DC Trail Rangers

Do you love being outdoors and connecting with people? Want to be part of a collaborative trail team in DC, and be paid to engage with folks about trails and fix trails?

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) is looking for passionate and energetic professional trail champions with a wide range of skills and experiences for our permanent Trail Ranger Team. We are looking to hire five dependable and thoughtful people who can grow into their roles. Beyond this, there is not a standard job history, experience of biking, years of experience or skills set that made previous Trail Rangers successful. This position (and program!) includes a lot of different knowledge areas — we are not expecting new staff to know it all at the beginning, and the skills and strengths of everyone on the team will shape some particulars of how the program is run. 

These positions are expected to begin January 18th, 2022. Pay will be $45,760 annual salary, and benefits. These positions are permanent full-time opportunities, with five day, 8 hour per shift work weeks. A standard work week will be either Tuesday through Saturday or Sunday through Thursday for individual staff. Shifts will vary in start time to ensure varied trail presence, more details are included below. 

About the Trail Rangers Program

WABA’s Trail Ranger Program aims to make the District trails welcoming and inclusive to all residents, frequently used, and in a state of good repair. The program encourages trail use through daily trail presence, community engagement, trail maintenance, and trail user assistance.  Trail Rangers cover paved multi-use trails within the District, including the Metropolitan Branch Trail, Anacostia River Trail, Marvin Gaye Trail, Oxon Run Trail, and connecting street routes. Trail Rangers act as trail ambassadors, offering a consistent and friendly presence to make the trails more enjoyable, inclusive and dependable for transportation and recreation. 

Starting in 2022, the Trail Ranger Program will have full-time, year round staffing and operations (the program was seasonal for the previous nine years). Year round operation will enable WABA to have a professional trail team with ongoing training and skill development.

WABA’s Trail Ranger Program contract with the District’s Urban Forestry Division goes through 2024, with possibilities of extension beyond 2024. These positions are contingent upon annual funding renewal. 

You can learn more about the Trail Ranger program here.

The Team

The WABA Trail Ranger Team will be an eight person team: we will have a Trail Ranger and  Outreach Director, an Outreach Manager, an Operations Manager and five DC Trail Ranger field staff. Day-to-day management of the program will be done by the Operations and Outreach Managers with overall strategy and regional coordination by the Director. Team culture heavily values collaboration and mutual respect, with weekly all-staff team meetings and many decisions made or led by field staff. Individual Trail Rangers will report directly to either the Operations or Outreach Manager.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Spend the majority of your work hours outside, biking on or between trails year-round (except during thunderstorms, very cold days, and other hazardous conditions).
• Work eight-hour shifts with a partner, riding electric-assist cargo bikes at a relaxed, conversational pace.
• Collaborate with your team members to determine daily priorities and share program information.
• Support and encourage trail use with friendly and helpful trail presence, regular maintenance efforts and consistent outreach events.
• Help lower barriers to bicycling, build community, and build a more robust trail network.
• Run trail cleanups, and a variety of programming and community events with the Outreach and Operations Managers, including outside and inside programming.
• Perform trail condition inspections and trail corridor maintenance, including pruning branches, gathering trash, and removing obstructions.
• Track outreach and maintenance work in Google Sheets and Salesforce.

This position will be based from WABA’s Adams Morgan office.

QUALIFICATIONS

We would love to consider you as a candidate and don’t expect staff to know everything on day one! Give us your best pitch of how your professional and/or personal experience fits the job qualifications and the role in your cover letter:

Trail Rangers must have:

• A proven track record for being dependable, timely, and communicative.
• The willingness to be positive and engaging in a public setting.
• The willingness and enthusiasm to work in a collaborative team and as a proactive, self starter. 
• The capacity to be available for 40 hours per week in 8 hour shifts with weekday and weekend availability. Shifts are generally:
  • 6:30 am – 2:30 pm, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm or 11:00 am – 7:00 pm on weekdays.
  • 9:00 am – 5:00 pm for Saturday or Sunday shifts.
  • Individual Trail Rangers will either work Tuesday to Saturday or Sunday to Thursdays.
• A commitment to being a safe and exemplary bicyclist.
• A commitment to respect, include, and be kind to all.
• An understanding of how race, gender, and other factors shape conversations and experiences.  
• The willingness to continually learn more about trails, neighborhood history and the many different cultural competencies necessary for working in the DC region.
• The ability to ride a bike, with a willingness to ride in mixed city traffic and off-street trails.
• Be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be eligible for an exemption as defined by the District of Columbia Mayor’s Order 2021-099, Section III.

