Assistant Director, Cedar Lake Camp

Assistant Director, Cedar Lake 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 3300 campers, over 800 summer staff, across 2000 acres of land. For more information, please visit our website.

About the Position:

The Assistant Director of Cedar Lake Camp is the professional who works directly with the Camp Director and is instrumental in the successful day-to-day management of Cedar Lake Camp. Cedar Lake Camp serves 500+ 7^th-9^th grade campers with an infrastructure of 200+ seasonal staff members. Cedar Lake Camp’s programmatic offerings extend to the 150 campers of NJY Teen Camp (10^th-11^th grade) and 100 campers of Round Lake Camp (NJY’s inclusion program for children with high functioning special learning needs). The Assistant Director works closely with the Camp Director on 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 Assistant Director of Cedar Lake Camp supports efforts in communications, logistical planning, organization, facility management, and vendor purchasing. During the summer, the Assistant Director of Cedar Lake Camp lives on-site in Milford, PA and supervises a large infrastructure comprising of program areas and camper divisions, including the seasonal leadership that supervise these departments. The Assistant Director supports the Director in work around camp culture building, staff development, and problem solving daily occurrences. This position will report to the Director of Cedar Lake Camp and work in partnership with the other Milford Camps’ directors and assistant directors.

Responsibilities:

Recruit and Retain Campers

• Support the Director in building a framework of innovative recruitment tactics to engage, recruit and retain campers
• Steward inquiries and leads through parent communications, home visits, and camp tours
• Respond to inbound communications received via the website and other relevant sources
• Represent NJY Camps at camper recruitment and other agency and community events

Build a Summer Team of Rockstars

• Utilize recruitment avenues to search for, screen, and hire seasonal staff members
• Assist the director in reviewing prospective applicants and determining placements
• Support the Director in building an intentional and robust staff orientation week, in addition to other applicable training efforts, including planning and delivering training sessions
• Supervise specific populations including pre-counselors (first year counselors), or Cornerstone Fellows

Create a Transformational Summer Program

• Work collaboratively with the Director to define camp’s big picture programmatic vision and communicate it to all areas of camp
• Support the building of a programmatic infrastructure that caters for all interests and offers high level instruction, engaging experiences, and fits within the necessary parameters of Cedar Lake’s structure
• Infuse Jewish and Israel content into all elements of the camp experience
• Assist in ordering materials and supplies for program areas and special days
• Maintain a physical daily presence in and around all areas of camp ranging from bunk clean up time, meals, program periods, and daily routines.
• Ability to lead and orchestrate large camp programming, from program development all the way through to implementation of the program.

Be a Master Organizer

• Support the running of a complex framework of operational systems including medical provision, food service, facility maintenance, and office administration
• Assist in the proper opening and closing of camp’s physical property
• Collaborate with other members of NJY Camps’ professional leadership, including Camp Nah-Jee-Wah, Teen Camp, Round Lake, and other central agency functions

Model Expert Leadership

• Assume the role of Acting Director during periods of absence of the Director
• Manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders including partners, vendors, camp families, staff, and alumni
• Help inform the strategic direction of Cedar Lake Camp and NJY Camps at large
• Serve as a role model for both campers and staff

Required Experience:

• The ideal candidate will have 2-5 years of relevant professional experience. If you have more or less and believe you’re a great fit, let’s talk!
• Experience in a seasonal camp leadership capacity
• A proven track record of successfully managing a diverse range of relationships
• An aptitude for camp management, including areas of recruitment, marketing, staffing, purchasing, program development, and facility management
• 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 $50-65K negotiable based on knowledge and experience
• Health and dental insurance plan
• 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: Assistant Director, Cedar Lake 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.