Who are we?
Credit Valley Conservation is one of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities dedicated to protecting, restoring and enhancing our local natural environment. We care for the Credit River, its streams and tributaries from the headwaters in Orangeville to the shores of Lake Ontario in Mississauga. We are scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, environmentalists, stewards, planners, foresters, recreation experts and much more. We create connections between people and nature, knowledge and action. We inspire appreciation for the role of nature in keeping people connected, healthy and happy. We’re leaders and explorers. We are professional and we’re inspired. We know our stuff, and we work every day to make a difference.
Who are you?
You want to be part of an organization with an environmental goal. You get up every day and go to work with purpose. You accept that you may not change the world, but you’ll try to make an impact in your corner. You like to partner with skilled people across many professions. It’s as natural for you think about the outdoors as it is to think out of the box. You’re passionate, responsible and approachable. You do what’s right, not just what’s easy. You care, and it shows.
Why work for us?
- Our team is passionate, caring, and inclusive.
- We find time to have fun and celebrate successes.
- This role provides full-time hours, with a flexible work schedule based on programming needs, including working from home on occasion.
- We offer professional development opportunities such as peer-to-peer job shadowing.
- You will be mentored by a team of experienced outreach and stewardship specialists.
- We offer competitive public sector pay.
- You will know your co-workers by name and make fast friends. You will like being at work.
- We are members of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) pension fund.
- CVC staff have free access to our parks and discounts on recreational equipment rentals.
Summary of Functions
Reporting to the Senior Coordinator, Community Outreach, this position supports and provides leadership at Community Outreach and Education stewardship events. This role implements CVC’s Branch Out, Conservation Youth Corps program, and Frontline programs.
Crew Leaders prepare for and deliver stewardship events that reach diverse audiences from the Region of Peel and across the Credit River watershed. Duties include Activities include loading/unloading trailers, driving trailers, event preparation on-site, including laying out of planting stock, and teaching and mentoring youth participants.
Successful candidates assist with various administrative and asset management tasks such as data entry and analysis, communications and social media support, and equipment inventory. The role requires a lot of travel across the watershed to different green spaces and parks (municipal, partner, and Conservation Areas) as well as schools.
Candidates should have an interest in nature and working outdoors, be suited for hard physical work outdoors, and possess experience engaging youth. They should have a positive attitude, be detail-oriented, willing to take on new tasks and be keen to motivate participants with energy and enthusiasm. This role requires candidates to work on a close-knit team and independently at times. As a CVC representative, candidates should have strong organizational and problem-solving skills and experience in the environmental field.
CVC is committed to the health and safety of all its employees, program partners, and program participants. Crew Leaders will be expected to assume responsibility for the safety of volunteers, co-workers, and themselves.
Eligibility Requirements
- College or University degree/diploma in Environmental Restoration, Environmental Sciences/Studies, Education, or a related discipline.
- Experience managing and supervising children, youth, and volunteers.
- Experience teaching and leading environmental and/or outdoor education programs and presentations.
- Experience in environmental stewardship or restoration.
- Experience driving larger vehicles, trucks and/or trailers (strong asset, training provided).
- Understanding of group dynamics, facilitation (teaching), and team building.
- Knowledge of and ability to identify common flora and fauna and interpret nature.
- Skills in public engagement/education with strong communication and customer service.
- Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
- Ability and comfort to work outdoors in varying weather condition and to walk on uneven ground/terrain for long periods of time.
- Ability and commitment to work on weekends on occasion, including Earth Day weekend.
- Ability to lift approximately 40lbs of equipment/materials repetitively each day.
- Valid Class ‘G’ Ontario driver’s license (condition of employment).
- Driver’s abstract (condition of employment).
- Standard First Aid and CPR-C (condition of employment).
- Police reference check with vulnerable sector screening (condition of employment).
Summary of Major Tasks
- Supervise and lead youth participants and volunteers through stewardship activities like planting native trees and shrubs, removing invasive species, restoring local streams, etc.
- Deliver educational workshops about nature and climate change to diverse youth audiences in-person or virtually and lead nature hikes, stream studies, and other outdoor activities.
- Create positive and inspiring volunteer and learning experiences.
- Prepare, maintain, load, deliver, and set-up equipment and trees/shrubs at stewardship sites.
- Represent CVC while working alongside volunteers and community partners.
- Assist with the development of innovative programs for education and stewardship events.
- Promote CVC and its programs at schools and stewardship events and/or online.
- Assist with administrative tasks such as photo management, social media, data entry, survey analysis, and reporting.
- Other related duties as assigned.
Additional Information
Training for Success
During the onboarding period and throughout the contract, training helps equip employees with the skills and knowledge they need to perform their jobs, improve their performance, and expand their skillsets and portfolio. In-depth training will be provided to the successful candidates in the following areas:
- Event planning and implementation
- Volunteer management and engagement
- Environmental, outdoor, and classroom education and teaching
- Driving trailers and larger vehicles
- Data collection using digital collection tools
- Database entry and usage (Microsoft Access database)
- Best practices for tree and shrub planting
Other Information
- This position generally works 35 hours, Monday to Friday with frequent Saturday work during the spring and fall, and occasional evenings.
- Successful candidates will work out of our Head Office (Mississauga) and Warwick (Caledon) locations with occasional work from home.
- This position requires strenuous physical labour in all weather conditions for site maintenance, preparation, assessments, and outreach events.