Current Job Openings
Facility Maintenance Staff (Seasonal)
Vallecitos is seeking additional part time facility support to join our team. Work on site at this beautiful, remote, off grid location in northern NM. Applicants must be resourceful, responsible, caring, handy and have strong personhood. Our Facility staff maintain the land and facilities to support our stewardship and our retreat guests. This job is shared with other facility staff so that one or two facility staff are onsite at any given time from early May through October. We schedule by retreat to ensure appropriate coverage.
Applicants must be interested in living part-time in a very remote, high altitude, off grid location during their work period. Vallecitos provides a daily rate for compensation (approx $175 per day) depending on experience.
Tasks include (but not limited to):
- Supporting proper care and function of 135 acre property with approx 40 structures
- Minimum of two weekly town runs to get food and supplies
- Coordinate and drive guest shuttle from center to hopewell and back at beginning and end of retreat
- Assisting guests with facility related needs
- Managing trash, recycle, and compost
- Ensuring proper water, propane, fuel and maintenance supplies
- Taking care of our vehicles, tractor, tools, and generators
- Monitoring and troubleshooting 4 solar systems on the property
- Monitoring and addressing safety concerns
- Overseeing our Rodent Management Policy
- Supporting execution of our Emergency Response Protocols in the event of an emergency
- Conduct trail & fence maintenance as needed
- Tending to irrigation/ditch maintenance
- Supporting opening and closing of the center
- Assisting with light construction projects and general maintenance and repair
Qualifications:
- Understanding and interest in our vision
- Solid experience with most power tools
- Experience with general maintenance and repairs
- Light vehicle and plumbing experience
- Understanding/knowledge of solar systems desired
- Must have valid drivers license
- Ability to work independently as well as with others
- Good planning, organization and resourcefulness as resources are 1-1/2 hours away
Timing:
- This position is shared with others with opportunities for work periods starting each May running through early November. Facility staff work anywhere from one to four retreats in a row and often come several times a season. This is flexible and dependent. We will begin scheduling for the 2025 season in January.
Benefits:
- We offer fair compensation as a W2 employee.
- Onsite staff receive three gourmet vegetarian meals and single occupancy heated accommodation. (Please note there is no electricity to most of the accommodations at Vallecitos.)
- Staff who work more than 4 weeks per season are offered one retreat per season at Vallecitos at no charge.
- Staff is invited to attend sits/talks during retreats when teachers allow.
- Vallecitos covers the cost of approved training (CPR, Wilderness First Aid, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and more).
Interested parties please email a letter of interest to director@vallecitos.org. You must include the following:
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- What position you are interested in
- Why you believe you are an ideal candidate to help support Vallecitos
- If you have ever been to the center before or your connection to the organization
- Your related experience
- Your availability
- Your contact information
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Updated 1/13/25
Head Cooks
The Retreat Head Cook is a seasonal, contract position in a beautiful remote wilderness retreat center. Our center is open from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple head cooks to share the season with only one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat. The head cook position requires upfront planning as the center is far from any store or resources, runs entirely from solar power and there is no cell service. Retreats are held in noble silence and all staff honor this holding of the retreat container.
Requirements
- Experience and skill cooking in the restaurant industry or large-scale kitchen including safe knife handling, food safety and sanitation, minimization of food waste, order preparation and the ability to keep a clean inventory.
- Experience cooking for special diets (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, soy free, etc.)
- Experience preparing orders for large vendors such as UNFI and Albert’s Organics.
- Experience using a host of local, seasonal produce for meals.
- Experience cooking in other retreat centers will be very advantageous.
- Basic food safety course required for all cooks.
Qualifications
- Ability to plan menus, order and cook for large groups of 15-50 people
- Must be able to adapt to an environment with very limited storage, no walk in cooler, single oven, no dishwasher, must make effort to store food appropriately to eliminate waste.
- Must live in residence at the retreat center during work periods.
- This is a physically demanding position. Must be physically fit and able to lift up to 35+ lbs and perform various kinds of physical labor as part of job responsibilities.
- Excellent problem solving skills. Ability to “think on your feet.”
- Ability to communicate and work with diverse groups of people. Sensitivity to issues of race, gender, class and sexual orientation.
- Sensitivity to working with retreats that are silent and an ability to reduce noise coming from kitchen.
- Must keep a very clean environment
- Must be able to work well with others in a small team and able to direct an assistant cook and volunteers in a professional, kind, clear and compassionate manner.
Responsibilities
- Plan daily menus considering existing inventory and spoilage and preparing appropriate quantities to minimize excessive overage.
- Prepare and place food orders with VMRC Retreat Managers
- Prepare and serve vegetarian meals including accommodation for special dietary restrictions.
- Prepare special diet foods and observe strict cross contamination protocol if there are guests in attendance with food allergies and sensitivities.
- Maintain food stores in the kitchen, pantry, teachers quarters and snack bar areas.
- Coordinate with and provide direction to assistant cooks.
- Shop for food locally on occasion when not available from our vendors when coordinates with your next trip into the retreat center.
- Keep kitchen facility clean, orderly and safe for staff and guests.
- Regular check in with retreat managers to ensure smooth operations and address any needs that arise.
- Conduct kitchen inventories as needed.
- Conduct kitchen related Work Meditation Job Training the first morning of each retreat.
- Observe mindful silence, conducting kitchen work with the minimum amount of noise necessary.
- Attend staff meetings as needed.
- Have a sense of humor and be flexible!
Availability
We staff this position from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple cooks to share the season with one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat.
