Director, NJY Teen Camp
Location: Fairfield, NJ (Year-Round); Milford, PA (Summer).
About NJY Camps:
NJY Camps (NJY) is one of North America’s premier Jewish summer camp organizations. Comprised of five overnight summer camps, NJY serves children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. NJY’s mission focuses on supporting the growth and development of every individual member of its community so that they can learn new skills, develop greater self-confidence, and foster a strong Jewish identity. Having recently celebrated its centennial anniversary, NJY is reimagining its next 100 years. NJY Camps serves more than 5000 campers and participants through its various overnight camps and retreat center program, hires more than 800 summer staff, and operates across 2000 acres of land. For more information, please visit our website.
About the Position:
The Director of NJY Teen Camp (TAC) is the year-round professional responsible for all programmatic and operational duties of the Teen Camp program. NJY Teen Camp serves 150+ 10th-11th grade campers with an infrastructure of 20-30 seasonal staff members. The Director will lead in the areas of year-round camper recruitment and engagement, staff hiring, and the program design and implementation of camp. In collaboration with other agency-wide personnel, the Director supports efforts in communications, logistical planning, organization, facility management, and vendor purchasing. The Director will spend part of the summer on-site in Milford, PA and part of the summer supervising a 3–4-week travel experience. They will supervise a large infrastructure comprised of various trips, the camp program itself, and all Teen Camp Staff. The Director will lead on camp culture building, staff development, and problem-solving daily occurrences, with appropriate communication to NJY Executive leadership and camper families as needed. We anticipate the responsibilities of the Teen Camp portfolio filling approximately 60-70% of the chosen candidate’s time. Additionally, agency-wide responsibilities will be assigned and determined based on interests, skillset, and need.
Responsibilities:
Foster Deep Relationships with Families
- Contact existing NJY Camps families to sell Teen Camp program options
- Host evening Info-Sessions to update families on trips & camp offerings (approx. twice monthly)
- Navigate scholarship requests as part of a scholarship committee
- Respond to all parent inquiries via phone and email in a timely manner
- Participate in camp-specific and agency recruitment events including fairs, reunions, tours, and Jewish communal events
- Communicate proactively and responsively in summer on camper concerns and challenges
Build & Manage an All-Star Team
- Work with supervisors to create Teen Camp supervision structure across its programs
- Hire a staff team of 20-30 counselors and seasonal supervisors
- Manage all administrative tasks of job postings, interviews, contracting, and communications
- Develop the orientation schedule and onboarding process for all staff
- Collaboratively build and institute policies, procedures, and practices to define camp’s culture
Create a Transformational Summer Program
- Inform Teen Camp’s broad programmatic vision and communicate it to staff and stakeholders
- Lead in the development and implementation of all Teen Camp programs
- Oversee day-to-day delivery of program by mobilizing staff and building an infrastructure that balances camper supervision, program implementation, and all other daily tasks
- Build a robust schedule of special programming including day trips, guest speakers, leadership development, and community service
Be a Master Organizer
- Coordinate with appropriate personnel on food, medical, facility, and operational needs
- Work closely with travel providers on all details concerning the planning and delivery of two travel programs: one domestic, and one in Israel
- Become adept with all CampMinder database functions
- Collaborate with NJY Camps’ Israeli partnership on our integrated camp program
- Inform marketing strategy to include social media, website, and outbound communications
Lead by Example
- Manage relationships with various stakeholders: partners, vendors, families, staff, and alumni
- Oversee delivery of staff orientation week schedule
- Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and support to camp staff throughout the summer
- Serve as primary contact for all camper and staff concerns relating to discipline, mental health, physical health, and social dynamics
- Navigate all travel-related challenges, coordinating with families, staff, and trip providers
- Be the central cog in camp-wide announcements, communications, and delegation
Required Experience:
- The ideal candidate will have 4-6 years of relevant professional experience
- Experience in a full-time or seasonal camp leadership capacity desired
- A proven track record of successfully managing a diverse range of relationships
- An aptitude for camp management, including areas of recruitment, marketing, hiring, purchasing, program development, and travel programs
- Experience working independently, with a great deal of autonomy, and in a flexible work environment
Skills and Qualities:
- Exemplary attention to detail and organization
- Commitment to the lifestyle associated with full-time resident camp employment: A flexible year-round work environment, coupled with an intense, full-on summer with limited downtime
- A self-starter and go-getter with excellent initiative
- Strong time-management capabilities and the ability to stay on top of multiple priorities
- Comfortable working in an adaptive and ever-changing work environment
- Ability to manage high stress situations and crises with a level head and sound judgment
- A collaborative team player who enjoys working with professionals from all generations
- Sense of humor and enthusiasm for blending work and play
- Exemplary leadership qualities
- A strong commitment to NJY Camps’ mission and a passion for Jewish summer camp
Salary and Benefits:
- Salary range of $70-80K
- For the appropriate candidate, we are open to exploring a part-time year-round/full-time summer model with applicable proration
- Health and dental insurance plan
- Full summer camp tuition included for any eligible camp-aged children (approximate value of $12,500 per child)
- Monthly car stipend
- Company cell phone plan
- 4% employer 401K match after 6 months
- Flexible hours and hybrid office environment
- Discretionary Time Off policy (DTO)
- Significant investment in professional development
To Apply: Please submit a cover letter and resume to [email protected] with subject: Director, NJY Teen Camp. Receipt of all submissions will be acknowledged within two business days.
NJY Camps provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. NJY Camps encourages individuals from underrepresented groups to apply. In order to increase equity in hiring, NJY Camps prefers not to receive informal referrals from individuals with personal connections to NJY Camps and cannot factor such referrals into the selection of candidates for interviews.
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understand the scope of the position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, or responsibilities associated with the position.