Field Instructors  **Now offering $1,000 Sign-on Bonus**
The Instructor role requires resiliency, a passion for service, and an ability to connect with others. Instructors are professionals who develop a wide variety of skills: They are outdoor educators, group facilitators, risk managers, excellent communicators, story-tellers, and teachers. Instructors teach students the skills necessary to understand themselves, their families, and how to connect in meaningful ways. Staff at BRTW have the chance to work with a variety of student groups. In addition to their adolescent boy and girl groups, Blue Ridge staff also work with its young adult program, Emerald Arrow.

As a Field Instructor, your primary duty is to ensure the physical and emotional safety of the students. At Blue Ridge, the wilderness is not just the setting for therapy, but rather it is an active part of the process! As a Field Instructor, that means you’re continuously observing, teaching, and assessing all manner of skills: backpacking, bow-drilling, cooking and general outdoor living, in addition to therapeutic concepts and tools. Starting with new staff training, BRTW will provide you the mentorship and support needed so that you can excel in this role. BRTW encourages staff to bring their own unique personalities, knowledge, interests, and passions into this work. Staff are not cookie-cutter copies of one-another! You being yourself—simply role-modeling what it means to be a healthy adult—may be the most effective tool for creating change! You are the one each student trusts and looks up to. You are the one that helps them through their hardest moments. And you are the one they remember long after they’ve left Blue Ridge!

Simply put: Field Instructors are role-models for a healthier way of life.

Field instructors work an 8-day-on, 6-day-off schedule. For the entire 8 days, instructors camp, live, and role-model healthy maturity in the field with a group of 4-12 students. Your six days off are yours to use as you please as long as you are back ready to work the following Tuesday morning.

BRTW values a strong, committed staff culture where they know, and can rely on, those they’re working with week-in and week-out. As such, staff are asked to make an initial commitment of one year. To honor this commitment, bonuses are provided along the way. More importantly, BRTW believes staff and students feel the difference when staff aren’t just seasonal. BRTW will also consider a limited number of current college students for the summer (must work at least 5/6 weeks). Please make a note in your application if you are applying for a shorter-term position.

Pay starts at $150/day and moves upwards with staff development to $215/day. Instructors also receive additional overtime pay, PTO, ongoing commitment bonuses, pro-deal discounts, and a heavy emphasis is put on staff training and professional development. Health insurance is provided and a matching 401k is available after 1 year.

At minimum applicants must be at least 21 years old and possess a current CPR/first certification (WFA or WFR strongly preferred). Beyond these basic requirements, Blue Ridge seeks those who:

• Demonstrate a track record of service, leadership, and care for others (in various forms and settings).
• Are comfortable and confident living in the woods, even if you are not yet an ‘expert’ or have not yet led others (Blue Ridge can teach you!).
• Show a willingness to learn and grow.
• Practice resiliency and align with Blue Ridge’s mission.
• Are excited about committing to this work for at least one year.

Prior to official hire, applicants must obtain a physical stating that you are cleared to do this type of work and pass a state/federal criminal background check and pre-employment drug screening.