Employment Opportunities
Available Positions:
1. Fall Outdoor Field Instructor – August 27, 2025 – October 31, 2025
Location: Spruce Knob Mountain Center, Circleville, WV 26804
Experience Learning is seeking outdoor professionals to lead high-quality, adventure-based, outdoor education programs in backcountry environments throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Position Overview:
Based at the remote Spruce Knob Mountain Center in West Virginia, Field Instructors lead students on Wilderness Learning courses (both field and residential based), helping people become confident, competent individuals with a clear vision of their responsibilities and potential for improving the human condition and the natural world.
Our courses typically serve students in 5th-12thgrade. Courses can include 1-2 day dorm based courses, 1-2 day off-site courses in local communities (visiting WV public schools), 4-8 day field courses (Private schools from the Mid-Atlantic region) both in the nearby national forest, as well as variety of off-site courses in wild spaces throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, including the Appalachian Trail.
Field Instructors help students gain confidence, experience, and appreciation for mountains through lessons and activities such as hiking, backpacking, camp craft, orienteering, caving, stream ecology, forest ecology, geology, rock climbing, canoeing, outdoor cooking, stewardship projects, and survival skills. In addition, Field Instructors tailor courses to meet the thematic goals of each school served, leading students in discussions and initiatives around leadership, communication, environmental stewardship, teamwork, and creative problem-solving.
While living and working on-site Field Instructors will also have the opportunity to cook for large groups, as well as be on-call at different points in time throughout the season.
Our ideal candidate will be able to:
- Maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for students and guests
- Prepare and deliver hands-on, experiential, and inquiry-based lessons in a remote outdoor setting for both day and evening programs
- Lead 1-8 day residential (dorm based) and field-based programs in challenging settings that include hiking, backpacking, camp craft, orienteering, caving, stream ecology, forest ecology, geology, rock climbing, canoeing, stewardship projects, outdoor cooking, and survival skills
- Facilitate discussions and initiatives around leadership, communication, environmental stewardship, teamwork, creative problem-solving, and other subjects
- Implement and model excellent risk management strategies and administer first aid as needed
- Teach and lead groups in the outdoors, in varying weather conditions, and on uneven terrain
- Prepare facilities and gear before trips and clean facilities and gear at the end of trips
- Prepare and cook meals for visiting educational and rental groups with little supervision
- Maintain a professional demeanor while interacting with groups and guests
- Assist with facility upkeep as needed, including basic carpentry, repairs, vehicle maintenance, and general troubleshooting
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent life experience
- Must be 21+ years of age or older
- Minimum of Wilderness First Aid (WFA) & CPR/AED certification (Required)
- WFA class offered on-site March 28-30, 2025
- Current Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Certification (Preferred)
- WFR class offered August 10-19, 2025
- Valid driver’s license
- Must be able to hike 10 miles on uneven and mountainous terrain
- Able to carry a 35-40 pound backpack
- Effective communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills
- Positive attitude, determination, and unassailable work ethic
- Teaching experience, either formal or informal
- Ability to confidently lead groups in a remote outdoor setting
- Desire to teach and work with young people from varying social and economic backgrounds
- Curiosity about the natural world and willingness to learn academic natural science lessons
- Experience working in the outdoors, especially in inclement weather
- Ability to live in shared space with other instructors and practice positive self-care.
- Ability to work flexible hours including evenings and some weekends
- Desire to live in a remote place with an outstanding community of outdoor professionals and to work hard to make positive change in our world
Benefits:
- Daily compensation rate: $65.00-$105 a day based on the merit-based scale. On average our instructors begin at $85-$95/day
- See the Merit Based Pay tab to see what pay range you might fall in
- Shared housing provided
- 1 day of health leave per month worked
- Access to pro deals
- Opportunities for organizational advancement
Dates of Employment: May 30 – August 1, 2025
*This position is not limited to just summer. For the right candidate we could extended employment to begin in the spring and/or extend through the end of the fall season.
Location: Spruce Knob Mountain Center, Circleville, WV
Experience Learning is seeking outdoor professionals to lead high-quality, adventure-based, outdoor education programs in backcountry environments throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Position Overview:
This summer, Experience Learning will be hiring two mountain bike focused instructors. These instructors will be riding at Experience Learning’s Sweetwater Farm Trail Center as well as all over West Virginia. While mountain biking instruction is important, other lessons will be taught along side biking. Instructors will lead campers on wilderness based camping trips that help our campers become confident, competent individuals with a clear vision of their responsibilities and potential for improving the human condition and the natural world.
Mountain biking camps run from beginner bike (3 day camps), to intermediate and advanced (6 day camps). Experience Learning has partnered with NICA, and all bike instructors will be required to pass all NICA tests before the start of the summer camp season. This will be at no cost to the instructors. Instructors will lead a fully immersive ‘travel’ camp experience where we take kids into backcountry environments to ride epic WV trails full of roots, rocks, and ruts. Please visit our mountain bike summer camp page to see all of our offerings.
It is expected that this position is not just a “mountain bike instructor” position. On weeks where a mountain biking camp may not be offered instructors will lead other camps and perform other duties.
