Join Our Staff

Become a Sea Kayak Guide

This is a seasonal position that runs from June through August, with optional part-time work possible in May and September. 

Portland Paddle is always seeking sea kayaking guides and instructors to lead kayak tours and teach lessons. There’s a lot to love about this job: Being part of a fun and friendly team of talented outdoors people; working outside and on the water on the Maine coast; developing outdoor leadership and paddling skills; getting to know Casco Bay intimately; and giving people of all backgrounds ocean adventures that they’ll love and remember forever.

As a sea kayak guide, your job involves a mix of outdoor leadership, teaching, risk management, technical sea kayaking skills, customer service, teamwork and manual labor. It’s very rewarding work that allows you to develop a deep knowledge of the marine environment and interact with people of diverse backgrounds from all over the world. 

Most of our trips are based out of our main site on Casco Bay in Portland, Maine. Our trips range from 2-hour Sunset Tours to multi-day expeditions on the Maine Island Trail. We also offer lessons for all skill levels and stand-up paddling tours.

Candidates able to work 30+ hours a week will be prioritized, but we encourage experienced candidates with more limited availability to apply.

Getting a Guide License

Maine law requires that anyone who leads kayaking trips in the state’s coastal waters to be be licensed as a sea kayak guide through the state’s guide program. Unless you already have a Maine Sea Kayak Guide license, you must pass the guide exam in order to work for Portland Paddle as a guide. To do this you will need to take our guide training course over two weekends in the spring (or take one with another organization), complete a criminal background check through the state, apply to take the guide exam, pass the exam and then pay the fees required to get the license.

First-year guides at Portland Paddle who are new to guiding typically work a mix of “shore staff” shifts and on-water guiding shifts. If somebody we hired to guide is not able to get licensed by the start of our season (due to failing the guide exam or delays in the process) they can work onshore until they finish the process. All new guides must complete a process of “shadowing” more experienced guides before leading trips on their own.

Financial Support for Licensing

If we offer you a full-time guide position, Portland Paddle will cover most of the fees involved in getting a guide license. This includes roughly $275 in fees to the state government. You will also be able to take our guide training course for free. If we offer you a part-time position or a position that is primarily a non-guiding role, we may cover a portion of these costs and/or offer a discount on the cost of the guide training course.

Qualifications:

• Sea kayaking experience, and competency with basic paddling skills
• Outdoor leadership experience
• Friendly and enthusiastic about giving people of all backgrounds kayaking experiences
• Safety-conscious and proficient at assessing risks
• First Aid and CPR certification (can complete after hiring)
• Maine Sea Kayak Guide license (can get licensed after hiring)
• American Canoe Association instructor certification is not required for the sea kayak guide position, but it is a major plus. (All guides who teach our instructional programs are ACA-certified)

Compensation:

• Starting at $18/hour for licensed guides after completing a process of “shadowing” more experienced guides ($15/hour while shadowing, typically completed within a week or two for full-time guides)
• Higher starting rates possible for guides with substantial prior experience
• Gratuities (often substantial)
• Guides also benefit from pro-deals on outdoor gear, free use of sea kayaks and stand-up paddleboards and opportunities for free or discounted training

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Join Our Team as Shore Staff

This position starts in May or June and extends through late August or September. 

This is the core position at Portland Paddle, and it’s been the entry role for most staff over the years. We call it “shore staff” because most of the work is done on land as opposed to the on-water work of our guides.

Shore staff at Portland Paddle do the essential groundwork that’s needed to ensure we are giving our customers terrific paddling experiences. That involves a wide range of responsibilities, including customer service duties, like making reservations and greeting customers, as well as manual labor duties, such as moving around kayaks and cleaning gear.  

If you’d like to spend the summer outdoors and you’re interested in paddlesports, this could be a great job for you. You’d be joining a terrific team that includes staff who have been with us for several years. This job requires hard work and commitment. It also provides lots of opportunities to learn new skills, meet interesting people from all over the world and become well-acquainted with the beauty of Casco Bay.

Our staff spends much of its time interacting with customers, so we are looking for individuals who are prepared to be friendly and communicate effectively. The job also requires lifting and carrying loaded kayaks every day, so you should be generally fit and capable of carrying a fairly heavy boat with assistance. This is a very active job that can be both physically and mentally challenging.

Many of our staff have started out working as shore staff and worked their way towards becoming a guide. Some staff work both as shore staff and guiding.

This is generally a full-time seasonal position (30-40 hours/week). Scheduling is somewhat flexible, but working some weekends and evenings is essential.

Responsibilities & Duties:

• Helping customers rent from our fleet of kayaks & stand-up paddleboards (SUPS).
• Offering basic safety and skills tips to customers.
• Taking reservations, in-person and over the phone, for rentals and tours.
• Lots of carrying and loading kayaks and SUPs (with help).
• Assisting guides on tours and lessons.
• Making important judgment calls regarding safety (for example, turning away customers based on an assessment of weather conditions).
• Keeping our shop clean and organized.

