Job opportunity - Course Manager
WE ARE RECRUITING A COURSE MANAGER TO JOIN OUR TEAM ON A FULL-TIME AND PERMANENT BASIS WITH A VIEW TO THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE STARTING WITH US IN EARLY 2025.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Staff selection is competitive. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunities for all our employees and encourage candidates to apply regardless of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity, disability, and all other protected characteristics.
ABOUT OUREA EVENTS
We’re the small (9-person) permanent staff who organise the UK’s most challenging off-road running events, including the Dragon’s Back Race®, Cape Wrath Ultra®, Salomon Skyline Scotland®, SCARPA Great Lakeland 3Day®, Salomon Buttermere Skyline™, Northern Traverse®, adidas TERREX Kendal Trail Run and THE NORTH FACE Kendal Skyline Ultra™. We work year-round, primarily from a rural office near Kendal, and our passion is the outdoors.
Help us deliver world-class event ©No Limits Photography
JOB DETAILS
Location: Kendal, Cumbria
Position type: Full-time 40hrs/week
Anticipated start date: January or February 2025
Applications are open until: 17:00, Friday 10 January 2025
Salary: £29,500 FTE
JOB DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a highly motivated individual to take a key role in the business delivering the course operations of our world-class events. The successful candidate is likely to have an intuitive understanding of our events and adventure sports activities in the mountains. The type of person we are seeking will understand that the hard work of being a successful Course Manager comes from meticulous planning and preparation beforehand. With a natural attention to detail, this is someone who excels under the pressure of an immovable event deadline.
This role is based in our Kendal office, with occasional, ad hoc working from home possible. This role will also require a commitment from the candidate to attend our events in person and spend time away from home meeting stakeholders and working on course operations. Additional and adjusted responsibilities to those listed should be expected in keeping with an ever-evolving small business. The successful candidate would also be entitled to the company pension scheme, TOIL payments for any days worked on events, and the company bonus scheme. There is a generous annual leave allowance.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Event Planning
Our Course Manager is the lead person in the business, planning the course operations and securing the necessary permissions for each event. This role includes:
Responsible for course planning and design, including in-depth reviews of all course-related data post-event with the goal of constant course improvements.
Developing in-depth on-the-ground knowledge of each of our race routes.
Responsible for updating each event's course operations section of the Event Safety Management Plan.
Updating and creating operational plans, contingency plans, and health and safety-related documentation for all course-related operations for each event.
Responsible for managing the course timings that impact cut-offs and guidance times for each event.
Updating and liaising with our mapping partners to manage the production of each event map.
Building long-term relationships with our course-related event stakeholders, including landowners, farmers, estates, regulatory authorities, and community groups.
Maintaining accurate records of stakeholders' relationships and agreements.
Working with our land agent to identify, consult with, and gain consent from landowners where necessary, and diligently recording boundaries of landowners and their contact details.
Responsible for liaising with our Ecologist and engaging with ecological issues to ensure consent from relevant agencies.
Working with external race timing and GPS tracking partners to ensure a robust system for tracking and recording results is in place for each event.
Working with the wider Marketing team to ensure that the event websites accurately reflect our current course operational plans, such as course timings, cut-offs, kit requirements, race rules, maps and more.
Coordinating the recruitment and personnel resource planning for our event teams, including the volunteer course operations team and paid mountain safety teams.
Preparing pre-event documentation relating to all course operations.
Event Delivery
Our Course Manager is the lead person in the business, delivering the course operations at each event. This role includes:
Briefing and management of all course-deployed personnel, including course marshals and checkpoint teams, and professional mountain safety teams throughout each event.
Continuously assess course safety for course-deployed staff throughout each event, in conjunction with Event Control.
Coordinating with our race timing and GPS tracking partners to ensure that results are accurate and instant; this includes reviewing to resolve anomalies with the timing, results and tracking data.
Liaising with the Operations Team to support the coordination of all course logistics, transport, and participant movements.
Liaising with the Event Control team at each event to support course-related teams.
Coordinating the wider event team that carries out course-related tasks, such as managing the start/finish area and kit checks.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
Mandatory
Understanding of our events stemming from a personal background of participating in trail, mountain, fell and/or orienteering events.
Good understanding of the mountain environment, including the risks, challenges and rewards of participating in adventure sports activities.
Personal competency in the mountain environment.
Experience in writing event health and safety documentation, including risk assessments and method statements.
Fluent in written and spoken English.
Full UK driving licence and willingness to drive various event vehicles.
Comfortable working outdoors in all weather and camping at events.
Desirable
We recognise that no one candidate is likely to have all the desirable experience outlined below. Therefore, we’ll take an open-minded view of the skills and experience of all candidates and how they relate to this role.
Experience in project management.
Proficient in Microsoft 365.
Proficiency with Apple computers and operating systems.
Experience in route design using cartography software such as OCAD.
Experience in the manipulation and publication of GPX data.
A National Governing Body award relating to working professionally in the outdoors such as Summer Mountain Leader or similar.
A qualification in event management.
A health and safety qualification.
A first aid qualification.
CANDIDATE APPLICATIONS
Questions. Informal questions are also welcome via the email address below.
Applications. Applications are accepted by email with a covering letter showing your suitability for the role and how you meet the job description, and a CV to [email protected].
Interviews. Interviews will be held in person at our Kendal office the week of 13 January 2025. An outline of the interview questions will be sent out in advance, along with a short task to prepare.
Start Date. We would like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible, ideally in late January/early February 2025, though this is negotiable.