After reading the description below, please apply by filling out this form and submit a resume, cover letter, and any documentation of a project you'd like to share with us. If you have any questions, you can reach out to hiring@projectember.org.

Assitant Collaborator

Job Available at Both Locations

  • Occidental, CA 95465 | June 28 - August 19 | Full Time | Seasonal - Summer 2021

  • Menlo Park, CA 94607 | June 14 - August 19 | Full Time | Seasonal - Summer 2021

The Assistant collaborator role is for our younger staff and anyone considering dipping their toes into education for the first time. If you read the Day Camp Collaborator page or the Overnight Camp Collaborator page and are worried you might not be qualified, please consider applying for our assistant collaborator position.

This job is an opportunity to learn through immersion. Just like with the kids, we believe doing is the best learning. To that end, you will be a full staff member with duties, responsibilities, and a spot at the table for our vital community decisions. We will be putting you as lead on projects with kids and challenging you to expand what you think you are capable of every single day. To facilitate your success while working with us, our more experienced staff and site leaders will be making extra time for your learning and growth. This job is growth-oriented and will call on and expand your creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, adaptability.

You can get a sense of the job by reading the Day Camp Collaborator page and the Overnight Camp Collaborator Page.

Program Responsibilities and Expectations

  • Co-develop curriculum and pick the summer's projects with the rest of staff (we co-design summer to make sure everyone has a project they are stoked about)

  • Attend weekly and daily meetings to discuss improving camp and meeting kids' needs

  • Build large-scale projects with kids utilizing power tools (we will teach you how!)

  • Facilitate group discussions and brainstorms

  • Play games inside and outside

  • Regularly assess the needs of the group and the individuals within.

  • Improvise on-the-fly responses to unexpected challenges

  • Facilitate transitions between activities

  • Co-Facilitate our daily fire-night activities (at overnight camp)

Maintain an emotionally and physically safe environment:

  • Uphold Project Ember’s tool use safety policies (to be covered in training)

  • Model and teach inclusivity

  • Facilitate meaningful collaboration and mediate conflict among campers

  • Bandage scrapped knees, have heart-to-hearts, and celebrate vulnerability

  • Facilitate evening transitions to ensure we all get enough sleep to stay safe (at overnight camp)

Non-Programmatic Responsibilities and Expectations

  • Sleep on-site, often in the cabin with the kids (at overnight camp)

  • Keep the site clean, orderly, and safe

  • Stay late on the last day of summer to make sure the site is left better than we found it. (paid overtime if needed)

  • Give and receive specific feedback to and from a supervisor

  • Regularly submit camper notes (these help us maintain multi-year relationships with alumni and track things like projects they worked on and delightful moments they were a part of)

Basic Qualifications

This job is an entry-level position, and we encourage anyone interested in working with kids in an experiential, social-emotional, or project-based learning environment to apply. That said, even without much "experience," there are a few essential qualifications

  • You are 18 years old or older

  • You have started and completed a project of your own volition (art projects, making projects, research projects, community projects all count. Get creative)

  • You enjoy spending time with kids.

  • You are swift to adapt to changing situations and have tolerance for uncertainty (or are eagerly seeking to expand this ability).

  • You can pass a criminal background check.

  • You are first aid certified (you can get certification after hiring and before camp starts)

Additionally Sought After Skills - Do not hesitate to apply if you don’t have these skills.

  • Conversational Spanish

Schedule, Location, and Compensation

  • Location:

    • Occidental, CA for overnight camp

    • Menlo Park, CA for day camp

  • Type: Full Time, Seasonal

  • Compensation:

    • $14-17/hr at day camp (approximately $5,300-$6,400 for a full 9.5-week summer commitment)

    • $560-$720/week at overnight camp (approximately $4200-$5,100 for a full 7.5-week summer commitment)

  • Room and Board:

    • NOT included at day camp

    • Included at overnight camp

  • Dates:

    • June 14 - August 19 at Day Camp

    • June 28 - Aug 19 at Overnight

Physical Demands

  • Occasional Lifting up to 35lbs

  • Computer use (typing, reading)

  • Speaking to communicate both up close and over large distances

  • Seeing to maintain line-of-sight with campers

  • Kneeling, leaning, and/or squatting (primarily to interact with kids and projects)

  • Sitting on the floor or standing for long periods of time

  • Working outside for extended periods (at overnight camp)

COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS

  • Vaccination against COVID-19 is a required condition of employment.

    • All staff must obtain a final vaccine dose two weeks before the start of staff training.

    • A job offer from Project Ember will qualify you for vaccination in most states.

  • Project Ember will adhere to the most up-to-date guidelines from sources like the CDC, California Health Department, Association of Camp Nurses, and the American Camp Association.

    • The ability to adhere to policies like social distancing and wearing masks (and other PPE) is a condition of employment.

    • You can read our parent-facing COVID-19 FAQ to understand better how we are currently approaching the pandemic.

Please submit a cover letter and résumé, along with a sample of your work (photos will do fine) to the linked form.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Members of Our Team