Career-change opportunities for diverse professional backgrounds

Ninth Wave is founded upon a belief that getting out and exploring the world has the capacity to be a fundamentally humanising process, one in which contexts of our known world shift to reveal not just different cultures, values and people, but also the fact that who we are is not a pre-eminent value, but simply an accident of history and place. This can’t be seen, though, within the ego-centric process of conventional travel and movement, which is built around the desire to plant a self, import a pre-constructed identity, into a landscape. Indeed, it is hardly a stretch to say that exploration is systemically problematic, in its acquisitional, traditionally white-European-led 'conquering' of space, whether that be Columbus, or somebody climbing a mountain to stick a flag in the top, or even taking a selfie at the foot of the Grand Canyon to prove we were there.

We believe that it’s possible to reimagine exploration not just as a tool for positive change by humbly trying to connect with others and understand place, across spaces and time. As such, we do not believe in travel or exploration in the traditional sense, but we believe in un-exploring. To this end, we embark upon journeys into spaces which are sometimes forgotten, or unknown, and move slowly, focusing on bridging gaps and having conversations which lead, gradually, to longstanding projects and programmes which ensure that any notion of development is of genuine and tangible use to local stakeholders.

We're looking to expand our interdisciplinary team based in Mexico (with work further afield), with a view to delivering and extending the reach of our existing community, social and environmental programmes on both a local and international scale. While working on diverse projects in Campeche, Chiapas and the Usumacinta river, focusing on community, sustainability, conservation, exploration and the process of opening up of space for engagement and discussion, you'll also be responsible for sourcing and delivering participants for journeys, which you'll be involved in planning and running. We have no requirements in terms of qualifications, but have extensive requirements in terms of attitude, proactivity, inclusivity and getting out there and getting things done, with minimal or zero resources. Our team is small and committed, and everything is a team effort, from project co-ordination to harvesting vegetables and painting walls.

We actively seek to maintain a team with diverse skill sets and backgrounds, so these placements would be ideally suited for those looking for a career change. Please note that we are looking to expand our team of permanent staff, and these placements would be a good starting point for anyone hoping to become involved long-term.