Additional qualifications and experience that are helpful but not required:

• Lived experience with our program trails, and the nearby neighbors and neighborhoods, especially near Marvin Gaye Trail, Anacostia Park, and Oxon Run Trail.
• A proven track record for working collaboratively within a team.
• Excellent communication skills in informal settings and across lines of difference.
• Creative problem-solving skills and capacity to innovate.
• The ability to prioritize and a thoughtful attention to detail.
• Street smarts. By which we mean knowledge to make nuanced decisions while doing a field-based job, including recognizing hate language in graffiti, what might be at play in perceived threats to trail users and/or which options are safest for engaging angry members of the public. 
• Experience working in a multi-lingual, including mixed Deaf and hearing, work environment
• Basic computer skills.
• Experience with Google Suite (Gmail, Chat, Drive, Sheets, Docs) and our Salesforce database. 
• District residency is preferred. 

As a team based program, we are looking for one or more employees to have:

• Amateur or formal experience in mid-Atlantic plant identification and ecology, and native plant restoration. 
• Working fluency in Spanish, ASL and/or Amharic.
• Previous experience as a DC Trail Ranger. 
• Working knowledge of bicycle maintenance, up to and including flat repair, shifting adjustments, hydraulic brake maintenance, and regular maintenance tasks needed for the Tern fleet bikes (complicated maintenance will be performed by a local bicycle shop).

SUPPORT

There’s a lot of work to do! Here’s some of what’s available to help get it done:

• Orientation and team management that prioritizes your well-being, including training in preventing common bicycling injuries.
• Doing our best to have a consistent schedule that respects your time and outside obligations. 
• Providing all the tools, bikes and materials needed to perform the job, including Tern electric cargo bikes.
• Nine years of institutional knowledge in running the DC Trail Ranger program. 
• Teaching you the skills necessary for the job (urban bike riding, basic trail maintenance, basic bike maintenance, how to do field outreach, Salesforce).
• An inclusive, collaborative professional team environment. 
• We’re setup as an intersectional outreach program that recognizes the multitudes of identities and promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity for employees and the public.
• WABA’s other Outreach Program staff for knowledge sharing and collaboration. 
• A lot of other events and resources by WABA and trail partners to chat with trail users about. 

BENEFITS

• These are full-time, salaried non-exempt positions.
• The expected salary is $45,760.
• 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance premiums.
• Vacation, sick and personal leave, including:
  • Accrue up to 120 hours of paid vacation starting in your first year, with additional hours after two, five, and ten years of service.
  • Accrue up to 160 hours annually of paid sick time starting in your first year.
  • WABA supports and promotes the health of its staff. You may use accrued sick time for unscheduled leave when not feeling well (mind or body), as well as for scheduled medical appointments.
  • Paid time off for holidays following the federal holiday calendar. 
• 8 weeks paid parental leave and up to 8 weeks of additional parental leave from the DC Paid Family Leave act (based on eligibility).
• Immediate access to WABA’s 403(b) retirement program, with up to a 5% employer match after one-year of service.
• Optional commuter transit benefit (pre tax deduction)
• Optional voluntary benefits including life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability.
• A fun and relaxed workplace environment.
• Passionate, supportive colleagues who are dedicated to working together for our mission and seeing the impact of our work. 

COVID-19 Operational Staff Safety Plan:

WABA expects that some COVID-19 precautions will be necessary for the 2022 season and potentially beyond. The health of staff and trail users is a top priority. 

• Properly worn quality masks may be required on the job, except for distanced water and snack breaks. Masks will be provided when necessary. 
• The majority of Trail Ranger work will be performed outside. 

APPLY

Please email a cover letter and resume to jobs@waba.org with “DC Trail Ranger” as the subject line. Please make sure your application illustrates how you meet the qualifications for the job and what additional skills you would bring to the team. Applications are due by December 8th, 2021 and we expect the positions to start January 18th, 2022. 

Here are some helpful resources as you prepare your job application materials: compilation of resources and resume basics.

EEO Statement:

WABA is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, arrest record or criminal convictions, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, sex, or age.

https://waba.org/blog/2021/11/were-hiring-dc-trail-rangers/