Does the prospect of creating lasting connections amongst NOLS alumni excite you? Do you want to help students stay connected with the school, curating expedition trips around the globe that serve the NOLS mission? If so, join the NOLS team as The Alumni Trips Director. 

In this position you will lead the development, marketing, execution, and evaluation of our global alumni trips program. You will partner with departments across the school to promote smooth enrollment, excellent customer service and positive outcomes for students with a focus on excellent risk management and alignment with the NOLS mission. You will be driven by the power of a continued NOLS connection and the positive impact on our students as you direct the execution of over 70 annual alumni trips. This role resides in our Expedition department, and reports directly to the Director of Expeditions Operations or the Vice President of Expeditions. 

Key Information:

• Please upload your cover letter and resume as one PDF document when you are prompted to upload your CV/resume.

• Target Start Date: Nov / Dec 2025

• Location: Strong preference for Lander, WY; remote opportunities available.

Questions: please contact peopleteam@nols.edu

What does the Alumni Trips Director do?

• Oversee the daily and long term operations of the Alumni Trips program; strategically engaging in partnerships internal and external to NOLS to boost participation and ensure longevity of the program.

• Evaluate and define Alumni Trips in the broad ecosystem of travel options available to our Alumni and the ecosystem of NOLS product offerings. 

• Apply a metrics driven approach to building annual and multi-year plans; incorporating staffing needs, financial management and partnership planning as key elements.

• Work closely with the NOLS Advancement team to elevate long term Alumni engagement with NOLS.iSupervise and collaborate with the Alumni Trips Manager to create the broader course mix vision, support trip logistics and staffing and analyse trip budgets.

• Supervise and collaborate with the Alumni Trips Coordinators to ensure appropriate execution of bespoke customer service.

• Partner with the staffing department to respond to trends in enrollment and ensure high quality participant outcomes. 

• Work with the marketing department to create new marketing campaigns, advertisements, and envision ways to reach a board number of NOLS Alumni.

• Create and monitor risk management procedures for global alumni trips. This also includes possible participation in school-wide crisis response frameworks and other broad initiatives.

• Ability and willingness to respond to new ideas, create custom trip requests and think outside of the box with innovation and a great business sense. 

In your first 6 months, you will: 

• Work to be fully versed in the details of every Alumni Trip.

• Work with Trip Coordinators to learn customer service systems and the tone and style of communication that is the norm for the Alumni Trips team.

• Work with Trips Manager to plan the upcoming year and assess immediate projects.

• Learn the financial, marketing and enrollment systems currently in place

• Start to think about new directions and ideas for the department.

What makes a great Alumni Trips Director at NOLS? 

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

As the ideal candidate you will possess a business savvy perspective and passion for the NOLS mission. You will have, or be able to quickly obtain, an understanding of the Alumni Trips and NOLS portfolio and have the ability to represent all aspects of NOLS to a variety of audiences. You enjoy and thrive as a self-motivated and independent worker, while having the communication and emotional intelligence skills to foster strong partnerships and collaboration. You are a strategic thinker who enjoys the challenge of prioritizing competing tasks and adapting to dynamic environments.

• Proven experience to forecast shifts and opportunities in the adventure travel market segment

• Ability to develop, engage with, and run small marketing campaigns.

• Cultural agility and understanding related to working with global partners and contractors.

• Ability to collaborate and partner with stakeholders across NOLS, especially the Advancement team in knowing and leveraging NOLS Alumni relationships. 

• Ability to analyze intricate financial, enrollment and marketing data.

• Experience building and executing revenue and expense budgets.

• Demonstrated proficiency with incoming customer service environments.

• Strong track record of multi-channel communication with the ability to distinguish tone and content based on audience and mechanism of communication.

• Writing competence including the ability to craft clear and compelling trip descriptions, customer communications, and varied marketing materials, including the Alumni Catalog, our department’s program catalog.

• Fluency with database and web-based applications, Word, Excel, and the Microsoft suite.

• Experience hiring, supervising, training, and developing employees.

• Preference for someone who has a personal and professional history of planning complex domestic and international trips.

• Preference for someone intimately familiar with NOLS product offerings. 

• Being a NOLS Expedition instructor, or graduate is a plus.

Schoolwide Leadership is a core component for all Directors at NOLS. In addition to their specific departmental role, Directors are asked to participate in and support the development of school-wide priorities. Navigating finite resources to prioritize the school over a department is a key responsibility as is expanding the resources available. This position will be asked to play a leadership role within NOLS that might not be directly related to their daily job responsibilities.

How to Apply

It’s super easy! Just enter your email and click the “start your application” button at the top of the screen and upload your cover letter and resume as one PDF document when you are prompted to upload your CV/resume.

At NOLS we use the Applied platform for our recruitment. The Applied platform will ask you 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.

Who is NOLS?

NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that strives to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment. Our community—staff, students, trustees, and alumni—shares a commitment to wilderness, education, leadership, safety, community, and excellence. 

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.

Why is NOLS a great place to work?

• Global Reach: With locations across the U.S. operations in six countries, and courses running in all 50 states and more than 10 countries, you’ll be part of an organization with a truly worldwide impact.

• Course Discounts: Receive special pricing on NOLS courses for yourself and your family.

• Comprehensive Benefits: Full-time employees are eligible for a robust benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Flexible Time Off: We offer a flexible time off policy that empowers employees to take the time they need for rest, adventure, and personal priorities without the constraints of traditional accrual systems.

• Employee Assistance Program: Access confidential, 24/7 counseling and support services to help you maintain balance and well-being.

Additional Information

To support pay transparency and equity, the posted salary range is fixed. We encourage you to explore our opportunities that fit your pay expectations. 

NOLS currently can support remote employees with legal working rights in the following locations: Canada; 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 People Team 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.

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 by emailing peopleteam@nols.edu with your request.