Program Manager

ABOUT BLUE MOUNTAIN CENTER:

Housed on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Land amidst 1,600 acres of Adirondack wilderness, Blue Mountain Center (BMC) was repurposed from a private 19th century golf course resort and family estate into a social justice-oriented artist residency and conference center in 1982. Today, BMC offers a unique refuge to artists, activists, organizers, and cultural workers who produce transformative work for their times.

Our summer season consists of month-long residency sessions, spanning medium and genre. Residents include: visual artists, fiction and non-fiction writers, poets, playwrights, filmmakers, composers, and activists. Our Spring and Fall conference season is made up of larger weekend-length to week-long gatherings. BMC conferences typically include a mix of movement-building gatherings, cross-silo and issue-based discussions, and organizational retreats for rejuvenation and dialogue.

Running BMC requires a team of dedicated staff who align with our mission in their own way. As hosts, decision-makers, program shapers, cooks, innkeepers and groundskeepers, the BMC staff work interdependently to offer a nurturing and generative environment. We strive to integrate all aspects of the labor of our work with our vision for a more creative and just world. We strive for an approach to hospitality that honors and integrates the essential contributions of all members of our community.

In addition to the above, we encourage all applicants to review the Blue Mountain Center website at bluemountaincenter.org to better understand the culture and mission of the Center. Please note that Blue Mountain Center is an intentionally low-tech space, and we have restrictions around Internet connectivity/cell phone usage.

HIRING:

BMC is seeking a thoughtful, organized, humorful, self-starting Program Manager for the 2026 season. The work is varied, demanding, and highly rewarding. It combines sharing in the daily responsibilities of all BMC program staff to run the center and assisting with BMC's broader operations and facilities. As a place that hosts temporary and intentional communities, BMC provides an immersive social experience with periods of spacious quiet in between. This balance requires a team of residential staff who are able to collectively host and attend to the needs of guests in a remote but intimate environment, requiring substantial time commitments while guests are in session. The Program Manager position is an 8 month residential job and requires living on site for the Center’s open season, which is from early April through November.

Applicants should have an active interest in the Center and its mission of hosting cultural workers dedicated to producing transformative, timely work. We create a unique community setting for artists, writers and activists to work and rejuvenate, which we live in and are a part of. The residential staff sets the tone and atmosphere at BMC by establishing a working community where guests feel productive, comfortable, and willing to pitch in. The Program Manager reports directly to the Program Director. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Office Administration:

1. Provide administrative and logistical support for guests, organizers, and staff.
2. Support communications and archival work for BMC.
3. Assist coworkers with general administration and on-going projects as needed.

Operations:

1. Communicate logistics with housekeeping staff and provide assistance with turnovers, preparation, and tidying as needed.
2. Help kitchen staff with support in setup, cleanup, compost, and recycling.
3. Assist with gardening tasks as needed (planting, weeding, harvesting, etc.)

Hosting:

1. Welcoming and orienting arriving guests, including driving guests as needed. Attend evening meals and presentations.
2. Coordinating and leading activities for guests (day trips to local areas of interests, canoeing, hiking, supporting presentations and open studios, etc.)
3. Be on-call for emergencies and guest needs on some evenings.

This is a unique job with varied tasks that involve working independently and with a team, so desirable prior experiences can look like many things. For example,expertise in facilitating and hosting social justice-oriented spaces, a background in the arts and/or activism, experience working in hospitality, administrative skills and comfortability with databases and archives are all assets. Qualified applicants are open and eager to learn how to thrive and facilitate a communal living environment. We ask that all applicants have a valid Driver’s License and be comfortable driving guests and for errands, which can range up to 3 hours away.

This position starts at $20/hour based on experience, for an expected average of 40 hours a week. The staff is required to stay on site due to the remote location of the Center, and will be provided a room in the Main House (private sink, shared bathroom), as well as meals. Laundry facilities are on-site.

All residential staff will have access to boats, trails, facilities of the center, and limited use of BMC cars. We also encourage full participation in the many social perks of living and working at BMC (resident presentations, bonfires, outdoor excursions etc.)

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS:

Our program and operations continue to adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2026. We have established a series of protocols for all staff and guests, with specific guidelines for residential staff, which include periods of masking with provided masks and testing regularly to reduce exposure for the communities we live with and are neighbors to. We require that staff are vaccinated. We are happy to set up an informational call with serious applicants to share more information about how we are running BMC this year in regards to our protocols.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please send a letter of interest, resume, and three references (name and contact information) to bmc@bluemountaincenter.org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until March 1st and the position will start onsite as early as April 6th, 2026.

A room in the Main House (private sink; shared bathroom) and all meals/snacks. All residential staff will have access to boats, trails, facilities of the center, and limited use of BMC cars. We also encourage full participation in the many social perks of living and working at BMC (resident presentations, bonfires, outdoor excursions etc.)