Family and Community Engagement Manager

Capital Camps & Retreat Center (CCRC), a non-profit Jewish camping and retreat organization, is seeking a full-time family and community engagement manager to join the team.  This is a hybrid position from September – May in North Bethesda, from June – August the manager will reside at camp.

 Agency Overview 

CCRC provides enriching, summer overnight camp and year-round retreat services to children, families, and organizations primarily from the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas. The agency’s office is located in Rockville, MD, and the camp and retreat center is located in Waynesboro, PA.  Founded in 1987, Capital Camps has enjoyed steady growth and is now close to capacity each summer with children ages 7 to 17 on an expansive renovated campus in the Catoctin Mountains.  The Retreat Center, which hosts approximately 100 groups each year, is a center of learning and rejuvenation for adults, families, and organizations.

CCRC is affiliated with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, JCCA (Jewish Community Center Association), ACA (American Camp Association), FJC (The Foundation for Jewish Camp), and JCamp 180 (a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation). 

For more information about the camp, go to capitalcamps.org, and capitalretreat.org for information about the retreat center.

Responsibilities

Overall:

• Support all camp programs, initiatives, and efforts. Build and strengthen partnerships with internal and external stakeholders leading to the creation and execution of new year-round programs and engagement opportunities. Mobilize campers, families, and staff from various and diverse backgrounds and identities, towards other Capital Camps & Retreat Center experiences and offerings.
• Manage and execute the recruitment and retention of campers for summer and academic year programs.
• Plan, organize, promote and provide onsite and online tours of the camp during the summer and academic year.
• Engage with community partners (day schools, congregations, JCCs, youth-serving organizations, etc.) to strengthen connections and pipeline toward future camper registration.
• Develop and implement marketing strategies tailored to recruiting a variety of different ages and demographics of prospective campers and families.

Planning Season (academic year):

• Create and activate a recruitment and retention strategic plan with focus on families residing in Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
• Enhance engagement in Baltimore, central and southern VA, Philadelphia, NJ, and NY to further camper recruitment and registration.
• Support the creation, planning and implementation of summer and year-round programs, including camper and staff reunions, localized reunions, Family Camp Retreats, and more.
• Play an active role in the recruitment and retention of seasonal staff members.
• Participate and identify volunteers to represent CCRC at community camp fairs and events.
• Coordinate and facilitate congregational and youth-serving organization visits and home visits/parlor meetings to boost Capital Camps profile in the community and connect to prospective families.
• Serve as lead for camp@school days with local partner day schools, opportunities to showcase CCRC staff, camp-style programming and curriculum in the community schools.
• Identify and empower family ambassadors to support the recruitment and retention of campers and families to participate in Capital Camps programming and summer experience.
• Analyze recruitment and retention date for presentation to CCRC Camp Committee and Board of Director meetings to further drive recruitment and retention efforts through lay leader engagement.
• Partner with colleagues on designated projects. Play an active, visible role on the regional and national camping scene. This includes participation in professional development opportunities.
• Facilitate and order year-round and summer swag, recruitment fair giveaways, retention items, milestone gear, summer t-shirts, and counselor recognition items, in coordination with the CCRC brand.
• Coordinate with Communications & Marketing Associate to manage online presence including social media, websites, blog posts for prospective camp family awareness.
• Work closely with the Communications & Marketing Associate to develop content for monthly newsletters for camp families.
• In preparation for camp season, manage pre-camp communications with families.
• Facilitate connections between new campers and families with returning families.
• Organize and lead new camper orientations in the late spring in preparation for the summer.
• Support team members in email communications ensuring that data and lists are updated through CampMinder, and any future CRMs.

Summer Season:

• Create and execute summer “Taste of Camp” or similar themed program opportunities for prospective camp families.
• Plan, organize, promote and manage Community Partner Days, summer visits for local congregations, day schools, and youth serving organizations to connect with the camper and staff community at CCRC.
• Manage logistics, communications and programming for visiting groups from local JCC day camps, and long-stays from our Israeli partner agencies - CampUSA and Friends of the IDF’s Legacy Camp programs - during the summer sessions.
• Effectively and efficiently respond to and support campers, families, and various program participants prioritizing program satisfaction and retention. As needed, support individual families with special circumstances and accommodations.
• Serve as the summer communications director to plan and implement a strategy for communicating with current and prospective camp families. Train, supervise, and evaluate seasonal communications team, including photographers.
• Manage and execute arrival and departure days with the support of the Camp Director and COO for each session, including 1, 2, 3 and 4 week sessions.

Qualifications:

• 4+ years of experience in Jewish overnight camping or other Jewish experiential educational settings.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• Strong references demonstrating prior experience and competency.
• Collaborate & Connect: Thrives on creating and sustaining a climate of inclusion, trust, and productivity. Holds self and others accountable for delivering on commitments on time and within budget.  Able to initiate respectful, open dialogue to resolve issues.  Willing to educate oneself on the work of CCRC outside of direct responsibilities, consider how work can align with and strengthen others, and seek opportunities to connect with people and ideas for continuous improvement within and across teams.
• Self-Management: Able to scope a project before starting to identify purpose, outcomes, roles, and processes in relation to shared outcomes. Follow through with tasks on the established timeline.  Identify tools and processes that will increase and support accountability. 
• Maintain regular, open, honest and respectful communication.
• Superior interpersonal and team-building skills.
• Ability to deliver high standards of customer service.
• Ability to effectively and thoughtfully problem solve and communicate with team members.
• Outstanding reflective and creative thinking capabilities.
• Commitment to Judaism and Jewish living/learning.
• Understanding and appreciation of child development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Dedication to continued personal learning and development.
• Exemplary sense of ethics, integrity and confidentiality.
• Dynamic, energetic, well-organized with great attention to detail.
• Sense of humor and serious interest in having fun.
• Participation in Capital Camps’ dedication to creating a culture of philanthropy.
• Experience using Excel, Jot form and data collection tools.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and supervisors.
• Demonstrates an active and well-rounded presence on social media and understands how to tailor content to each channel’s audience.
• Able to reside at camp in Waynesboro, PA for a significant portion of the summer to manage family and community engagement opportunities and events, as well as several weekend retreats throughout the academic year.
• Highly organized, capable of responding efficiently and effectively to a variety of requests.
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and work independently, establishing priorities and meeting deadlines, and exhibit sound judgment.

Additional Information

• The Family and Community Engagement Manager works alongside a marketing strategist, Communications and Marketing Associate and is supervised by the Camp Director.
• Medical/Vision, Dental and Long- and Short-Term Disability insurance.
• 403(b) retirement plan with match available.
• Vacation, personal and holiday leave.
• Camper fee discount provided for dependent child/children.
• The Family and Community Engagement Manager must be able to reside at camp during the summer months and several weekend retreats throughout the academic year.
• Weekend and evening travel for camper recruitment required.
• Title commensurate with experience.

Salary: starting at $60,000, commensurate with experience. 

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume and references to [email protected].