Sailing Program Manager

Rocking the Boat began as an after school boat building program for high school students in the South

Bronx and was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2001. Today, the organization, with an annual

budget of $5 million, is a hub of youth development programming that serves nearly 5,000 community

members annually across three locations. The mediums of boat building, environmental science, and

sailing are paired with social-emotional, academic, and career counselling by a team of licensed social

workers to have profound and lasting impact on participants. Rocking the Boat became an accredited

U.S. Sailing Community Sailing Center in 2018.

The Sailing Program Manager is responsible for leading Rocking the Boat’s after school and summer

Student Sailing Program for ninth and tenth grade students new to the sport. The Sailing Program

Manager must be an experienced sailing instructor able to successfully teach students to become

proficient sailors while integrating youth development methodology. The position is a full-time, exempt

role, works closely with the Job Skills Sailing Program Manager and the Marine Operations Assistant, and

reports to the Director of Sailing.

• Collaboratively plans and delivers an engaging and relevant program to sailing participants
• Incorporates principals of positive youth development in program planning and delivery
• Implements Rocking the Boat’s Technical Skills curriculum and works with participants to demonstrate individual achievement through mastering those skills
• Assesses participant progress and helps identify students to apply for the Job Skills Apprenticeship Program when they have reached the appropriate level of skill advancement
• Collaborates with the Youth Services team to address participants’ needs
• Supports Director of Sailing in developing opportunities for Rocking the Boat youth sailors to sail and race both internally and with other young people
• Helps plan and lead day-long and overnight trips
• Helps lead sailing programs for local schools and community groups
• Participates in monitoring and evaluation designed to assess programmatic success
• Delivers all programmatic content on schedule to dedicated funding sources

• Maintains strong relationships with the local sailing community and plans relevant field trips for
• Works collaboratively with Director of Sailing and other relevant members of staff to recruit ninth
• and tenth graders for the Student Sailing Program to maintain a full enrollment in each of three

• Track and provide reports on program data deliverables including attendance, technical skill
• accomplishment, evaluations, and anecdotal/qualitative program reports

• Follows all Rocking the Boat safety protocols; identifies and corrects any safety issues
• In coordination with Director of Sailing, organizes Safe Powerboating Certification and US Sailing
• Level 1 Small Boat certification for appropriate staff
• Works with the Sailing Program team to manage and maintain all of Rocking the Boat’s sailing program inventory and shared resources as needed

• Participation in fundraising activities as requested
• Contributes to the maintenance of shared resources
• Contributes to management of program volunteers and hosts visitors
• Participates in other activities as necessary to fulfill the mission of Rocking the Boat

• US Sailing Level 1 Small Boat Instructor
• NY State Boating Safety Certificate or equivalent powerboat driving certificate
• Experience working in a youth development organization
• Experience managing sailing education programs; race coach experience a plus
• Experience or desire to be involved in community-oriented education programming
• Experience designing and planning curriculum
• Excellent organizational skills, detail-oriented, and an ability to work independently
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office computer applications
• Willingness to work long days, weekends, and some overnights, as necessary

• Full-time salaried position: $60,, commensurate with experience
• Benefits package including Health, Vision, Dental…