Position Title: Youth Crew Leader II – Western North Carolina 

Conservation Legacy Program: Conservation Corps North Carolina 

Site Location: Western North Carolina US Forest Service 

Wages: $925-1125/week, depending on prior experience and certifications.    

Terms of Service: 

• Training: June 2nd – June 13th  
• Start Date: June 2nd  
• End Date: August 2nd, 2025 
• Priority Application Date: March 31st, 2025 

Purpose: 

The mission of the Conservation Corps North Carolina (CCNC) is to empower young adults through meaningful outdoor work that benefits North Carolina’s land and water and creates healthy communities.    

CCNC is a program of Conservation Legacy that partners with public land managers in North Carolina to engage motivated young adults, ages 15-30, to complete challenging and impactful conservation service projects throughout the state.   

Description of Duties: 

The Crew Leader II position is an opportunity to make a difference in young peoples’ lives while completing conservation projects on public and private lands. Leaders will be mentors, educators, and facilitators for teenagers, working to promote the health and resiliency of our land, air, and water. 

The Crew Leader II position requires patience, a consistently positive mental attitude, mentorship, technical aptitude, focus on efficiency, and a high level of competence in the outdoors. It also involves an administration role, where weekly paperwork is due in a timely manner to supervisors. Finally, crew leaders must exhibit the ability to effectively work on diverse teams and those from a variety of populations and communities.  

This position is the result of a partnership between CCNC and the Forest Service. The Crew Leader will lead two sessions of youth crews. Each session will be for three weeks and made up of 6 youth. There is a week break between each session. Following two weeks of training, the crew will run June 16th - July 11th, then there will be a week-long break for both leaders and participants, with a new session starting July 21st -  August 8th.   

During session I, the crew will work in Old Fort, NC. The Old Fort crew will be working with the Forest Service completing trail work. While this session does not require camping with participants, CCNC will supply housing where we expect leaders to live for the duration of the season. The Crew Lead may bring their personal vehicle to the housing site, but they cannot drive it during the work day, only after work hours and the weekends. The lead is expected to purchase their own food the first session, a full kitchen will be available for use.  

There will be a week-long break between two sessions. When work resumes, the leaders will transition to working in the Appalachian Ranger District National Forest and complete field-based manual labor, which can include trail maintenance and construction, habitat restoration, sign installation, and other improvement projects. As a residential camping program, the Crew Lead will camp with the crew at a group campsite. Both Crew Leaders are expected to always be with the crew, including weekends. A van will be provided to transport the crew, both during work and after hours. The crew lead will be given a grocery budget and expected to do the grocery shopping for the crew for the entire program. There will be plenty of storage space for frozen, perishable, and dry food.  The Crew Lead may bring their personal vehicle to the project site, but they cannot be used during either session, only after the session.  

Leadership & Mentorship   

• Mentor crew members by provide valuable feedback, give opportunities for growth, delegating responsibilities, and encouraging technical and leadership skill development.  
• Implement skills training on worksite and facilitate intentional discussions via informal lessons to contribute to the crew’s personal growth and group dynamics. 
• Promote individual corps member development and a safe, healthy, cohesive, other-centered and team-oriented community. 
• Follow and enforce all policies, maintain professional boundaries, and appropriately represent the program. This includes creating a substance free work environment, refraining from the use of tobacco products, alcohol, and drugs while involved in the program. 

Project Management & Implementation   

• Train, motivate and supervise a crew of young adults to efficiently complete tasks and objectives outlined in conservation projects, while working long hours and managing high quality of work and crew morale. 
• Think critically to resolve issues and solve problems, requesting assistance or help when needed. 
• Communicate & coordinate logistics with project partners, Assistant Crew Leader (or Crew Leader in Development), & staff. 

Safety & Risk Management   

• Monitor, manage, and promote the holistic health of the crew, including physical and emotional (intimidation free community environment) safety. 
• Exhibit strong situational awareness & promote a culture of safety. 
• Transport crew and equipment safely in organizational vans or large SUVs with trailers in accordance with CL Driver policy. 
• Manage and document incidents in the field and activate incident response system, if needed, per Conservation Legacy policy. 

Administration   

• Thorough documentation of crew hours, accomplishments, disciplinary actions taken, and incident response according to Conservation Legacy policy and procedure.   
• Manage food budget and credit card for purchases. 
• Track and submit credit card receipts for all expenses every month. 

Camp Management 

• Oversee, manage, and assign camp chores (or camp tasks). 
• Monitor and manage crew community needs in camp. 
• Instruct crew in how to create a safe, hygienic, and tidy camp environment while mitigating crew caused impacts to campsites, practicing minimum impact camping techniques. 
• Maintain all program policies and procedures in camp environment. 
• Leading a camping crew is an intensive commitment requiring a continuous physical presence. Leaders must remain physically present, and cognitively and emotionally available to support community and individual crew member needs. 

Minimum Qualifications:   

• Full commitment to the program and its mission. 
• Understanding of and experience with the mission and field management considerations of conservation corps and public land agencies. 
• Leadership, management, and supervisory experience with youth or young adults. 
• Must hold an active Wilderness First Aid with CPR/AED certificate or higher, or be willing to receive certification prior to start date. 
• Ability to effectively manage all aspects of crew life and production within a 40-50+-hour work week including managing projects, camping, and programmatic policies and integrity throughout. 
• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid, changing work environment. 
• Willingness to participate in community-building activities and solution-oriented problem solving with peer leaders. 
• Able to work long days in adverse conditions. 
• Must be able to speak, understand and write English. 
• High School diploma or GED certificate. 
• Must over the age of 21 or have possessed a driver’s license for 3 or years more without any restrictions (to pass minimum insurability requirements for crew transport driving duties). 

Preferred Qualifications or a Strong Desire to Grow in the Following:   

• Experience with experiential and/or environmental education. 
• Experience with backpacking, wilderness living and travel. 
• Facilitation and team-building experience with diverse groups of people. 
• Time-management skills and ability to work independently as well as with others. 
• Strong conflict resolution skills. 
• Technical trails, Crosscut or Chainsaw experience. 
• Sense of humor, spirit of adventure, and desire to make a positive difference and promote leadership in others. 

Physical Requirements: 

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager. 

Time Requirements: 

• Typically, this position is expected to serve Monday to Friday, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service 
• This is a seasonal position; Crew Leaders are asked to fully commit to the experience, expectations, and timeline.  

Orientation and Training: 

• Crew Leaders will be trained June 2nd – June 13th (Monday through Friday) prior to crew’s start date. 

Benefits: 

• Wage $20-25 per hour, depending on prior experience and certifications, plus overtime 
• Health Insurance (eligible 60 days after start date) 
• Professional Development 

Evaluation and Reporting: 

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking. 

Supervisor Name and Contact Information: 

Conservation Corps North Carolina Contact information: 

Jackie Meyer 

jmeyer@conservationlegacy.org

To apply: submit an application with a resume attached. Cover letters are optional.  

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages. 

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.