Now Recruiting: Volunteer Program Assistant

Duties: Mount Rainier National Park is looking for a capable individual or individuals who can assist with the day to day operation of a very active volunteer program.

Last year, we worked with 1,724 individuals who contributed 84,038 hours of volunteer service. We currently have 300 additional names in our prospective volunteer database. We work with dozens of groups, multiple partnerships, and most of the park's various programs. Volunteers come from as near as Ashford and as far away as Russia. Every active or prospective volunteer requires a database entry, correspondence, updates on park news, various kinds of paperwork, training, supervision, housing, and uniforms. We're looking for someone who can help with these basic tasks, freeing the Volunteer Program Manager to work on long-range planning, project coordination, recruitment, partnership building, fundraising, budget wrangling, and other management tasks. Specific projects might include (roughly in order of priority):

• Answering volunteer correspondence
• Recording data from volunteer applications, work agreements, and timesheets into a computer database
• Sorting and filing paperwork
• Organizing and maintaining our equipment storage area
• Helping the Student Conservation Association's Mount Rainier Recovery Corps with projects, including organizing equipment, building platform tents for volunteer housing, or preparing and serving meals for teams of volunteers
• Assisting with special events such as National Trails Day, National Public Lands Day, volunteer training, and volunteer appreciation picnics
• Assisting with preparations for special groups, including the Youth Conservation Corps and the Japan Volunteers in Parks Association
• Creating or updating written and online reference materials for volunteers and their supervisors
• Taking photographs and/or digital video of volunteers in action, for park records and recruitment, and posting these files on the park's website
• Maintaining and contributing to this volunteer program blog and/or newsletters
• Developing new online tools for volunteer program management and recruitment

Exciting things are happening with Mount Rainier National Park's volunteer program. You can help us to maintain our role as a leader among NPS volunteer programs nationwide!

Location and Housing: Housing is not available for this position. Commuting is required. The park's volunteer program is based out of Longmire, in the southwest corner of the park. Some of the work could be done remotely via the World Wide Web.

Time Commitment Required: Up to three volunteers are needed who can commit a total of 16 to 24 hours per week.

Skills required:

• Attention to detail.
• Ability to work comfortably with computer databases and websites.
• Strong written language skills.
• Ability to follow directions carefully, but also to work independently.
• Creativity and problem-solving.

Other Information: Homeland Security regulations require that volunteers working on networked computer systems complete a basic background check. Numerous training opportunities are available to volunteers, including volunteer program management, wilderness first aid, CPR, trail construction, risk management, Leave No Trace, and others.

For more information: Contact Kevin Bacher, Volunteer Program Manager, at 360-569-2211 extension 3385.

To apply: Visit our listing on volunteer.gov, where you can submit an application online. For a listing of other volunteer opportunities at Mount Rainier, visit our volunteer projects page. For volunteer opportunities in your area, visit volunteer.gov and search for your zip code.