Guest Services/Retreat Cabin Assistant

Overview: 

The Guest Services / Retreat Cabin Assistant is a live-in, volunteer position at Karmê Chöling (KCL) Shambhala Meditation Center. We are located in the Green Mountains of rural Vermont and are one of the oldest meditation retreat centers in North America. As a volunteer, you would be an active community member in our household of 25-30 people. We foster an atmosphere of mindful body, speech, and mind and practice bringing these three elements into our daily activities and interactions. If you have a desire to learn to meditate or have an affinity for it, this is an excellent opportunity to live, work and practice with a group of active meditators.

This is a floating position that assists in the Solitary Retreat Cabins, Guest Services and Facilities departments as needed. Tasks are a variety of hands-on, indoor and outdoor projects needing little to no previous experience. At 27.5 hours of work per week, this would be an ideal situation for a student carrying a modest load of online classes. Board and room is provided. Off-site commuting is not an option at this time.

Position responsibilities:

• Solitary Retreats Cabins: Helping to clean and stock our rustic retreat cabins. Delivering ice, water, wood, and food to retreatants. Mowing or shoveling snow as the season dictates. Clearing roads and trails of fallen branches.
• Guest Services: Cleaning and caring for shared public spaces, bathrooms, and resident bedrooms.  Assisting moving and arranging furniture.  Doing laundry.
• Facilities: Changing light bulbs, tightening screws of loosened items and other small repair and maintenance jobs. General operational support including cleaning and maintaining common areas and work areas daily. This includes event support, including set-up and breakdown of events and meetings. 
• Other duties as needed 

Physical demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Duties are performed year-round, with a significant portion out of doors. Considerable standing, walking, and hiking for several miles and some lifting up to fifty (50) pounds as well as regular crouching, bending, kneeling, are required.

Required Training / Skill sets:

• Ability to work calmly and kindly under pressure as well as maintaining decorum and composure during quieter times
• Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with staff, volunteers, and the general community
• Excellent people skills, including the ability to create an inviting and helpful environment
• Good verbal communication skills 
• Basic facility with email
• Ability to prioritize
• Punctual yet flexible with hours worked
• Possess and maintain a valid Driver License
• Ability to take direction and give and receive feedback
• Ability to work with different levels of autonomy depending on the situation. This ranges from close supervision with detailed task lists to being able to work independently
• Ability to work with multiple supervisors and a sometimes unpredictable schedule

Preferred qualifications:

Past experience with retreat centers is a plus. Prior cleaning experience desired. This is a part-time, 27.5hr / week position. Position includes room and board at KCL, a flexible work schedule, as well as meditation opportunities built into the daily schedule.