Retreat Center Steward

Come join our community!

Cobscook Institute is currently hiring one full-time position managing our retreat center effective immediately. We are looking for a Retreat Center Steward with strong client service and hospitality skills to build our retreat and event hosting capacity. Apply today!

About Cobscook Institute:

Cobscook Institute is a community-led organization that creates educational opportunities that strengthen personal, community, and global well-being. A welcoming and dynamic teaching and learning center, Cobscook’s offerings include community programs, a 4-year public experiential high school program (offered in partnership with Calais High School), and a retreat center.

Cobscook’s vision is of a thriving multicultural community that respects people and planet, and inspires, supports, and sustains people to achieve their greatest potential. Programming is rooted in our region's rich and diverse cultures, arts, perspectives, and natural systems.

About Cobscook Retreat Center

The Cobscook Institute campus serves as a hub for learning, gathering, creativity, and healing near the shores of Cobscook Bay. The retreat center includes Heartwood Lodge (a 53-bed contemporary lodge), a 50-acre campus connecting to a network of trails, and The Commons, a facility with classrooms, meeting & studio spaces, a commercial kitchen, and dining room. The Center hosts individuals and groups from within our community and around the globe. It is an accessible, welcoming, and inspiring venue for immersive programs and retreats. The spaces are shared with Cobscook’s active community center which offers daily classes and creative events.

Position Overview

The Retreat Center Steward will be responsible for cultivating and managing all aspects of Retreat Center strategic development, administration, and, in collaboration, immersion programs at Cobscook Institute. In addition, a significant portion of this position is to serve as a campus host during retreats, programs, events, and day-to-day operations. They will work closely with the Director of Partnerships and Innovation, the Community Steward, Hospitality, and Programming Circles, community members, and partners to best leverage Cobscook’s campus in line with its mission and values and related program and financial priorities.

This position includes evening and weekend hours on an on-call basis as needed.

Responsibilities

Retreats and Bookings

  • Manage systems for lodging, retreats, facility rental, and customer experience

  • Manage dedicated bookings and retreats budgets

  • Build and execute, in collaboration with other staff, a marketing strategy to guarantee visibility of campus resources and expand event offerings

  • Contribute to the ongoing development of the campus as an accessible, welcoming, and creative space

  • Create opportunities for cross-programming between hosted events, community

    programs, and Cobscook Experiential Programs

  • Steward strategic initiatives that expand partnerships for effective use of campus

    facilities

Center Operations

  • Provide flexible operational support for community programs, including reception coverage

  • Co-coordinate and support campus events, as appropriate

  • Coordinate catering services and participate in kitchen management as needed

  • Work with Hospitality Circle members to ensure that the campus is clean, set up, and accessible for campus guests

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

  • 3 years experience in hospitality, retreat/resort centers, residential education, or a similar field

  • Software and computing skills: Google Suite (word processing, spreadsheets)

  • Commitment to Cobscook Institute’s mission, vision, and values

Preferred Qualifications:

  • A history of community-focused work or volunteer experiences

  • Demonstrated ability to coordinate teams

  • Experience using and maintaining systems for tracking complex organizational

    information in a team environment

  • Demonstrated experience navigating competing time-sensitive priorities

  • Experience building and monitoring budgets

  • Effective communicator

  • Ability to lift 50 lbs

  • Excellent attention to client experience

  • Food service experience

Compensation and Benefits

$45,000-$52,000 depending on qualifications and experience, plus allowance for professional development and trainings.

Benefits include: Health Insurance, Retirement, Paid Holidays, Paid Time-Off, free access to Cobscook Institute programs.

How to Apply

Fill out the application form on our website and upload a PDF that includes your resume, a cover letter, and three references. Position will remain open until filled and applicant review begins the week of March 1, 2023.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Cobscook Institute is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Cobscook are based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, citizenship, service in the military or veteran status, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or any other status protected by law.