Grooming Operator Lead Hand - Winter 2026/27

Sunpeaks; Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality; On-site; CAD 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Season passes

Assistance program

Dining discounts

Retail discounts

Family rates

Partner programs

Job summary

Sun Peaks is seeking an experienced grooming supervisor to lead a crew responsible for snow grooming and machine operations on our mountain.

You will work outdoors in a dynamic resort setting, coordinating tasks across shifts, ensuring safety, and maintaining detailed grooming reports. A minimum of five years in grooming and snowmaking with leadership skills is required.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of grooming and snowmaking experience with proven strong supervisory abilities.
• Mature, strong work ethic, and interpersonal skills.
• Team player, self-motivated with leadership abilities.

Responsibilities

• Meet with staff at the start of each shift to review grooming list and delegate tasks.
• Make decisions on grooming operations, equipment use, fueling, and safety procedures.
• Coordinate with snowmaking and mountain departments for smooth operations.
• Delegate tasks during shifts and follow priorities during heavy snowfall.
• Train and mentor operators and provide seasonal performance feedback.
• Ensure safety of personnel and equipment and maintain grooming reports.
• Communicate shift information to next Lead Hand and provide timely grooming reports.

Skills

Grooming leadership

Snowmaking

Team supervision

Interpersonal skills

Communication under pressure

Mechanical aptitude

Attention to detail

Shift coordination

Report writing

Job description

Compensation Information

Starting at $26.20 (goes up depending on experience)

Physical Requirement

Heavy; work activities involve handling loads up to 35 kg; predominantly in an outdoor setting.

This job position requires physical presence at the designated location.

The perks and benefits you’ll get to enjoy

• Winter/Summer Season Lift, Trail and Golf passes (varies by position)
• Access to our Employee and Family Assistance Program
• Dining discounts within our hotel & Resort-owned outlets
• Retail discounts in our Resort-owned outlets
• Friends and family rates at the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel
• Reciprocal programs with partnering ski areas & hotels

This role is eligible for an incentive for successful applicants to receive $1 per hour worked based on completion of a full winter season contract. Conditions apply to this incentive and will be shared during the interview and onboarding.

Skills you bring with you

• Minimum 5 years of grooming and snowmaking experience with proven strong supervisory abilities.
• Mature person with a very strong work ethic and interpersonal skills.
• A team player, self motivated, with proven leadership skills and the ability to motivate others.
• Able to think, react and communicate under pressure.
• Highly experienced operating all types of industry equipment and implements.
• Excellent working knowledge of the snowmaking systems at Sun Peaks.
• A good listener, able to follow instruction closely.
• An excellent communicator.
• Excellent time management and planning skills.
• Strong mechanical aptitude is an asset.
• Must have a keen eye for detail while still dealing in a larger scope.
• Able to complete daily reports neatly, concisely, and legibly.
• Experience with special events venue preparation.
• Must have a clean driver’s abstract.
• Able to work shifts and odd hours with overtime when required.

Primary Responsibilities

• Meet with staff at the beginning of each shift and review grooming list, identify priorities and requests from other departments, and then delegate tasks to the crew.
• Make decisions regarding all aspects of grooming operations, including maintenance, prestart procedures, selection and use of grooming implements, fueling, winch operations, preseason trail building, heavy snowfall, damage, accidents, incidents, shut down and post operational procedures.
• Coordinate your plan with snowmaking and other mountain departments.
• Delegate tasks to crew during the shift as required.
• During heavy snowfall events follow priorities: 1) lift ramps, 2) roads, 3) green, 4) blue, terrain parks, then black trails.
• Monitor production and quality of grooming products.
• Train and mentor, all level of operators.
• Give Feedback to all staff under their Leadership in the form of seasonal evaluations.
• Accountable for the safety of both personnel and equipment.
• Identify and contain fuel or oil spills immediately in accordance with our EMS (Environmental Management System) procedure.
• Accurate, neat compilation of the grooming report (names of operators, time and percentage of runs groomed, machine hours and fuel tracking)
• Make sure that all staff have signed in and out of the ADP System for each shift.
• Communicate all necessary information to next Lead Hand at shift change.
• The morning crew lead hand must call the snow phone in the morning to give a timely and accurate grooming report.

Why join us?

We are Canada’s second-largest ski area and a passionate team committed to providing the finest mountain resort experience to our guests.

Our people are at the heart of what we do, making a difference to our guests and our workplace every single day. That’s why we invest in the employee experience; to ensure everyone can be at their best and live our values.

No matter who you are, or your career journey to date, once you join the team at Sun Peaks, you’ll get to feel part of our special community right away. You and your wellbeing matter to us; you’ll have plenty of opportunities to grow and learn, as well as enjoy everything our beautiful mountain resort has to offer. In return, we expect you to be passionate about working together to create special memories for our guests, while taking care of our precious environment for others to enjoy into the future.

We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture, and encourage applications from all qualified individuals.

We acknowledge that we live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the Secwépemc People.