Read full positions descriptions and apply for both Crew Lead and Assistant Crew Leads on our website - https://www.wildernessstewards.org/jobs.

Start Date: Training to start January 5, 2026, some flexibility may be possible on a case-by-case basis

Position Duration: Position is year-round with funding secured through August 2030, with potential to extend

Status: Regular/Full Time

Compensation: $23 for Crew Leads, $22 for Asst Crew Leads per hour paid every two weeks

Position Supervisor: Field Crew Program Manager [or] SAWS Lead Trainer

Location: One crew based in Asheville, NC – performing work across National Forests in Western NC, another crew based in Johnson City, TN - performing work across the North Zone of Cherokee NF

Schedule: Expectation for this position is 40 hours per week. Weekly schedule will be dependent on project and time of year but will include 8-day and 4-day hitches, generally camping overnight but returning home at the end of the workday when project logistics allow.

Crew Structure: 1 Crew Leader, 1 Assistant Crew Leader, 4 Crew Members

Application Deadline: Nov 14, 2025

The Crew Leaders and Assistant Crew Leaders will cooperate to lead four Crew Members while camping and working on remote projects with limited to no cell service. Crews are expected to backpack and live in physically demanding, remote environments often for 8 (and sometimes 10) days at a time. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly including freezing temperatures, high humidity, persistent rain, and high elevation. The remote nature of our work may mean delayed access to medical care. Leadership of the crew will require excellent communication skills and judgment, maturity, ability to train in the field, professionalism, initiative, emotional maturity and resilience, resourcefulness, patience, ability to delegate tasks, technical trailwork skills, and comfort in the outdoors with minimal contact with others while on hitch. Crew leaders and Assistant Crew Leaders are expected to make decisions in the field to keep their crew safe and provide a high quantity and quality of work for our partners. While Crew Leaders and Assistnat Crew Leaders will collaborate to lead their crew, Crew Leaders are ultimately responsible for successes and shortcomings of the crew.

A typical work hitch includes meeting at the SAWS office, driving a SAWS vehicle to a trailhead (sometimes multiple hours), backpacking into the project site, staying in the field for up to ten days at a time, hiking out, traveling back to the office, cleaning gear, tools, vehicles, completing reporting requirements, and preparing your crew for the next work hitch.