Benefits
- We offer a daily rate compensation as an independent contractor plus gourmet vegetarian meals and single occupancy heated accommodation. (Please note there is no electricity to any of the accommodations at Vallecitos.)
- Staff who work five retreats or more are offered one retreat per season at Vallecitos at no charge when availability allows.
- Staff is invited to attend sits/talks during retreats when teachers allow.
- We cover the cost of approved training (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and more).
How to Apply
All interested parties please email a letter of interest to director@vallecitos.org. You must include:
- Why you believe you are an ideal candidate for the position
- If you have ever been to Vallecitos before or your connection to the organization
- Your related experience
- Your availability
- Your contact information
Posted 1/13/25
Assistant Cooks
The Assistant Cook is a seasonal, contract position in our beautiful remote wilderness retreat center. Our center is open from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple cooks to share the season with only one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat. The center is far from any store or resources, runs entirely from solar power and there is no cell service. Most of the retreats are held in noble silence and all staff is required to respect this container by remaining silent anywhere that guests may be able to overhear.
Requirements
- Must have an interest in cooking and enjoy preparing meals for others.
- Helpful to have awareness and sensitivity to special diets (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, soy, etc).
- Must live in residence at the retreat center during work periods.
- This can be a physically demanding position at times. Must be physically fit and able to lift up to 35+ lbs and perform various kinds of physical labor as part of job responsibilities.
- Ability to communicate and work with diverse groups of people. Sensitivity to issues of race, gender, class and sexual orientation.
- Sensitivity to working with retreats that are silent and an ability to reduce noise coming from kitchen during these retreats.
- Must be able to adapt to an environment with very limited storage, no walk in cooler, single oven, no dishwasher, must make effort to store food appropriately to eliminate waste.
- Must keep a very clean environment.
- Must be able to work well with others in a small team and able to support/assist the head cook as needed.
- Basic food safety course required for all cooks.
Responsibilities
- Prepare and serve vegetarian meals for staff, retreat participants and group rentals including accommodation for special dietary restrictions as directed by the head cook.
- Prepare special diet foods and observe strict cross contamination protocol if there are guests in attendance with food allergies and sensitivities as directed by the head cook.
- Maintain food stores in the kitchen, pantry, teachers quarters and snack bar areas.
- Keep kitchen facility clean, orderly and safe for staff and guests.
- Regular check in with retreat managers to ensure smooth operations and address any needs that arise.
- Conduct kitchen inventories as needed.
- Shop for food locally on occasion when not available from our vendors when this coordinates with your next trip into the retreat center.
- Conduct kitchen related Work Meditation Job Training the first morning of each retreat.
- Observe respect for mindful silence, conducting kitchen work with the minimum amount of noise necessary.
- Attend staff meetings as needed.
Availability
We staff this position from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple cooks to share the season with one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat. We cannot guarantee a place to stay when it is not a staff members scheduled work period.
Benefits
- We offer a daily rate compensation as an independent contractor plus gourmet vegetarian meals and single occupancy heated accommodation. (Please note there is no electricity to any of the accommodations at Vallecitos.)
- Staff who work five retreats or more are offered one retreat per season at Vallecitos at no charge when availability allows.
- Staff is invited to attend sits/talks during retreats when teachers allow.
- We cover the cost of approved training (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and more).
How to Apply
All interested parties please email a letter of interest to director@vallecitos.org. You must include:
- Why you believe you are an ideal candidate for the position
- If you have ever been to Vallecitos before or your connection to the organization
- Your related experience
- Your availability
- Your contact information
Posted 1/14/25
Retreat Managers
Vallecitos is seeking additional Retreat Managers to join our team! Work on site at this beautiful, remote, off grid location in northern NM. Gain experience in customer service, dharma practice, retreat management, remote living and more. We employ multiple retreat managers to share the season with only one retreat manager scheduled for each retreat.
Requirements:
- Must have attended a silent residential retreat in the past.
- Ideal if candidate has retreat management experience.
- Welcoming demeanor with strong customer service skills.
- Solid verbal communication.
- Must have Diversity, Equity and Inclusion exposure/training.
- This can be a physically demanding position at times. Must be physically fit and able to lift up to 35 lbs and perform lots of walking and various kinds of physical labor as part of job responsibilities.
Responsibilities:
- Preparing the retreat center for guests
- Conducting registration on opening day
- Greeting and Supporting Teachers
- Timely guest communication
- Inventory and ordering of supplies
- Coordinating and directing volunteers
- Conducting orientation talk, donation talk, work meditation job instructions to each retreat group.
- Anticipating and responding to guests needs.
- Maintaining a clean, organized, and welcoming environment.
- Conscious of guest safety.
- Maintain good communication with both onsite and offsite staff.
Availability:
We staff this position from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple retreat managers to share the season with one retreat manager scheduled for each retreat.
Benefits:
- We offer a daily rate compensation as a W2 employee plus gourmet vegetarian meals and single occupancy heated accommodation. (Please note there is no electricity to any of the accommodations at Vallecitos.)
- Staff who work five retreats or more are offered one retreat per season at Vallecitos at no charge when availability allows.
- Staff is invited to attend sits/talks during retreats when teachers allow.
- We cover the cost of approved training (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and more).
How to Apply:
All interested parties please email a letter of interest to director@vallecitos.org. You must include:
-
- Why you believe you are an ideal candidate for the position
- If you have ever been to Vallecitos before or your connection to the organization
- Your related experience
- Your availability
- Your contact information
Posted 1/14/25
