Proctor Academy seeks Director of Snow Sports

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Proctor Academy seeks a dynamic, detail-oriented, and highly strategic Director of Snow Sports. The successful candidate must be deeply aligned with the School’s Mission and committed to its core values as a highly relational boarding-day school that believes in the transformative power of human potential in an extraordinary community of learners and doers. Proctor’s theme and intention “to become the healthiest school possible, understanding, valuing, and connecting the individual to community with compassion, integrity, and growth” will call to the successful candidate and allow the entire on-snow sports program to achieve beyond our wildest imagination.

The successful candidate will maintain and enhance the School’s commitment to its strong Alpine program, while building on and leveraging the growing interest in and attention across all of the winter snow sport programs, bringing them under one roof. In uniting our efforts, Snow Sports at Proctor becomes an even more accessible and cohesive signature program.

OVERVIEW:
The Snow Sports Program at Proctor Academy is composed of 181 athletes in five disciplines: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Snowboarding, Ski Jumping, and Freeski. Snowsports have a rich history at Proctor — a school that has been described as The School on Skis. The Proctor Ski Area is one of the finest privately owned and operated high school ski hills in the entire country, boasting two FIS homologated alpine trails featuring state of the art snowmaking and lighting top to bottom, along with a lighted, homologated 1.4 km sprint loop with lights and snowmaking, with a 2.5 km homologated loop for natural snow.

Proctor is committed to an athletic philosophy that encourages multi-sport participation, but also works with and trains highly focused and high performing athletes, supporting them year round to realize their full athletic potential through strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports psychology, and on-snow opportunities. We help our athletes set their intentions and goals, attain their highest aspirations, and move beyond simple physical accomplishments. Proctor offers an array of on and off-campus programming and rich academic pathways that create good and well-rounded people.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Director of Proctor’s Snow Sports will have overall responsibility for ensuring that snow sports at Proctor continue the long-standing tradition of providing opportunities for high performing athletes to develop the skills necessary to compete at the highest domestic and international competitions, and for intermediate level participants and newcomers to discover the richness of snow sports activities through the guidance of highly professional and caring coaches. As in all things that make up the unique community that is Proctor, the Snow Sports Director will be responsible for helping to collaborate with coaches and the greater PA academic community to coordinate trips–regional, national, and international–as well as to teach snow athletes how to be good self-advocates for themselves and to the benefit of the school and the program as a whole. Our collective goal is to develop high-level competitors while fostering a life-long love of snow sports. Differentiating athletes who desire to compete at the highest levels of the sport, along with others who are just beginning to develop their identity within their chosen sport, the Director will appreciate, elevate, and amplify the special qualities of being an athlete and student at Proctor, creating a healthy balance outside of their chosen sport along with a greater sense of what competing can offer in a boarding and day school in Northern New England. This is a 12-month commitment.

On-Snow Responsibilities: Exuding confidence, competence, and joy, the Director is expected to be a consistent presence on the training hill and at races for the USSA/FIS program, but will also have his/her presence felt by all of the snow sports programs and will work with all snow sports coaches. On Proctor Ski Hill race days, the program director is directly engaged in overseeing or ensuring appropriate representation at the venue and volunteers to ensure smooth, safe, and professional races.

Off-Snow Responsibilities: Understanding the unique place that the school holds for its various constituents, the Director of Snow Sports is responsible for attending, and encouraging staff to participate in, regional and national USSA meetings and should, when appropriate, seek to be on the New Hampshire and Eastern Regional Committees to promote the program and seek appropriate races for Proctor to host. The Director works to ensure that Proctor remains as a relevant and important supporter of ski racing in the Eastern Region. In addition, the following areas of focus are noted:

• Oversight of USSA/FIS individual athlete plans
• Oversight of all Snow Sports Coaching Staff, Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Professional Development for Coaches
• Ensuring Appropriate Training Camps
• Maintain Awareness of Academic Progress of Athletes (while coordinating a process by which they remain engaged academically even when they must travel)
• Program Recruitment and Retention
• Budgeting

DESIRED QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS: The expectations for the next Snow Sports Director at Proctor Academy must:

• Love teenagers and those who support them;
• Demonstrate a passion for snow sports and what they can do for student athletes;
• Be a good ambassador and communicator for Proctor and its Mission within the snow sports communities;
• Believe that a well-rounded education and a balanced student experience that Proctor provides student snow sport athletes is a valuable part of educating and developing the whole person;
• Have a demonstrated ability to balance, elevate, add to, and amplify the excitement already present within the Proctor snow sport communities. (USSA/FIS, Alpine, Cross Country, Jumping, Competitive Freestyle Ski and Snowboard, Recreational Ski and Snowboard, and Ski Patrol);
• Be a recognizable and positive force in one of the snow sport disciplines – nationally and/or internationally – that will enable recruiting athletes from different disciplines and snow sports;
• Foster a willingness and sensitivity to work with and recruit from programs and coaches from under-resourced and underserved communities;
• Assume responsibility for scheduling races and training at the ski area;
• Be a good listener and doer, committed to excellence, compassion, integrity, and growth.

Venue Management: The Director of Snow Sports will work to ensure that all training and competition venues, both at the Proctor Ski Area and at Ragged Mountain, are maintained and developed to meet program goals. It is anticipated that the Director of Snow Sports will take an active role in generating revenue through securing and managing USSA/FIS races and other competitions, while also ensuring rentals for training to help offset operational expenses. The Director of Snow Sports will actively work to further develop the school’s resources and will be a standing member of the trustee’s Ski Area Sub-Committee.

BENEFITS AND SALARIES:
This will be a full-time, year-round position with compensation commensurate with responsibilities and the experience level of candidates.

Full-time benefits include 401(k) plan, health and dental insurance, life and AD&D insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability.

APPLICATION INFORMATION:
Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] by January 15, 2022.

Proctor Academy is committed to building a community of inclusion across race, gender identity, age, religion, sexual orientation, and experience. We strongly encourage applications from candidates with diverse experiences and backgrounds.

Proctor Academy is an equal opportunity employer.