Qualifications:

• Interested in spending lots of time outdoors.
• Able to help carry kayaks and assist with other physically demanding tasks.
• Must be available to work from June through August, with optional work in May and September.
• Kayaking and/or paddleboarding skills are not essential, but candidates should be enthusiastic about learning and passing on knowledge of paddlesports to customers.

Compensation:

• Starting at $15 per hour
• Free use of kayaks and SUPs (with advance notice).
• Pro discounts on outdoor gear.
• Opportunities to develop paddling skills through free courses and training sessions.

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This position starts in April or May and extends through September.

The Site Manager is responsible for managing our main site at the East End Beach in Portland. They provide leadership to our terrific team of shore staff, coordinate with other managers to ensure operations are running smoothly, assist with scheduling, maintain the organization and appearance of the site and coordinate customer service communications. 

On many days, the Site Manager will spend much of their time assisting  shore staff with their regular duties, including greeting customers, answering phone calls, moving and cleaning kayaks, organizing gear, etc. They will also play a lead role in training staff, evaluating them and ensuring they have the resources needed to do their jobs well. 

This role can be a great fit for people who have significant experience working in our industry (outdoor recreation or paddlesports) or leadership experience in other related professions. 

Responsibilities & Duties

• Assisting with staff training and staff communications.
• Assisting with staff scheduling.
• Managing the Portland Paddle physical site to ensure a well-organized, attractive appearance that is visible to customers and the public.
• Attending bi-weekly meetings with managers.
• Assisting with marketing through use of social media, blogging and other means.
• Modeling strong customer service skills and outdoor leadership for the entire staff.

Qualifications:

• Customer service experience.
• Experience working in a leadership position.
• Experience in the outdoors industry.
• Paddling experience (kayaking, canoeing, rafting or paddleboarding).
• Should be comfortable using and/or learning to use various software programs and other technologies (online booking system, Google Drive, online scheduling, etc).
• Competent at written communication (e.g. sending out staff memos, replying to customer emails, etc.)
• Must be available to work full-time during June, July & August.

Compensation:

• Negotiable; minimum starting rate of $21/hour, with higher rates possible for those with relevant leadership and paddling experience
• Free use of kayaks and SUPs.
• Pro discounts on outdoor gear.
• Opportunities to develop paddling skills through free courses and training sessions.

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Portland Paddle offers SUP tours and lessons as well as sea kayaking offerings, so we need some guides who are skilled in SUP. We encourage all our guides to develop the skills to lead both sea kayaking and SUP trips, but we are also open to hiring skilled stand-up paddlers who are only or mainly interested in SUP activities. Overall, there is much less work available for SUP guides at Portland Paddle than there is for sea kayak guides, but it is essential that our staff includes some talented SUP experts. If you are a skilled stand-up paddler who wants to share your love of SUP, consider joining our team. 

To work as a SUP guide on Maine’s coastal waters, however, you must be licensed with the state as a sea kayak guide, since there is no SUP guide classification. We typically hire guides who have already become licensed. However, if you are interested in guiding but are not licensed, you can enroll in our guide training course and apply to take the state guide exam. 

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This position starts in April or May and extends through September.

If you love outdoor gear and you have a knack for organizing it and maintaining it this may be the job for you. Portland Paddle has a large fleet of kayaks and SUPs, along with a massive amount of paddling and camping gear. The Equipment Manager takes on responsibility for ensuring that all this gear is working properly and ready to be deployed where it’s needed. This involves a wide range of duties, including repairing kayaks, moving gear between sites, maintaining facilities and supervising staff who are assisting in these duties. The Equipment Manager also works as Shore Staff and/or Site Supervisor as needed.

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

• Maintaining & repairing equipment. Ensuring that all paddling equipment, camping equipment, and related items are in good working order when needed. 
• Managing supplies. Ensuring that various supplies essential to P2’s operations (food, spare parts, tools, office supplies, retail items, PPE, etc.) are available, stored appropriately and tracked. 
•  Maintaining an inventory of key equipment and supplies, and ensuring that all items are always accounted for. 
• Coordinating logistics for special events and trips, including transportation logistics.
• Training staff on how to maintain and care for equipment.
• Maintaining site (painting, basic repairs, creating storage systems, etc.).

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in the outdoors industry.
• Paddling experience (kayaking, canoeing, rafting or paddleboarding).
• Competent at using common handtools for basic repair and maintenance work
• Competent at using and/or learning basic technology programs such as Google Drive, scheduling software, booking software, etc.
• Competent at written communication (sending out staff memos, emailing guides and partners about logistics, etc).

COMPENSATION

• Negotiable, based on experience, credentials and availability.
• Free use of kayaks and SUPs.
• Pro discounts on outdoor gear.
• Opportunities to develop paddling skills through free courses and training sessions.

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