The NOLS Custom Education Director leads all aspects of NOLS Custom Education to align with the NOLS vision and strategic goals. The NOLS Custom Education purpose is to expand the reach of the NOLS mission through innovative and customized educational experiences. These include wilderness expeditions, classroom training, online programs, and an industry conference. NOLS Custom Education serves clients such as the US Naval Academy, Archer School for Girls, C5 Association, and Axiom Space.

Key Logistical Information:

• Key dates:

  • Role closes: 23rd February 2024 at 11:59pm MT

  • Start date: March 2024.

• Benefits: This position is eligible for Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Flexible Spending account, Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Long Term Disability, Employee Assistance Program, Paid Time off, 403(b), 403(b) contribution, and more.

• Questions: Please contact peopleteam@nols.edu

What does a Custom Education Director do?

Department Operations:

• Work with two associate directors to create a positive work environment in service to 1000+ students and 200+ faculty per year. Custom Education is a team of approximately 13 staff.

• Collaborate effectively with NOLS marketing, campus operations, staffing, finance, information technology, alumni, and education departments in planning and scheduling programs.

• Oversee a budget (approximately $3.6M revenue in fiscal year 2023), with a pre-COVID annual growth rate in excess of ten percent.

• Write and manage contracts for private and government clients, ranging from $15K to $750K.

• Serve as a member of the Custom Education on-call team and NOLS crisis response team.

Business strategy

• Work with the NOLS Custom Education leadership team and the NOLS executive team to define priorities and develop long-range strategic plans, including philosophy regarding mission, customer-orientation (both students and clients), educational excellence, pursuit of target markets, staff engagement, and financials.

• Develop strategic and scalable educational products.

• Meet budget targets and develop future budgets with an orientation to continued growth.

• Oversee changes in internal systems in a continually evolving department, including but not limited to technical and financial tracking systems that nest within organizational systems.

Represent the NOLS Brand

• Support relationships with several dozen current clients, including the U.S. Naval Academy, top business schools, collegiate scholars’ programs, elite secondary schools, camps, and other groups that expand the reach of NOLS.

• Preserve and foster relationship with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

• Communicate NOLS vision and state of the school to staff and other stakeholders.

What makes a great Custom Education Director at NOLS? 

We are looking for people who share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• Passion for the NOLS mission and the NOLS Custom Education purpose

• Leadership and management experience, including creating and developing new programs, marketing, budgeting, and supervising

• Experience leading long-term strategic goals while managing short-term priorities

• Excellent oral and written communication skills including excellent public speaking skills

• Competence using technology to track information, communicate to multiple audiences, and assess business efficiency

• Capacity to build collaborative networks within NOLS

• Demonstrated initiative, organizational skills, and flexibility

• Ability to represent NOLS to and work with varied client groups

Preferred:

• NOLS management and field experience

• Leadership development expertise

In your first 6 months, you will: 

• Gain a deep understanding of NOLS, and specifically dive into learning all aspects of NOLS Custom Education clients, programs and business.

• Understand the state of finances in the current fiscal year, build the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, oversee day-to-day finances, while working to increase net revenue to NOLS.

• Guide the team through peak enrollment season, managing urgent needs of students, staff and clients.

• Build relationships with clients, staff members and faculty in this department, and staff in other NOLS departments and campuses. Strategically visit campuses or clients.

• Work with the incoming Vice President of Expeditions to determine strategic vision for NOLS Custom Education.

Who are we and what can we offer you?

NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that seeks to help people step forward boldly as a leader.

We believe that anyone can be a leader; it is our role to provide the environment and training to help people discover their full potential. We do that in classrooms close to home and in remote wilderness areas around the world. We are an organization with heart, expertise, and wildness, and these qualities help us support powerful, authentic experiences.

NOLS really is a great place to work:

• We have locations in seven U.S. states, and six countries; and courses in all 50 U.S. states and over 10 countries.

• We have fantastic employee discounts on top outdoor gear brands

• We offer discounts on NOLS Courses for you and your family

• All employees can benefit of free Outdoor Equipment "Rental" at our various locations

• Insurance Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision benefits are available at a special NOLS rate to seasonal employees. Full-time employees are eligible for benefits package. 

• Wellness Time: Accrued leave that may be used for many HR-approved reasons throughout the season.

• Employee Assistance Program: Access to counselors that are available 24/7 to assist employees with work-life balance concerns.

Next steps

At NOLS we use the Applied platform for our recruitment. Applied aims to overcome unconscious bias in recruiting. Instead of using your resume alone, we'll be asking you to answer questions to test skills needed for the role. The responses are then anonymized, and reviewed in a random order by members of our team. 

The Applied platform also asks some demographic questions before you start your application. We at NOLS never see the responses to these demographic questions with your application. We only see summary statistics to help us check if our candidate pool is balanced and if everyone has an equal chance to get hired irrespective of their background. If you prefer, you can easily opt out of answering these questions.

All you need to do is start the process by clicking on the yellow button on the top right. 

Additional Information

NOLS currently can support remote employees with legal working rights in the following locations: Canada, provinces: British Columbia, and Ontario; Chile; India; Mexico; New Zealand; the US, states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

• A criminal background check is required from all NOLS employees.

• NOLS participates in E-verify for U.S. employees, Certificado de Antecedentes for Chilean or Mexican employees, and other relevant employment verification systems based on location.

• Current NOLS employees please note it is NOLS policy to conduct an internal reference check with human resources and/or your current supervisor as part of the reference check process. If you have any questions or concerns about this process please contact peopleteam@nols.edu.

NOLS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetics information, disability unrelated to job or admission requirements, or status as a protected veteran. The school’s nondiscrimination policy applies to all phases of its employment process, its admission and financial aid programs, and to all other aspects of its educational programs and activities. Retaliation directed to any person who pursues a discrimination complaint or grievance, participates in a discrimination investigation, or otherwise opposes unlawful discrimination is prohibited.

NOLS values community and fosters a sense of belonging for our employees and applicants. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations in the workplace because they embody these values, as well as our operating principle of promoting a positive, safe, and learning environment. Reasonable accommodations may be requested for disability; limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition; religion; and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. Reasonable accommodations may be requested at any point of the employment process, including during recruitment. Please email peopleteam@nols.edu with your request.