Seasonal Camp Director - Lake Forest

Job Details

• Location: 145 S Green Bay Rd, Lake Forest, IL 60045
• Pre-Season Hours: Approximately 80 hours of online training from hire to start of camp (April - June). Flexible schedule.
• Camp Dates: 6/9/25 (Mon) - 8/15/25 (Fri) (in addition, two weekends will be required for move-in and out of camp)
• Camp Hours: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Must be available for virtual training on one of the following dates: 4/26, 5/10 or 6/7 12-6pm EST
• Pre-season Hourly Wage: $30.00
• Summer Salary: $1,200 weekly

Steve & Kate’s Summer Camp is an 8 to 11 week program, running from June to August. Training for this position will begin in April.  In the pre-season you’ll be trained by our Team Leads in all things camp, and you’ll slowly take on more responsibility until you own all camp operations on a daily basis.  

The job in a nutshell is to help run all facets of a self-directed camp.

Our management team will prepare you for camp, and then they will hand you the reins approximately 1-2 weeks before the summer begins. While running camp, you’ll build relationships with hundreds of parents and children, helping them overcome fears, discover passions, and generally find their groove at Steve & Kate’s; you’ll help train, lead and inspire a team, and oversee the day-to-day operations for your site to keep things running smoothly, safely, and up to code. If you’re interested in a career at Steve & Kate’s, this is a great way to gain valuable experience.

How do you know if you’re the right candidate?

If you answer yes to all of the questions below, definitely apply.

• Do you appreciate and agree with our self-directed approach for kids?
• Would sparking up conversations with staff, campers and parents fit in your comfort zone? Are you comfortable navigating challenging and sometimes sensitive interactions?
• Are you the type of person who can’t rest until you’ve done everything possible to make someone feel cared for? Like, if someone you knew was in need, would you do more than send them a “thinking of you” text?
• Can you multitask like you’re a Hollywood power agent all while keeping calm, level-headed, and nice?
• Do you have the stamina to keep up (literally) with 4–12 year old’s bursting with energy and creative potential? And, can you bench press the equivalent of a kindergartner (just kidding --- can you lift up to 30lbs.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities

-Shares responsibility for all stages of the employee life cycle for seasonal teams of up to 30: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, and separation.

-On-site manager responsible for all facets of a day camp that runs 8-11 weeks, with an average of 150 campers per day (or more) generating 6-7 figure revenue.

-Handles crisis, emergency, behavioral and medical response as needed when issues come up at camp.

-Manages customer contact for their programs, including responding to email and phone inquiries in a timely fashion, providing exceptional customer service, and handling sensitive and escalated matters for hundreds of prospective and attending camp families.

-With support, manages compliance processes and ensures implementation of company, city, and state required policies for camps and/or childcare facilities as applicable to their locality.

-Manages a six-figure budget for personnel, food and programming.

-Oversees all logistics and inventory management functions for hundreds of items valued in excess of six-figures, which are needed to run camp programs.

-Manages relationship with host school that rents out facility where camp runs; also responsible for overseeing janitorial arrangements, security and site planning to ensure sanitary, safe and smooth operations.
 

Requirements: 

-At least 18 years of age with a high school diploma or GED required

-Bachelors Degree preferred

- Directors must have at least two seasons of camp supervisory experience. An equivalent combination of experience working in a child care or education setting for at least one year coupled with supervisory experience will be considered to satisfy this requirement. 

-Past management or leadership experience is required; experience hiring and managing teams of 5 or more is preferred

-During camp programs, Director is expected to be on-site. When camps are not in session, most planning work can be done remotely, but Directors are expected to be actively marketing, recruiting staff and promoting camp in their community.

-On-site management at camp can be physically demanding, with extended periods of time on your feet, outside and occasional activity requiring physical exertion.

-Directors will be expected to run break camps throughout the year.