Camp Director

Full-time, year-round
Location: Metro Vancouver and Keats Island, British Columbia
Reports to: Managing Director
Salary: $90,000–$105,000 annually, plus benefits and pension

Keats Camps is a Christian summer camp and retreat ministry on Keats Island, a short boat ride from the Lower Mainland. Each year, more than 1,400 children and young people come to Keats for adventure, friendship, faith, and the kind of community that stays with them long after they leave the island. Throughout the year, we also welcome schools, churches, families, and guest groups.

Keats is entering its second century with a renewed commitment to building something that lasts: a camp where young people are known, included, challenged, and cared for; where staff and volunteers grow as leaders; and where hospitality, safety, and spiritual formation are taken seriously.

We are looking for an exceptional Camp Director to help lead that work.

The role

The Camp Director is Keats’ senior operational leader and the Managing Director’s clear second-in-command. This person leads the day-to-day life of camp across the full year: summer camp, LEAD, rentals and retreats, staff development, hospitality, guest experience, safety, and readiness.

This is a hands-on leadership role. Some days you will be working on next summer’s staffing plan, helping a team prepare for a school group, solving a last-minute transportation issue, supporting a staff member through a difficult moment, speaking with a parent, or walking the site to make sure campers and guests are arriving to a place that feels ready and cared for.

The Camp Director does not carry this work alone. You will work closely with the Managing Director, Facilities Manager, Administration and Office Manager, Executive Advisors, and a committed group of seasonal and year-round staff. You will also provide direct leadership to the functions responsible for food service, hospitality, camper experience, spiritual formation, and seasonal camp operations.

During an authorized absence or delegation by the Managing Director, the Camp Director acts as Keats’ senior operational lead and ensures that staff have clear direction, and the organization continues to move forward.

What you will lead

Camp, rental, and guest operations

• Lead the year-round operational cycle of Keats, including pre-camp preparation, summer camp delivery, rentals and retreats, post-season review, and planning for the following year.
• Ensure each camp session and guest group is properly staffed, prepared for, welcomed, and cared for.
• Coordinate the moving pieces that make camp work: staff, transportation, food service, accommodations, facilities readiness, activity areas, guest communication, medical coverage, schedules, and contingency plans.
• Be a visible, calm, and practical on-site leader during camp and rental seasons.
• Build strong relationships with parents, guests, group leaders, churches, volunteers, and partners.

Staff and leadership development

• Recruit, train, supervise, coach, and develop seasonal staff and operational leaders.
• Lead a strong pre-camp training experience and establish healthy rhythms for staff support, communication, debriefing, rest, and growth throughout the season.
• Create clear expectations and follow through with direct, respectful feedback.
• Build a culture where people know who is responsible for what, bring solutions as well as concerns, and care well for one another.
• Help young staff grow in confidence, maturity, faith, and leadership.

Camper experience and spiritual formation

• Work closely with the Commodore and Spiritual Formation Manager to deliver an ambitious, adventurous, safe, and spiritually rich camp experience.
• Ensure campers are known, included, challenged, and cared for in cabins, activities, worship, meals, and the daily life of camp.
• Provide oversight for the delivery of LEAD and other leadership-development experiences.
• Help ensure that Keats’ Christian mission is expressed naturally and meaningfully in the way staff lead, serve, welcome, and form community.

Safety, readiness, and accountability

• Maintain strong standards for safeguarding, emergency preparedness, medical coordination, incident response, documentation, and risk management.
• Ensure that staff understand their roles, emergency procedures, and the standards expected of them.
• Respond appropriately to concerns involving campers, guests, staff, or volunteers, and ensure serious matters are documented and escalated promptly.
• Review each season and major event with an eye to what can be strengthened, clarified, or improved next time.

Planning and organizational leadership

• Participate as a core member of Keats’ Executive Leadership Team.
• Contribute to annual operating plans, staffing plans, budgets, and practical improvements to the way Keats works.
• Provide regular operational reporting to the Managing Director and contribute to reporting to the Board’s Program and Ministry Committee.
• Make sound day-to-day decisions within delegated authority, while bringing significant financial, legal, safety, reputational, or people matters forward early.

What you bring

You are a mature, grounded leader who enjoys camp life and understands that excellent experiences are built through thousands of small acts of preparation, care, judgment, and follow-through.

You bring:

• At least five years of progressive leadership experience in camp ministry, outdoor education, youth work, hospitality, retreat operations, education, or a similarly complex people-centred environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading staff and volunteers through demanding seasons.
• Strong operational judgment, sound instincts in a crisis, and the ability to remain steady when plans change.
• Experience recruiting, training, supervising, coaching, and evaluating staff.
• A practical understanding of child and youth safety, incident response, emergency readiness, and risk management.
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to have clear, direct, respectful conversations.
• The ability to manage multiple priorities without losing sight of people, safety, or the larger purpose of the work.
• Experience managing budgets, supplies, schedules, and operational resources.
• A personal Christian faith and alignment with the mission and values of Keats Camps.
• A valid driver’s licence, clear Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search, and current Standard First Aid and CPR certification, or the ability to obtain them.
• The ability and willingness to work flexible hours and spend significant time on Keats Island, particularly during camp and rental seasons.

Why Keats

Keats is not simply a place where children spend a week in the summer. It is a place where young people take risks, make friends, discover gifts they did not know they had, and encounter leaders who believe in them.

The right person for this role will find meaningful work here. You will have real responsibility, a strong voice in the future of the camp, and the opportunity to help build a team and a culture that will serve young people for generations to come.

How to apply

Please submit a cover letter and resume outlining your interest in the role and the experience you would bring to Keats Camps.

Apply to: Daniel@keatscamps.com
Application deadline: October 25, 2026

Applications will be reviewed as they are received.