PLEASE NOTE: Applicants will need to apply here: https://form.jotform.com/StewardsIPP/cva-member-application-2025-fall-co Application form requires a resume, cover letter, professional references.

Position Title:  Community Volunteer Ambassador, Shiloh National Military Park - AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements

Site Location: 1055 Pittsburg Landing Road, Shiloh, TN 38376

Application Timeline: Preference given to applicants that submit application by June 13, 2025

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: September 8, 2025
• End Date: August 7, 2026
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 1700 Hour

Purpose:

Stewards Individual Placements, a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. The Community Volunteer Ambassador (CVA) Program combines the strength of a national leader in conservation service with the National Park Service to train emerging leaders to assist park units in building lasting connections to communities.

Shiloh National Military Park is a relatively small National Park Service site located in rural southwestern Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi. The summers are long, hot, and humid while the winters are short and mild. As one of the first five Civil War battlefields to be preserved by Congress, the Shiloh Battlefield is a near-pristine location for members of the public to explore and engage with a painful and important part of American history. Visitors come to Shiloh from every state in the country and multiple overseas countries to walk the hallowed landscape.

A year-round staff of less than 30 permanent employees administers over 6,000 acres of land spread across two states. A small, dedicated group of 11 regular park volunteers further assists with maintaining the historic landscape and engaging with park visitors. In FY24, 207 individuals volunteered nearly 5,000 hours of service at Shiloh by assisting with events like Park Day, Wreaths Across America, and National Public Lands Day. With new challenges in the National Park Service's second century of work looming on the horizon, growing Shiloh's volunteer program and connection with local communities will offer the park the chance to build a strong foundation for the next 100 years of preservation, education, and service.

Shiloh National Military Park would like to capitalize on the presence of a Community Volunteer Ambassador to have a more visible presence at local events in the park's two major gateway communities, Savannah, TN and Corinth, MS. Additionally, Shiloh's small permanent staff have often been stretched thin to accomplish the park's core mission. A CVA could help create and foster interdivisional volunteer opportunities that can be maintained on an indefinite basis that will enable park divisions to go beyond accomplishing their core missions.

Description of Duties:

• Organizing volunteer program resources.
• Inventorying volunteer program supplies.
• Creating a list and purchase orders for needed materials.
• Moving digitized volunteer program resources (PDs, JHAs, inventories, policy documents, etc.) from the park's soon-to-be-defunct shared server to Microsoft OneDrive.
• Standardizing volunteer position descriptions.
• Standardizing volunteer job hazard analyses.
• Creating a standard onboarding procedure for new volunteers.
• Increasing the park's use of volunteer.gov for volunteer management.
• Identifying local community events to have a presence at.
• Attending local events to recruit local volunteers.
• Creating a tote of VIP recruitment materials for use at events.
• Creating and executing a digital/social media VIP recruitment strategy.
• Updating VIP listings on volunteer.gov.
• Planning and executing onsite open houses/programs to introduce the volunteer program to the public.

Qualifications:

• Friendly & welcoming.
• Strong work ethic & the ability to work semi-independently.
• Resilient.
• Strong written & oral communication skills, especially spelling & grammar.
• Computer savvy.
• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• Applicants must be between ages of 18-30 years old, or up to 35 for veteran, based on Public Land Corps Act of 1993 authorizing this AmeriCorps opportunity.
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award.
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Comfortable with public speaking.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary team.
• Self-driven & motivated.
• Not afraid to ask questions or say "I don't know."
• Interest in mid-19th century American history and the American Civil War.

Physical Requirements:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

• This position is expected to serve 40 hours each week, but exact service schedules may vary.
• Lunch breaks will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service.
• Member may be required to participate in national, state, or local service projects or events as part of their service term.

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Week-long, in-person training on NPS volunteer program management and leadership skills.
• Year-long continuum of learning supporting professional development
• $1,200 in Professional Development Funds 

Additional Position and Community Information

Schedule will require working weekends, and potentially evenings as needed. Due to distance between the park units and gateway communities, a driver's license will be required, although a government-owned vehicle will be available for work. A personally-owned vehicle will be required to run personal errands on weekends or evenings as there is no public transport in the area. The opportunity to collaborate with local institutions like the Tennessee River Museum is available. Housing common areas will be shared, but the CVA will have their own bedroom.

Benefits:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $7,395.00
• Living Allowance of $600 per week.
• Additional Benefit of $150 per week, if housing is not provided
• Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
• Childcare Coverage if Eligible
• Student Loan forbearance if Eligible (administered by MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• Interest Payments if Eligible (administered through MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• $1,200 in Professional Development Funds for training, networking, conferences, and/or travel
• Networking opportunities within the National Park Service and partnering organizations
• Public Land Corps Hiring Authority
• Week-long in-person training at NPS site with travel/meal expenses covered.

Evaluation and Reporting:

• As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.
• Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

How to Apply
Please visit Community Volunteer Ambassador (cvainternships.org) to review “Member Positions” by region and find instructions on how to apply.

The CVA position will start on Monday, September 8, 2025 and run for 48 weeks until Friday, August 7, 2026.

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants will need to apply here: https://form.jotform.com/StewardsIPP/cva-member-application-2025-fall-co.  Application form requires a resume, cover letter, professional references.

Please ensure your cover letter addresses how your experience aligns with the CVA program, your experience working with different populations, and position details for this park/position. You may submit one application for multiple positions by selecting all sites you are interested in.

Application Timeline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First review will occur in early June. Final deadline is Friday, July 4, 2025.

For Application Questions:

Please contact James Gasaway, Program Director at jgasaway@conservationlegacy.org

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. 

 We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.