On Water Programs Coordinator
Portland, OR - USA
Job Summary
ISLAND SAILING CLUBAGWÉ SAILING LLC
On-Water Programs Coordinator
Position Classification
This is a single employment relationship covering two distinct types of work each compensated at its own rate. All compensation is paid as a W-2 employee.
On-Water Rate USCG Licensed Instruction & Captaining: $35.00/hr. Covers all ASA instruction member orientation sails private lessons docking coaching and any on-water activity in which you are operating in a licensed captain capacity.
Club Rate Operations & Program Development: $23.00/hr. Covers dock and boat support member services coverage and program development work not tied to on-water captaining hours.
Hours activities and applicable rates are tracked and documented separately.
Core Responsibilities
On-Water Work(On-Water Rate)
ASA 101 instruction initially co-teaching alongside Berry Kruijning as lead instructor; advancing to solo lead as readiness and class availability allow.
ASA 103 instruction as proficiency with ISCs program develops and the opportunity to progress naturally presents itself.
Member orientation sails for new members who have not come through ISCs school program.
Member docking coaching and boat familiarization working one-on-one or with small groups to build confidence and competence on ISCs fleet. This is some of the highest-value on-water time we offer and one of the clearest paths to a member who stays and grows.
Private lessons for members as ISC develops and operationalizes this program.
Future: ASA 104/106 instruction pending curriculum development and charter access in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.
Future: Flotilla leadership and on-water facilitation of multi-day programs.
Future: Caribbean and warm-water charter instruction during winter months more on this below.
Club Operations & Program Development(Club Rate)
Dock and boat support: boat checks rigging cleanliness readiness member assists and coaching on the dock for docking and maneuvering etc.
Member services coverage: answering phones greeting visitors fielding questions showing boats to prospective members and students incidental support not a primary function.
Community Sailing Group development: working alongside our current organizing member to gradually take on operational ownership of the program; building toward a consistently scheduled ISC-managed activity calendar with codified event formats skipper pool coordination and member communications all housed within ISCs operational systems.
Flotilla program development: working toward an ISC-managed coordination framework for flotilla planning; reducing dependency on individual member initiative and bringing program continuity into ISC operations.
Private lessons program: supporting development of a bookable coordinated private instruction offering operational process scheduling and delivery.
Womens sailing programs: contributing to the development of programming specifically designed for and by women whether as dedicated instruction cohorts community sails or skill-building series. There is real demand here and your background positions you well to help shape what this looks like at ISC.
At-risk youth program (development track Year 2): in coordination with Oregon Youth Sailing Foundation / Matt Berger building toward an ISC-contributed youth sailing initiative drawing on your Outward Bound and NOLS background.
What This Role Is Not
This is not a member services or sales role. Dock and phone coverage is incidental support not a primary function.
This is not a defined school director position though some of its functions overlap. That conversation remains open and will develop as the relationship and programs grow.
Program development work is real work compensated at the club rate. It is not assumed to happen in between instruction.
Schedule & Hours
Teaching schedule and club operations days work differently so its worth addressing each separately.
Compensation Summary
Activity
Rate
Classification
ASA Instruction
$35.00/hr
On-water rate
Member Orientation Sails
$35.00/hr
On-water rate
Docking Coaching & Boat Familiarization
$35.00/hr
On-water rate
Private Lessons (Members)
$35.00/hr
On-water rate
Dock / Boat Support
$23.00/hr
Club rate
Member Services Coverage
$23.00/hr
Club rate
Program Development Work
$23.00/hr
Club rate
All compensation is paid as a W-2 employee. Hours are tracked by activity type and rate.
Professional Development ISC Commitments
ISC believes in investing in the people who invest in us. The more rooted you become here in the community the programs and the region the more it makes sense for us to invest in your professional development in return.
Programs Under Development
Community Sailing Group
The Community Sailing Group is one of ISCs most important assets not because it generates direct revenue but because of what it does for the people who participate in it. Members who sail together regularly who build friendships on the water who feel like they belong to something those members stay. They renew. They bring people they care about into the community. They become part of the fabric of the club in a way that a membership card alone never produces. The research on this is consistent and it matches what we see on our own docks: belonging is the most powerful retention force a membership organization has and the Community Sailing Group is where belonging gets built.
Flotilla Program
ISCs flotillas have historically been member-initiated and member-organized typically involving chartered boats in the San Juan Islands. The goal is to bring this under ISC operational management improving consistency communication and ISCs role in the overall experience while keeping the spirit of member engagement that makes them work. This is a medium-term development objective and your offshore and coastal background makes you a natural fit for eventually leading these on the water as well.
Private Lessons Program
ISC currently lacks a clear bookable process for private instruction. There is real demand from members who want focused one-on-one time on specific skills docking sail trim coastal navigation night sailing. You would help develop the operational framework how lessons are booked coordinated and delivered and would be a primary instructor as the program comes online.
Womens Sailing Programs
There is meaningful demand within our membership and the broader community for sailing programming that is specifically designed for women. Whether this takes the shape of dedicated instruction cohorts skill-building series community sails or something else entirely were interested in developing it thoughtfully and with genuine substance not as a marketing exercise. Your experience and the way youve operated in professional sailing environments makes you the right person to help us figure out what this looks like at ISC.
At-Risk Youth Initiative
A longer-horizon development goal targeted for Year 2 to 3. ISC has a relationship with Oregon Youth Sailing Foundation (director: Matt Berger) whose program includes an at-risk youth component that hasnt been fully realized. Your experience at Hurricane Island Outward Bound and NOLS specifically working with students from marginalized communities positions you as the right person to help ISC become a meaningful contributor to that effort. This would be built in coordination with OYSF not as a standalone ISC initiative.
Winter Charter Programs
As noted above were interested in developing a structured approach to winter instruction Caribbean charters and potentially other warm-water destinations that extends ISCs programming into the off-season. This is an area you would help shape and over time lead. Details to be developed collaboratively.
Culture Values and How We Work Here
ISC has been part of this community for over forty years. When I took the helm five years ago the club was close to the end and what brought it back wasnt a restructured fee schedule or a new marketing approach. It was building the right crew and committing to a community worth belonging to. Thats still the operating principle and it shapes everything about how we work.
Our nine core values arent a wall hanging. Theyre the actual standard we hold ourselves and each other to the lens through which we make decisions resolve conflict welcome new members and build programs. If you havent spent time with them yet wed encourage you to you can find them at
We ask that of everyone who comes to work with us because cultural fit isnt a secondary consideration a small operation running a program of this scale one person who is genuinely aligned with who we are and what were trying to build is worth more than any credential on the wall.
Culture at ISC isnt a concept we talk about its something we actively protect. It lives in how we treat members when theyre frustrated how we show up for each other when the schedule gets tight how we welcome a brand-new sailor onto a boat for the first time. Its maintained by people who take it seriously and model it consistently. Thats what were looking for in the people who join us and its what we commit to in return.
What that means practically: everyone here carries more than one hat. We show up for each other for the members and for the boats. We communicate directly and honestly. We take the work seriously without making it heavier than it needs to be. And we build things that are meant to last programs relationships and a club that people are genuinely proud to be part of.
Thats the standard we hold ourselves to and were glad youre choosing to be a part of the crew here.
Required Experience:
Senior IC
About Company
Sailing school and club located on the Mighty Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. Dedicated to helping you achieve your goals while you create your perfect sailing experiences.