The Associate, Talent & Training – Youth Camps & Events is responsible for finding, recruiting, and developing Headfirst Youth Camps & Events most important resource – our people!

This role is responsible for building a passionate and mission-driven cohort of nearly 400 seasonal summer staff annually, and setting them up to successfully deliver the Headfirst experience to campers and families. The core focus, especially from each January through peak operational summer months, will be on attracting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, training, and supporting an exceptional seasonal team for our Headfirst programs - our DC, Maryland, and Virginia Summer Camp staff, and our nationwide Professional Sports Camp staff teams.

The associate helps manage candidate communications, schedules, and logistics throughout the hiring and training journey, while contributing to systems and documentation that improve efficiency and consistency. In-season, this role provides hands-on support to field staff, gathers feedback, and helps implement aligned practices across sites. To be effective, this role requires some night and weekend oversight, in particular during peak times in the seasonal employee recruiting, hiring, and onboarding cycle.

The ideal Associate has strong abilities to connect with and work with people from varied backgrounds, is highly organized and able to communicate clearly in writing and in person, and values follow-through and delivering on high expectations. This individual must be detail-oriented and reliable with logistics such as learning new systems, tracking hiring steps, managing documents, and handling many moving parts at once while meeting deadlines. They must be confident to ask questions, comfortable using data and feedback to improve processes, collaborating smoothly with other teams, and staying calm and resourceful when unexpected issues arise during a busy camp season.

Location & Travel: This is a full-time, in-person role based in Washington, D.C., reporting to the Manager, Talent & Training – Youth Camps & Events.

• This role involves driving, travel, and work from our DC, Maryland, and Virginia Summer Camp locations, and our nationwide Professional Sports Camp locations – primarily in June, July, and August.

Compensation: This role has annual salary budgeted at $45,000 - $50,000. 

Benefits: Full-time team members are eligible for paid time off and 10 paid holidays annually, health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) matching, and employee discounts on our programs and offerings.

Timeline: We will begin screening candidates as soon as mid-December, with a goal start date of late January, 2026.

About Headfirst 

Headfirst Companies is all about creating unforgettable experiences that inspire growth, learning, and connection. From our Washington, D.C. headquarters, our full-time team works year-round to shape every detail of our three programmatic divisions: Headfirst Youth Events, Headfirst Showcase Camps, and KI Concerts.

With our Headfirst Youth Events division, we deliver top-tier STEM, sports, and day camps for kids in the D.C. metro area which keep us at the forefront of innovation and fun. We partner with legendary pro sports teams across the country to bring young players up close to the magic of the game through behind-the-scenes access and engaging instruction.   

Our renowned Headfirst Showcase Camps division connects talented student-athletes with coaches from the nation's top collegiate baseball and softball programs through events which are carefully crafted to bring out the best in players and help them shine in the spotlight.   

Because much of Headfirst Youth Camps & Events workflow operates on a seasonal basis, you will have different responsibilities and priorities depending upon the time of year. The following timeline is designed to give you a clearer understanding of what your position’s main duties entail depending on our seasons. Throughout the year, the Associate will provide support for additional responsibilities as identified or requested by Headfirst leadership.

December – May

• Conduct hundreds of interviews, identifying and selecting only the most qualified and mission-driven leaders, educators, and coaches to work with us.
• Coordinating and managing recruiting initiatives for all seasonal positions, applying past years’ best practices while exercising creativity to seek out new and innovative ways to connect with jobseekers.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with potential “connectors,” organizations, and talent pools.
• Collaborate to set realistic weekly and monthly recruitment goals that align with the strategic goals set in the Fall, and take accountability for achieving these goals.
• Act as the primary point of contact for your candidates through the full recruitment, hiring, and onboarding process.
• Actively participate in and support the pre-season seasonal training programs as requested in order to deliver highly-effective training to all seasonal teams.
• Implement a communications plan for keeping seasonal team members engaged ahead of their first day of work, and informed on important tasks and dates prior to and throughout employment.

