"At Spring Lake Ranch, you can see others grow, grow with them, and learn to care for others in a way never imagined. The organization prioritizes employee and resident satisfaction, and will assist any employee in reaching their goals. My experience was nothing short of life-changing and constantly educational."
Spring Lake Ranch thrives when its community is full of dedicated, diverse, and passionate team-players committed to its mission of empowering individuals to heal and grow. We believe that recovery occurs in the context of relationships lived with compassion, acceptance, respect, authenticity, mutuality, and shared work and play.
We are looking for people that share our values of hope, empowerment, connection to the natural environment, and community to join our team. Pay and benefits at Spring Lake Ranch are competitive and many intangible rewards of working here include homemade meals (often sourced right from our gardens and pastures), access to the pristine Spring Lake and hiking trails right outside your door, a whole host of friendly farm animals, and a community of collegial and supportive coworkers, all nestled in 700 acres of the beautiful Green Mountains.

Benefits
Medical Coverage
Full-time employees are eligible to enroll in Spring Lake Ranch’s group health plan. The Ranch will cover up to 90% of the premium costs depending on the level of enrollment.
Dental Coverage
Dental coverage is offered the Northeast Delta Dental at no cost to eligible employees. The dental-care services offered under this plan include no-cost preventative care.
Retirement Plan
Employees are eligible to contribute to the retirement plan right away. After six months of employment, Spring Lake Ranch contributes 2% of an employee’s salary and matches up to 3% of an employee’s contributions. Employees are fully vested after 3 years.
Health Savings Account
Spring Lake Ranch offers a Health Savings Account (HSA) for eligible employees who enroll in the High Deductible Health Plan.
Life Insurance
Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage equal to one times an eligible employees annual salary up to $50,000 is provided at no cost.
Disability Benefits
The Ranch provides short term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) benefits to eligible employees at no cost.
Paid Time Off
Vacation and Paid Time Off (PTO) starts at 15 days per year and goes up depending on position and tenure.
Parental Leave
Employees are entitled to 12 weeks of partially paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child; Spring Lake Ranch pays at 60% of their current salary for six weeks; insurance pays at 60% of their current salary for the second six weeks.
Flexible Schedule Options
Spring Lake Ranch is committed to helping employees face the demands of juggling work, family, and personal obligations by offering a number of flexible work arrangements such as flextime, a compressed workweek, and remote work options.
Community Meals
An employee favorite! All staff are welcome to partake in our delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Current Employment Opportunities
Program Coordinator
Program Director
Program Director
Classification: Full time; salaried/exempt
Reports to: Executive Director
Salary Range: $75,000-$85,000/year
The Program Director oversees the Work, Recreation, and Clinical departments as part of the full continuum of the resident experience. Primary objectives include effecting the integration of therapeutic goals and treatment into the Work program, devising milestones towards wellness, and ensuring that all departments understand how they contribute to the residents’ therapeutic experience and the mission, vision and standards of Spring Lake Ranch. Must be a strong proponent of experiential milieu therapy.
Essential Functions of the Position:
- Provide supervision, mentoring, coaching and performance management for Work Program and Clinical staff.
- Coordinate and collaborate with the Consulting Clinical Supervisor to ensure that clinicians are well supported and actively working toward providing meaningful resident specific experiences on work crew.
- Provide Therapeutic Work Program Managers support in creating work opportunities that are meaningful and individualized to further residents’ goals.
- Supervise the Program Manager to ensure therapeutic activities/recreation are appropriate and well planned.
- Provide administrative oversight including on-going general support and supervision, time-management, conflict resolution, scheduling, evaluation, and professional development, etc. of the Therapeutic Work Program Managers and Clinical team.
- Be an active member of the Leadership team, thinking strategically to move SLR into the position of being the best therapeutic farm-based program in the country.
- In collaboration with the Business Office, support all Managers in developing their respective annual budgets.
Leadership:
- Attend Coordination/Leadership team meetings and participate in committees as needed as the representative of SLR Programs.
- Provide quarterly written reports to the Executive Director for inclusion in Board reports.
- Ensure active communication, coordination, and collaboration between the program departments and all other departments to encourage an environment of efficiency and performance.
- Provide leadership and coordination of monthly Community Meetings.
- Establish guidelines and standards by which the organization’s quality and impact can be evaluated; identifies opportunities for improvement.
Additional Responsibilities:
- Demonstrate an understanding and commitment to the SLR Mission, Vision and Core Values.
- Represent Spring Lake Ranch professionally and positively to others including families, doctors, therapists, vendors, other providers, employers, volunteer contacts, friends, interns, volunteers, visitors, candidates, the general public, etc.
- Maintain respectful, therapeutic, and supportive relationships with Spring Lake Ranch residents and clients.
- Draw upon personal talents, interests, and passions to develop special programming for the community.
- Participate in holidays and other Ranch special events throughout the year when requested.
- Crisis intervention and assistance as needed.
- Other duties as requested.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LICSW.
- Passion for and commitment to experiential therapy in a farm-based therapeutic community with people working towards recovery from mental health and substance abuse conditions.
- 2+ years previous experience managing psychiatric treatment, education, or wilderness therapy programs.
- 2+ years previous supervision, administrative and management experience.
- Experience in organizing and managing groups of people to accomplish a specific task.
- Flexible leadership style; ability to be direct and supportive; ability to act as a leader or in a collegial role with coworkers.
- Interested and able to develop new skills.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Strong interpersonal, organizational, conflict resolution and presentation skills.

To Apply
Click here to fill out our employment application, and send this with a cover letter indicating your interest and resume to Heather at heatherm@springlakeranch.org, or
Mail the above materials to 1169 Spring Lake Road, Cuttingsville, VT 05738 or fax to (802) 492-3331.
Spring Lake Ranch provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, place of birth, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, health coverage status, genetic information, military or veteran status, crime victim status, HIV status, pregnancy or pregnancy related condition, or any other characteristic protected by federal and state law. Equal employment opportunity applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.
COVID-19 Procedure Updates
Spring Lake Ranch has made the decision to require all staff and residents to be vaccinated against covid-19 for the safety of the community. When necessary, we wear masks and socially distance.
These general guidelines are subject to change based on current guidelines. Human Resources will provide the most updated COVID procedures before a prospective employee visits.
