CARETAKER / CARETAKING

Hiring: Winter Caretaker
Lodge: Great Bear Lodge

Location: Smith Inlet, Central Coast, BC
Housing: Accommodation and food are provided for you at the lodge, as well as floatplane transport between Port Hardy and Smith Inlet.

Job Description

Great Bear Lodge is seeking a Winter Caretaker for our ecotourism lodge in Smith Inlet on the central coast of British Columbia, in the traditional lands of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nation. The Winter Caretaker works November through April.

We host people from around the world to see the grizzly bears of the Great Bear Rainforest from May to October, and are proud to be part of the conservation economy in BC. If you have seen a video on social media of a whale bubble-feeding right next to a dock full of delighted people, that’s us!

Our ethos is threefold: to safely view bears in a natural setting while eliminating or minimizing impact on them, to make every aspect of our operation as sustainable as possible (from hydroelectricity to solar panels to green cleaning products), and to deliver a world-class wildlife tourism experience. Great Bear Lodge is a founding member of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association, and helped developed the best practices for bear viewing in BC.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

When the lodge is closed from November to April it requires a full-time presence, ensuring that no damage is done during the storms and cold, rainy weather of winter. We prefer the Winter Caretaker to have a companion, as it is always safer (physically and emotionally :) to have two people in remote locations. A pet is a possibility, as long as the floathouse is kept verrrrry clean. We can discuss it.

Tasks for the Winter Caretaker include:

• Operation of power system (micro-hydro, solar, generator, batteries)
• Operation of water system, ensuring it does not freeze
• Identifying any potential problems with the facility and working with owners by phone/internet to fix them (including heating, tie-ups, storm damage, etc)
• Communicating with the office daily
• Ensuring animals do not get access to the buildings (bears, rodents, mink, martens)
• Lots of other little tasks as they come up.

This is you:

• Have spent time in isolation in remote locations.
• Ideally have experience in caretaking remote facilities.
• Can enjoy living in a dark and wet rainforest for months.
• Like to solve problems.
• Can use computers and other communications devices.
• Are healthy, and thus it is not a problem to be away from medical facilities for long periods.

Salary and benefits

The daily salary is $120/day, which on an average day requires around 2 hours of work to ensure all systems are operating correctly and to work on problems/projects. If problems do occur or projects are identified, more hours are required. Accommodation and food are provided for you at the lodge, as well as floatplane transport between Port Hardy and Smith Inlet. A typical schedule is one week off per month, with you being flown back to Port Hardy for your break. We can be flexible with scheduling. The facility contains 6 floathouses and various docks. You will be living in one of the floathouses, which has a kitchen, bathroom and access to a laundry. Internet and TV access is provided, as well as fitness equipment such as a spin cycle. The heater and stove use propane. There is access to an old logging road, however it is often impassable in winter. You need to be creative in the ways that you keep fit and healthy.

How to apply

If you would like to apply, please send a cover letter and resume with 3 references to Tom Rivest’s attention at info@greatbeartours.com . Please mention you saw this posting at GoodWork.

There is no deadline for applications, we will be assessing applications as we receive them. If you are interested in the position and would like to hear more details to see if you would be a good fit, reach out in an email.