia

Note to applicants: The following list is intended to give you a sense of the skill sets we seek in new instructors. Very few candidates possess ALL of the skills represented here and our programs our designed to incorporate ongoing training and professional development. If in doubt, please apply for a position and we will assess your credentials during the interview process.

1. General requirements include:
Age of 21 years or older
Current first aid certification at the level of Wilderness First Responder including Adult CPR
Excellent physical condition

2. Professional experience in one or more of the following areas:
Teaching
Counseling
Group Leadership

3. Communication skills including:
Ability to listen and articulate ideas
Ability to organize lessons and teach effectively
Ability to inspire others to a higher level of motivation
Ability to offer and receive open feedback
Ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds

General outdoor skills including:
Ability to carry 45-60 pound pack on and off trail for up to 12 hours a day and sometimes longer
Personal backpacking experience
Competence with map and compass navigation, ability to navigate in whiteout and dark conditions preferred
Knowledge of managing mountain hazards and variable weather
Backcountry cooking and camping skills
Familiarity with Leave No Trace backcountry practices
Experience with multi-day expeditionary travel
Ability to run 7 mountain miles in 75 minutes

Teaching and facilitation skills including:
Experience teaching and managing youth in an outdoor setting
Experience facilitating group discussions and experiences
Experience working with populations from 13-18 years of age
Experience fostering effective group dynamics and teaching effective communication and conflict resolution to adolescents

Personal climbing experience, ability to follow climbs of at least 5.5
Ability to belay and rappel without guidance
Experience setting up and managing top rope sites
Ability to assess and appropriately manage hazards at a climbing site
Experience teaching students to rock climb including movement over rock, knots and belaying
Ability to frame and facilitate a climbing experience with students ages 14 – 17

Personal whitewater paddling experience and comfort on class II and III
Ability to perform basic tandem canoe strokes in both bow and stern and execute basic maneuvers
Competence in identifying and assessing river hazards
Ability to frame and facilitate a paddling experience with students as young as 13

Knowledge of potential hazards pertaining to weather and marine environment
Familiarity with navigation using chart and compass
Knowledge of tides and currents
Ability to read inlet water as well as open sea states
Experience with basic paddling stroke techniques
Experience with self and group rescue techniques
Experience with multi-day sea kayaking expeditions
ACA or BCUC certification preferred

Personal mountaineering skill to safely lead novices on alpine terrain and technical mountaineering ascents
Ability to safely move self and novices over loose 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and easy 5th class volcanic rock
Ability to safely move self and novice students over steep snow (40-50 degrees) and short sections of steep ice (40-60 degrees)
Personal competence at self-arrest
Ability to built sound snow and ice anchors: bollards, deadmen, pickets, ice screws, V-threads and improvised anchors
Safely assess, set-up and manage ice climbing tope rope sites on glaciers
Ability to perform crevasse extrications
Ability to safely and appropriately use fixed lines , belays, anchors, roped team travel and rescue practices
Ability to teach alpine curriculum to a mastery level including: snow travel, team glacier travel, self arrest, snow anchors and crevasse rescue
Experience in avalanche assessment, Level 1 Avalanche certification
Conversational Spanish speaking ability or fluency

American Canoe Association OCII Whitewater Instructor certification
American Canoe Association Swiftwater Rescue certification or personal skills and experience equal to certificationas determined by the Chief Whitewater Instructor (CWI)
Strong awareness of risk management and a mature respect of the dynamic nature of water based programs
Experience leading groups engaged in whitewater paddling
Possess a depth of river experience that reaches beyond the scope of the NCOBS river program

Demonstrate following for NCOBS Chief Whitewater Instructor or designate:

A personal skill base that allows the individual to comfortably facilitate the students’ experience and perform boat based rescues from a tandem and solo open canoe in up to class III whitewater.
Ability to effectively present the components and skills necessary to facilitate and manage the risks of a standard NCOBS’ three to five day tandem canoe progression.
Understanding of river hydrology and river hazards: eddies, strainers, holes (hydraulics), under-cuts, etc. and how to manage them.
Ability to swim effectively in class III whitewater.
NCOBS trailer certified driver.
Receive final approval from the CWI, or person designated by CWI.

Please submit a paddling log that outlines personal experience

Experience and comfort traveling and managing students on 3rd and 4th class terrain
Ability to set up and manage a range of climbing activities: top rope, rappel, Tyrolean, prussic lines, etc.
Skilled in protection placement and multi-directional anchor systems
Ability to perform belay escapes and assisted and un-assisted haul systems
Ability to design and carry out an evacuation from a climbing site
Ability to onsight 5.8 multi-pitch climbs on placed protection with confidence

Please submit climbing log that indicates the following:
40 personal climbing days
20 professional climbing days
20 routes on traditional/placed protection and/or non-bolted anchor
30 multi-pitch routes that you have led, 10 or more of which are 5.8 or greater