Camp Cullen Outdoor Education & Retreats Director

YMCA Camp Cullen stands as a premier residential camp destination committed to enriching the lives of youth, families, schools, and various organizations through its comprehensive offerings of summer camp adventures, conferences, retreats, and outdoor educational programs. Situated just 90 minutes away from Houston within the serene rural community of Trinity, TX, this exceptional camp sprawls across 530 acres along the picturesque shores of Lake Livingston. Here, amidst towering pine trees, Camp Cullen promises an unparalleled journey, brimming with awe-inspiring moments at every corner.

The Outdoor Education & Retreats Director oversees camp operations that include conferences, weekend retreats, and outdoor education. Develops, adapts, organizes, and implements high quality programming focused on serving youth and families as well outside community organizations.

Essential Functions:

1. Establishes relationships with principals and school districts in order to share information on the outdoor education program with the goal of engaging and contracting with more schools to participate in camp programs.
2. Markets conferences and weekend retreats to Greater Houston community to continue developing sustainable year round program operations. Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with community organizations.
3. Develops programs, plans, and schedules retreat and conference activities.
4. Creates, designs, adapts, and implements outdoor education curriculum, lessons, and activities. Correlates camp lessons and activities to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum.
5. Recruits, hires, trains, develops, schedules, and directs Group Services department camp staff. Reviews and evaluates staff performance. Develops strategies to motivate staff and achieve goals. Ensures all staff have completed the necessary certifications and trainings to be in compliance.
6. Develops and monitors program budget to meet fiscal objectives. Monitors program registration then purchases and maintains supplies to accurately support registration.
7. Monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of participation in programs, including administering program evaluations and compiling statistics.
8. Ensures programs comply with YMCA of Greater Houston standards and adhere to all safety and ACA best practices.
9. Responds to community inquiries and concerns in a timely manner.
10. Supports summer camp operations during summer months as needed.
11. Assists in YMCA fundraising activities and board committee meetings as needed.
12. Serves as a member of YMCA management and supports the overall objectives of the YMCA.

YMCA Culture & Cause Expectations

Our mission and core values are brought to life by our culture. It's who are, who we aspire to be and how we show up every day. We are cause-driven. We don't just show up, we show up with purpose. As a cause driven leader you are expected to be:

Welcoming-Accept neighbors eagerly, warmly, hospitably, and as equal participants.

Nurturing-To care for, support, and help develop through encouragement.

Hopeful-Take an optimistic or positive view of future outcomes.

Determined-To devote full strength and concentrated attention to the cause.

Genuine-To be honest and open in relationships with others.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. Bachelor's degree in related field or equivalent experience.
2. Two to three years of related experience, preferably in a YMCA resident camp or other recreational camp.
3. Excellent customer service skills and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
4. Strong organizational and time management skills.
5. Prefer knowledge of, and previous experience with, diverse populations.
6. Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) with children and adults.
7. Experience supervising part-time and seasonal staff. (full-time staff is a plus)
8. Leadership in ensuring staff are utilizing program supplies and areas appropriately and caring for supplies to extend their useful life.
9. Desire to work with children and families and the ability to relate to them in a positive, patient, sensitive and non-judgmental manner.
10. Typical requirements within 30 days of hire include completion of Compliance and safety training, CPR, First Aid and AED certifications.
11. Minimum age requirements of 21 years old.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of an organization.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

May directly supervise part-time and full-time non-exempt employees. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; reviewing and approving timesheets; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; monitoring and updating all required staff certifications; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

COMPUTER LITERACY

Skills are essential in all the Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, and Access. Ability to use these programs to lighten workload, develop reports and to automate procedures is very necessary. Ability to diagnose basic PC problems and to communicate those problems is very important.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

HOURS

Flexible with scheduling and availability to work operational hours of the YMCA and sites, which may include day, evenings and weekends.

TRAVEL

Travel is primarily local between assigned centers during the business day, although some out-of-area and overnight travel may be expected.

The YMCA of Greater Houston provides Equal Employment Opportunities for employment to all employees and applicants, including disability and protected veteran status.