Salary: £33,000 Pro-Rata Monthly salary + paid holiday
Contract: 30 days (March – October) with a couple of training days each winter. Days can be spread on weekends, weekdays or a mixture of both to fit around other commitments. Days will be agreed ahead of the season starting.
DatePosted: 26/11/2025
Outspark Ltd
7 Tower Road
Writtle
Chelmsford
CM1 3NR
How to Apply
To apply, please send a CV and a cover letter (or personal statement) to Alex at alex@outspark.co.uk, explaining your relevant experience, skills, and why you’re a great fit for this role.
Seasonal Expedition Leader
Closing date: 31st December 2025 with interviews in January on multiple dates to suit candidates.
Start Date: 1st March 2026
Job Description and Person Specification
Location: Own home and on expeditions as required. Expeditions are mostly spread across the South and East of England with a few Gold expeditions in Wales and the North. So someone located in the South of England is preferred.
We are an AALS-registered Approved Activity Provider for DofE Bronze, Silver and Gold Award expeditions, seeking to expand our Expedition Leadership team. We are a group of people who enjoy working with youngsters and also appreciate the outdoor life (rather than macho types who begrudgingly instruct kids so they don’t have to work indoors!) Our founder is a former teacher and Scout Leader, so while we’re a business we’ve very much emerged from a volunteer ethos and the quality of the young people’s experience is a priority.
We are a mix of outdoor professionals, youth workers and former and part‑time schoolteachers. We enjoy working together regularly and share the same values and ethos, providing quality expeditions that offer young people a challenge to step up to, rather than just ticking the boxes. The successful candidates will share in these values and take pride in the quality and enjoy their work with young people.
The Role:
We are looking for enthusiastic and hard-working individuals to join our small team of Expedition Leaders to help us develop, grow and work with our customers with greater continuity. You will be supporting the Operations Manager and Deputy Operations Manager to deliver a successful year of bookings. You will be primarily leading expeditions but also working as an instructor on expeditions led by others.
As the expedition leader, you will be responsible for receiving the expedition paperwork and kit, preparing accordingly and delivering the planned expedition with a team of instructors.
Work pattern & flexible working
The total number of days worked over each year for the seasonal role would be 30 + Holiday Pay. The precise pattern will vary from year to year, but most of your days will be spent leading expeditions or working as an instructor. We routinely allocate a half day’s pay to expedition leaders to work from home prior to each expedition, familiarising themselves with the expedition. (We don’t have random groups of freelancers rocking up in a car park and figuring it out from there!) We will mutually agree and fix on 30 days ahead of the season starting with the option to work more days as overtime. You will be expected to work on evenings, weekends and public holidays as required, and will keep an accurate note of the hours worked.
Key responsibilities:
* Leading or instructing on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions.
* Assessment and management of risk
* Working a share of Duty Officer shifts throughout the season, receiving communications from expedition staff and liaising with emergency services, clients and parents/guardians where required.
Essential requirements:
* Previous experience working within the outdoor adventure/education industry with young people.
* You enjoy working with young people and can build rapport with both participants and teachers
* Knowledge and commitment to the ethos of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
* Experience leading a group of outdoor professionals to deliver a product.
* Lowland Leader Award or equivalent.
* A high level of English literacy, and numeracy
* Ability to build rapport over the phone as well as face to face
* Excellent multi-tasking and organisational skills.
* Self-driven and focused with the ability to work with limited supervision but also report on progress.
* Teamwork and leadership skills.
* Confidence to contribute to meetings and challenge managers, and defend your professional judgement.
* Full driving licence and access to own vehicle.
Desirable requirements:
* A Mountain Leader (summer) OR Hill and Moorland Leader qualification
* Other outdoor leading qualifications
* Other teaching qualifications or experience.
If you feel you have the skills and qualities needed to excel in this role, please contact Alex by email at alex@outspark.co.uk to discuss the role in more detail and see the job role on our website www.outspark.co.uk/jobs
Please apply by sending your CV, personal statement and covering letter to alex@outspark.co.uk explaining in those documents why you are suitable for the role.
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