June – August

• Continue seasonal interviewing as needed to ensure appropriate staffing levels across all camp locations throughout the summer.
• Support the on-site Camp Leadership Teams with their day-to-day Talent- and HR-related needs; exercise good judgment and discretion to flag escalated issues to HQ management where appropriate.
• Act as the HQ shepherd for key Talent-related on-site tasks, ensuring that the on-site leadership team is trained on and successfully manages schedules, staffing numbers, timekeeping, new hire days. 
• Work with the onsite staff teams to implement staff appreciation, training, and/or professional development initiatives.
• Spot standout seasonal employees who might be a great fit for a full-time position and building the seasonal-to-HQ pipeline.
• Some evening and/or weekend work is expected during the camp season.

September – November

• Assess the summer’s successes and challenges for our camp locations, working with the Youth Camps & Events team colleagues to identify, gather, and present on metrics and analytics capturing Talent key performance indicators.
• Collect and organize retention notes for all seasonal team members to record summer performance, spotlight on-site all-stars, and track eligibility for rehire.
• Provide thoughtful feedback and contribute input and ideas for improvements across departments.
• Recommend changes to Talent Department processes and practices based upon personal insights and team member feedback.
• Contribute to development of the overall vision and mission of the Talent team for the upcoming seasonal recruitment cycle, and participate in the finalization of all recruitment/hiring/onboarding goals and timelines.
• Attend and lead campus recruitment fall and winter events to recruit as well as to promote brand awareness for all Headfirst Companies’ programs and divisions.
• Assist in all stages of the recruiting lifecycle for Headfirst Companies’ HQ full-time and internship roles as requested; while this will vary with staffing needs, in general you could expect to act as the Talent Department designated recruiter for approximately two HQ full-time positions and four internship roles.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree, with concentration in related field(s) viewed favorably.
• One to two years relevant professional experience, with one year or more of experience in fast-paced, large-scale recruiting and hiring, coaching, training, and/or team management, preferably in a start-up or similar business environment, and one year office-based work experience.
• Sport-related background, knowledge, and/or coaching, specifically for baseball, softball, football, or soccer viewed favorably.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong people, time, and project management capabilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work autonomously, guiding projects through to completion in an organized and timely fashion.
• Has temperament, drive, and desire to excel within a fast-paced environment, to take pride in achieving excellence in your assigned responsibilities, and to work until the job is done each day.
• Demonstrated experience with MS Office, more specifically Excel; experience with HRIS/ATS systems like iCims, WhenIWork, Rippling viewed favorably, but not required if capacity for learning new systems is high.
• Valid drivers license and ability to pass a motor vehicle background screening.
• Ability to travel to camp locations across the country, primarily during June, July, and August. 
• Ability to perform various manual tasks (walking, standing, and moving for up to 8-12 hours at a time; ability to carry up to 30 lbs.; crouching, kneeling, and balancing on varied flooring/terrain) under varying weather conditions (ie, winter warehouse work, peak summer site move-in, summer indoor/outdoor camp programming).

Universal Headfirst Team Values & Expectations 

• A solution oriented individual who shares The Headfirst Companies’ core mission and values, and believes in our ability to work together to make a difference in the lives of children and young adults.  
• You are a motivated self-starter who is autonomous and dependable 
• You are a team player who approaches professional hurdles with a strong sense of individual responsibility and a sincere emphasis on team over self 
• You are a humble and enthusiastic leader who possesses the passion and polish to serve as an ambassador of the Headfirst Companies 
• You are a doer who has an entrepreneurial spirit and a focus on finishing the job every day 
• You are an independent thinker who assumes responsibility beyond what is asked, and takes initiative for positive change 
• You are a flexible, coachable, and down-to-earth teammate who has the desire and capacity to grow through self-reflection, and by both providing and receiving thoughtful, constructive performance feedback 
• You are a patient problem-solver and consummate professional who has the ability to prioritize and multitask, managing several projects concurrently, sometimes under pressure, and often with tight deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude and professional demeanor 

Headfirst Companies are proud to be Equal Opportunity Employers. We value diversity and inclusivity across our Headfirst community, and we strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply.