Assistant Recreation Manager

State of Montana; Kalispell (MT); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement

Paid vacation

Sick leave

Holidays

VEBA option

Job summary

State of Montana is seeking an Assistant Recreation Manager for the Flathead Lake District, based at the Flathead Lake Ranger Station near Bigfork. The role focuses on managing non-maintenance operations across multiple park units, coordinating staff and volunteers, and ensuring visitor safety and resource protection.

The position entails supervision of seasonal staff, coordination of permits and public programs, and collaboration with maintenance to keep sites safe and well maintained.

Qualifications

• Experience supervising seasonal staff and volunteers.
• Ability to plan and manage recreational use and visitor services.
• Familiarity with safety protocols and site operations.

Responsibilities

• Plan, organize and manage recreational use to meet visitor needs and protect resources.
• Recruit, hire, train, supervise, and evaluate staff and volunteers.
• Ensure staff are trained in reservation programs, safety protocols and site operations.
• Monitor impacts to site infrastructure and develop mitigation solutions.
• Patrol units to monitor visitor activities and resource conditions.
• Check compliance with fees and special use permits; manage permits."
• Collaborate with maintenance staff to ensure sites are safe and well maintained.
• Assist with collection and reporting of visitation data and surveys.

Skills

Staff supervision

Public safety awareness

Visitor services

Communication

Tools

Reservation software

Job description

THE OUTSIDE IS IN US ALL.

Special Information:

Identity of applicants who become finalists may be released to the public if the Department deems it necessary.

• Employees who exceed 1,040 hours in a calendar year are also provided health, dental and life insurance.
• Other benefits include retirement, paid vacation, sick and holidays.
• This position may be covered by a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association).

A successful applicant will be subject to a background investigation.

Women and minorities are under-represented in this job category and are encouraged to apply.

Effective June 22, 2026, this agency is participating in E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility. After accepting a job offer and completing Form I-9, your information will be submitted to the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration for verification. For more information about E-Verify, please visit the E-Verify website found here, https://www.e-verify.gov/.

The Assistant Recreation Manager position for the Flathead Lake District is based out of the Flathead Lake Ranger Station located within the Wayfarers Unit of Flathead Lake State Park just outside of Bigfork, Montana. Flathead Lake District includes one of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks premiere state parks: Flathead Lake State Park, which consists of six different and unique park units: Big Arm, Finley Point, Wayfarers, West Shore, Wild Horse Island, and Yellow Bay. The Flathead Lake District also encompasses five fishing access sites, and seven wildlife management areas, including 4 islands.

The Flathead Lake District has over 2,800 acres, 146 campsites, 3 yurts/2 cabin rentals, picnic shelter rentals, nine boat launches, a boat marina, over 9 miles of hiking trails, four entrance stations, and a ranger station.

Flathead Lake itself is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River with 188 miles of shoreline. It is host to an abundance of recreational opportunities year-round, with summer swimming, hiking, wildlife watching, boating and fishing being the most popular.

Job Duties:

The Assistant Recreation Manager is assigned to a geographic unit and assists with the management and coordination of all aspects of non-maintenance operations at the Flathead Lake Recreation District. This work primarily encompasses broad administrative, personal, operational, recreation, visitor use, natural, cultural, and historical resource management activities. Except for maintenance functions, this position oversees daily site and program operations, employees, visitor use and behavior, and facilities at assigned sites. This position provides essential services, including but not limited to addressing public safety concerns, fee collection and remittance, interpretation and education, visitor use data collection, and special recreation permit and commercial use permit compliance. The position is supervised by the Flathead Lake District Recreation Manager and will supervise the majority of the Flathead Lake District's seasonal and volunteer staff. This position will also provide guidance and direction to other park staff that is not directly supervised by this position. In the absence of the Recreation Manager, the Assistant Recreation Manager may be assigned acting duties.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Plan, organize and manage recreational use to meet visitor needs and to help prevent or resolve user conflicts and resource degradation.
• Recruits, hires, trains, supervises and evaluates staff, up to 10 seasonal, and 24 volunteers.
• Ensures site staff are trained in reservation programs, safety protocols and site operations.
• Monitor impacts to site infrastructure and resources and develop solutions with relevant staff and regional leadership to correct or mitigate problematic impacts.
• Helps patrol assigned units via motor vehicle, foot, motorboat or snowmobile as necessary to monitor visitor activities and resource conditions.
• Checks compliance with fee payment, special recreation, and commercial use permits.
• Review, issue, and manage concession and special use permits, balancing this with public use of recreation sites.
• Oversee the districts enterprise program, including inventorying, purchasing, budgeting and pricing of the parks gift shop items.
• Collaborate with maintenance staff to ensure recreation sites are safe and well maintained.
• Assist with collection and reporting of visitation data and visitor surveys.
• Address and resolve visitor