Thank you for your interest in an Instructor position at the New Zealand Outward Bound School.
This page describes the role of an Instructor at Outward Bound New Zealand and lays out the skills and experience you need in order to secure a job with us.
The role of an Outward Bound Instructor:
Outward Bound New Zealand aims to inspire personal and social development through value-based experiential learning in an outdoor environment. Our Instructors are integral to the high quality of the courses that Outward Bound New Zealand delivers and the work of an Outward Bound instructor is both challenging and rewarding.
During an Outward Bound course, two Instructors work with each group of 14 students. The instructors stay with their group or ‘watch’ for the whole course, so we need to employ ‘generalist’ instructors who can lead groups white water kayaking, tramping, sailing, rock climbing, and in the high ropes course.
Instructors also need to have excellent people skills and must be able to both manage the safety of their students in challenging backcountry outdoor settings and facilitate learning and development by delivering the Outward Bound New Zealand Kaupapa.
Skills and experience:
This table outlines both the level of skills and experience you should have before coming on a staff selection course and the qualifications required before you start your contract. Items in italics are desirable, but not essential.
NB: All logged experience should be recorded from over the past 10 years
An important aspect of life at Outward Bound is the wider community. All Instructing staff live on-site and therefore must have the ability to work with and live alongside their colleagues, partners and families. The average age of Instructors is around 30 years old.
Up to 14 potential Instructors will be invited to attend a 5-day staff selection course. The staff selection course gives us a chance to get to know you and for you to get an accurate picture of life at Outward Bound. Staff selection courses are held annually. Successful applicants will be notified once applications have closed.
If you have good skills and experience in most of these areas, but not all, it is certainly worth applying. There is a time lag of between 2 and 6 months between the selection course and the start of a contract, so it is possible to boost a weaker area of skill during this time.
If you wish to proceed with your application, please:
- complete the application form below
- include your relevant experience/skills/qualifications
- and attach your CV
If you are unsure whether your current level of skill and experience meets the requirement, please contact us for guidance.
Thank you again for your interest in working at Outward Bound.
Sharon Nicholas
Outward Bound NZ Training Manager
If further information is required please contact Kim Green via email anakiwa@outwardbound.co.nz or phone 03 520 8290.
For those applying from overseas please note:
All successful applicants will need to attend a selection course. Our selection courses are run several months (2 – 6 months) before we have positions available.
Instructors at Outward Bound New Zealand are contracted full time for a minimum of 3 years (including a training/induction period of 4 – 6 months).
The New Zealand Immigration Service imposes a work visa restriction of one year for non-New Zealand residents. For Outward Bound New Zealand to contract an overseas applicant for longer than 12 months we have to clearly substantiate that your skills and experience are not available in New Zealand. This is becoming increasingly difficult. Those considering working at Outward Bound New Zealand may want to consider applying for New Zealand residency and should apply for residency or a long term work permit (without assistance from OBNZ) before applying to work at Outward Bound New Zealand. For further information on work visa’s and residency conditions contact NZIS at www.immigration.govt.nz
Internships / Short-term positions:
Outward Bound offers internships each year with no fixed starting dates as it is dependent on the applicant however we intend to ensure that we can offer at least two places over summer. Please also use this form if you wish to apply for an internship position.
Please contact Rob de Leeuw for more information: rdeleeuw@outwardbound.co.nz