Outdoor Youth Program Coordinator- Faculty of Kinesiology

University of Calgary; Calgary; On-site; CAD 52,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Calgary's Active Living department seeks a Full-time Regular Outdoor Youth Program Coordinator to lead a dynamic team delivering youth programs. You will recruit, train, schedule, and supervise staff and volunteers, ensuring high quality, safe programming for youth during peak seasons.

You will coordinate program offerings, manage registrations, and liaise with parents, partners, and sponsors.

Qualifications

• Experience leading instructors, guides, and volunteers.
• Experience with recruitment and hiring processes.
• Ability to design and deliver staff training including safety and risk management.
• Ability to delegate work, schedule, and manage vacations.
• Experience in public-facing duties with partners and sponsors.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of instructors, guides, and volunteers with regular coaching.
• Oversee recruitment, screening, references, and hiring for pre-season to end of summer.
• Lead staff training on safety protocols, risk management, and program quality standards.
• Assign workloads, schedules, and vacations; monitor overtime and attendance.
• Represent the program to partners, funders, and internal stakeholders; handle parent inquiries.

Skills

Team leadership

Recruitment

Staff training

Safety protocols

Program design

Customer relations

Tools

CSIS

Job description

Description

This opportunity is currently available for internal applicants only as THERE IS A STRONG INTERNAL CANDIDATE FOR THIS POSITION.

The Active Living in the Faculty of Kinesiology is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Outdoor Youth Program Coordinator.

The University of Calgary's Active Living department is one of the largest and most diverse recreation departments based on a North American campus. Active Living has a team of 40 full time and up to 600 part time staff. On an annual basis our staff handle 47,000 registrations in over 75 recreational and sporting activities, and provide facility access to over a million users to our facilities: North America's largest Outdoor Centre with climbing and bouldering walls, a gymnastics centre, an Olympic sized pool, a fitness centre with 200 m track, Canada's largest university racquet centre, five gymnasiums and access to the Olympic Oval. The Outdoor Centre also provides its students and community over 16,000 outdoor equipment rental orders each year.

Active Living provides all these services to the students, staff, and community while charging one of the lowest recreation fees in North America. Our mission is "To enrich lives by providing quality programming and educational experiences which promote and encourage lifelong active living for all."

The Outdoor Youth Programs provides annual programming to over 2,400 participants generating annual revenue of over $900,000.00 for Active Living and the Outdoor Centre. Coordinating the Outdoor Youth Programs requires discretionary decision making about programs, pricing, hiring over 75 staff, scheduling, resource allocation, and resolution of customer complaints. Decisions have operational, financial, and reputational impacts beyond the unit, influencing participant safety, institutional risk exposure, and community perception of the University. Work is driven by simultaneous deadlines at periods of time during the year. Peak periods (June-September) are stressful because of high volume.
The position maintains a comprehensive, year-round portfolio of Outdoor Youth Programs with sustained operational demands across all seasons. Program responsibilities require full allocation of time and resources, and Youth Program delivery remains the primary focus of the role.

This position reports to the Youth Programs Manager. This position is full time, Monday to Friday 7 hours per day, 35 hours/ week. There will be times when overtime is required, including extended workdays beyond regular hours, as well as evenings and weekends, particularly during peak operating periods.. If overtime hours are earned they are expected to be used up within 4 months before that coming January.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

job functions include but are not limited to:

• The position requires management of a team of instructors, guides, and volunteers who need regular coaching and mentoring
• Full scope of the recruitment and hiring process including screening, making hiring decisions, completing references, and offering employment to a variety of those delivering the program, increased responsibilities within this area within the pre-season (March) to the end of the summer (September)
• Leads the design and delivery of comprehensive staff training, including safety protocols, risk management practices, and program quality standards
• Responsible for delegation of work and responsibilities to successfully ensure a positive experience for those participating in the programs. This includes assignment of work and hours of team members, managing schedules and authorizing any vacation
• Full scope performance management, providing positive feedback and encouragement as well as dealing with any performance issues of the staff, up to and including termination
• Formal evaluation of staff through appropriate methods
• Supervising and coordinating staff, specifically schedules and any vacation requests. Authorizing overtime as required and ensuring accurate records
• Public accountability, as the "face" of the program and dealing with partners, funders and sponsors as well as internal stakeholders within the Outdoor Centre as well as the University of Calgary, especially as it relates to the summer camps
• Interacting with parents (customer) to answer questions and respond to concerns regarding their children or the camp program
• Ultimate responsibility for the safety and security of the staff, stakeholders and the children while they are participating in programs
• Participate in the University of Calgary Youth Programs team (meeting of coordinators and managers of all youth programs on campus
• Serves as escalation point for complex operational issues, critical incidents, and participant/parent concerns
• Develops leadership capacity within returning staff and emerging leaders through coaching and mentorship
• Plans and schedules annual and seasonal program offerings, including determining program timing, structure, and capacity to align with operational resources and participant demand
• Responsible for creating and maintaining online program listings for public registration, including the setup of approximately 200 individual program instances annually within Active
• Living Client Services Information System (CSIS), ensuring accuracy, accessibility, and alignment with registration and marketing timelines
• Represents the program and the University at conferences, workshops, and community or industry events, including presenting on program operations, best practices, and outcomes to support knowledge sharing and enhance institutional reputation

Leadership Duties

• The position requires management of a team of instructors, guides, and volunteers who need regular coaching and mentoring
• Full scope of the recruitment and hiring process including screening, making hiring decisions, completing references, and offering employment to a variety of those delivering the program, increased responsibilities within this area within the pre-season (March) to the end of the summer (September)
• Leads the design and delivery of comprehensive staff training, including safety protocols, risk management practices, and program quality standards
• Responsible for delegation of work and responsibilities to successfully ensure a positive experience for those participating in the programs. This includes assignment of work and hours of team members, managing schedules and authorizing any vacation
• Full scope performance management, providing positive feedback and encouragement as well as dealing with any performance issues of the staff, up to and including termination
• Formal evaluation of staff through appropriate methods
• Supervising and coordinating staff, specifically schedules and any vacation requests. Authorizing overtime as required and ensuring accurate records
• Public accountability, as the "face" of the program and dealing with partners, funders and sponsors as well as internal stakeholders within the Outdoor Centre as well as the University of Calgary, especially as it relates to the summer camps
• Interacting with parents (customer) to answer questions and respond to concerns regarding their children or the camp program
• Ultimate responsibility for the safety and security of the staff, stakeholders and the children while they are participating in programs
• Participate in the University of Calgary Youth Programs team (meeting of coordinators and managers of all youth programs on campus
• Serves as escalation point for complex operational issues, critical incidents, and participant/parent concerns
• Develops leadership capacity within returning staff and emerging leaders through coaching and mentorship
• Plans and schedules annual and seasonal program offerings, including determining program timing, structure, and capacity to align with operational resources and participant demand
• Responsible for creating and maintaining online program listings for public registration, including the setup of approximately 200 individual program instances annually within Active
• Living Client Services Information System (CSIS), ensuring accuracy, accessibility, and alignment with registration and marketing timelines
• Represents the program and the University at conferences, workshops, and community or industry events, including presenting on program operations, best practices, and outcomes to support knowledge sharing and enhance institutional reputation

Financial Responsibilities

• Managing an assigned budget of approximately $900,00
• Provide regular budget updates
• Applying for program funding from