While living and working on-site Instructors will also have the opportunity to cook for large groups, as well as be on-call at different points in time throughout the season.
Our ideal candidate will be able to:
- Instruct on basic mountain bike fundamentals
- Assess risk and manage all situations
- Maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for students and guests
- Prepare and deliver hands-on, experiential, and inquiry-based lessons in a remote outdoor setting for both day and evening programs
- Lead 3-6 day adventure mountain bike camps that are partially dorm based and partially and field-based in challenging settings that include camp craft, orienteering, caving, stream ecology, forest ecology, geology, rock climbing, canoeing, stewardship projects, outdoor cooking, and survival skills
- Facilitate discussions and initiatives around leadership, communication, environmental stewardship, teamwork, creative problem-solving, and other subjects
- Implement and model excellent risk management strategies and administer first aid as needed
- Teach and lead groups in the outdoors, in varying weather conditions, and on uneven terrain
- Prepare facilities and gear before trips and clean facilities and gear at the end of trips
- Prepare and cook meals for visiting rental groups as needed
- Maintain a professional demeanor while interacting with groups and guests
- Assist with facility upkeep as needed, including basic carpentry, repairs, vehicle maintenance, and general troubleshooting
Requirements:
- Experience riding a mountain bike in rocky and rooty terrain
- Must be 21+ years of age or older
- Minimum of Wilderness First Aid (WFA) & CPR/AED certification (Required)
- Current Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Certification (Preferred)
- Valid driver’s license
- Must be able to hike 10 miles on uneven and mountainous terrain
- Able to carry a 35-40 pound backpack
- Effective communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills
- Positive attitude, determination, and unassailable work ethic
- Teaching experience, either formal or informal
- Ability to confidently lead groups in a remote outdoor setting
- Desire to teach and work with young people from varying social and economic backgrounds
- Curiosity about the natural world and willingness to learn academic natural science lessons
- Experience working in the outdoors, especially in inclement weather
- Ability to live in shared space with other instructors and practice positive self-care
- Ability to work flexible hours including evenings and some weekends
- Desire to live in a remote place with an outstanding community of outdoor professionals and to work hard to make positive change in our world
Benefits:
- Daily compensation rate: $82.00-$110 a day based on the merit-based scale.
- See the Merit Based Pay tab to see what pay range you might fall in
- Shared housing provided
- 1 day of health leave per month worked
- Access to pro deals
- Opportunities for organizational advancement
| Relevant Experience Credits |
Seasonal (less than 130-day contract) |
Mountain Bike Instructor |
Resident (more than 130-day contract, March-Nov.) |
Lead Instructor |
| 0-5 | $65 | $82 | $75 | |
| 6-10 | $68 | $85 | $79 | $85 |
| 11-15 | $75 | $89 | $85 | $89 |
| 16-20 | $82 | $95 | $92 | $95 |
| 21-25 | $90 | $105 | $100 | $105 |
| 26-30 | $95 | $110 | $105 | $110 |
| 31-35 | $100 | $110 | ||
| 36+ | $105 |
| Experience | Credit | Max | EMPLOYEE POINTS |
| ·Certified teacher in a traditional school setting (full year, teacher responsible for classroom) | 6 per year | 18 | |
| ·Substitute or non-certified teacher in a traditional school setting. This does not include planning days, but full days in the classroom. | 1 per 40 days worked | 10 | |
| ·Work/field experience as a Lead Instructor (in a role involving leading/training fellow staff) in a similar organization (expedition based/outdoor setting). This does not include planning or training days. | 2 per 20 days worked | 10 | |
| ·Work/field experience as an Outdoor Instructor in a similar organization (expedition based/outdoor setting, excludes summer camps unless the role was an adventure trip leader). This does not include planning or training days. *(Cannot double days from above) | 2 per 40 days worked | 10 | |
| Work experience at a summer camp. This includes acting as a counselor, lifeguard, rec staff, etc. | 1 per 60 days worked | 10 | |
| ·Work/field experience as a logistics person in a similar organization (outdoor program, preferably expedition based). | 2 per 60 days | 10 | |
| ·Documented extended personal skill-based expedition experience of more than 14 days | 1 | 3 | |
| ·Work as a guide or instructor in the following areas: rock climbing, backpacking, hiking, whitewater rafting, skiing, and caving. | 1 per 40 days worked | 5 | |
| Grant writing experience | 1 per 40 days worked | 5 | |
| ·Work in the following industries: hospitality, food service, agriculture | 1 per 90 days worked | 5 | |
| Advanced Certifications | Credit | Max | |
| ·WFR | 1 | ||
| ·EMT | 2 | ||
| ·WEMT | 3 | ||
| ·AMGA Top Rope/Single Pitch | 1 | ||
| ·Undergraduate degree in a related science content or human skills field | 2 | 4 | |
| ·Graduate degree in a related science content or human skills field | 3 | 6 | |
| ·LNT Master Trainer | 1 | ||
| ·SWRT (Swiftwater Recue Technician) | 1 | ||
| Master Naturalist | 1 | ||
| NICA Certified | |||
| Mountain Bike Certification | 1 | 4 | |
| Lifeguard Certificate | 1 |