OUR LEADER ROLES

Good teams require diverse skills and experience.

Because of that, we ensure our Leaders come from a variety of backgrounds. They’re educators, engineers, youth workers, creatives, medics, scientists, mums and dads, adventurers and enthusiasts. They all share the curiosity to learn and the commitment to help others grow.

Our unique approach to youth development means we’re not only looking for outdoor professionals. If you can teach, connect, or manage a team, you can make a real difference.

Whatever your strength, you belong here.

FIRE ROLES BASECAMP ROLES OTHER ROLES

FIRE ROLES

A ‘Fire’ is what we call a team on an Expedition or Adventure. Each Fire will typically consist of two or three Leaders and up to 10 young people.

Social Leader

Social Leaders guide and empower their fellow Leaders to deliver youth development activities, pastoral care and behavioural support for young people in their Fire. Or, in the case of a Senior Social Leader, for the whole programme.

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Knowledge Leader

Knowledge Leaders guide and empower their fellow Leaders to deliver activities that inspire curiosity in their young people through science, creative media and connecting with their environment.

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Adventure Leader

Adventure Leaders guide and empower their fellow Leaders to deliver adventurous activities in the wilderness. As a minimum, this role requires a Summer Mountain Leader Award, but depending on the programme location additional technical experience may be required.

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Paddle Leader

Paddle Leaders guide and empower their fellow Leaders on canoe or kayak based programmes. They are ultimately responsible for the safety of a group whilst on, or in the margins of a lake or body of water.

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BASECAMP ROLES

Each of our programmes operates from a primary basecamp. The team at basecamp provide senior leadership and logistical support for up to eight Fires in the field and to the programme as a whole.

Basecamp Manager

The Basecamp Manager is responsible for overseeing the logistics of the programme, including equipment storage, organising food and resupplies, and reducing the environmental impact at basecamp.

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Medical Leader (Senior/Junior)

Medical teams are devised for each of our programmes based on a thorough assessment of specific requirements of the environment and programme participants. Medical Leaders are primarily stationed at Basecamp providing remote support to all Fires, but at times they may also be placed in a particular Fire depending on need.

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Chief Leader

The Chief Leader is the most senior role. They are involved from the outset in planning, devising and leading the programme, and are responsible for ensuring that everything meets the aims of they charity - supporting the personal development of our young people.

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Deputy Chief Leader

The Deputy Chief Leader role varies on each programme. Primarily, it involves acting as the Chief Leader’s ‘Right Hand’ and as a result needs to compliment their skills. This role is flexible and responsive based on the shape and needs of the wider Leadership team.

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OTHER ROLES

We don’t just run adventures and expeditions in the wilderness. Our Welcome to Adventure pathway requires no travel and no specialised equipment for young people, instead we bring the adventure to them.

Expedition Workshop Facilitator

Our Expedition Workshops are delivered in schools and youth organisations around the UK. These stand-alone, fun and engaging sessions help young people develop skills and gain a greater understanding of what going on an expedition would really be like.

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Wildestan Expert

Wildestan is our interactive online programme for Young Adventurers age 14-17. Wildestan Experts are akin to Knowledge Leaders, in that their role is to facilitate and inspire the participants to get outdoors in their local area.

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Reserve Leader

The Reserve Leader role is for Leaders who are on the waiting list to be place on a programme and for those that cannot initially commit to a programme that year, but wish to assist where they can, either as back up or at programme training events in the UK.

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"I absolutely love working with the young people and find it very rewarding. I really value the focus on increasing accessibility, and I'm super passionate about youth development, so I like that this is the purpose."
Anonymous - Canadian Yukon 2023

"The transformation that the young people went through on both occasions when I have lead for British Exploring Society is enough of a reason to want to lead for the rest of my life! I would also love to work towards my Mountain Leader award to become an Adventure Leader in the future."
Elliot - Cairngorms Adventure Week 2025

"Amazing project, amazing people, the most incredible opportunity for hard to reach young people and those from low income families."
Joel - Iceland 2024

"I love the outdoors and I love working with young people, so this allows me to combine the two at a scale not possible in my day job."
Kevin - Cairngorms Adventure Week 2025

"It was a huge personal achievement to return to lead with British Exploring Society (after being a Young Explorer) and I feel proud of what we achieved in the field with the brilliant young people we worked with. That is all thanks to the great proactive and flexible team of Leaders we had in the field, and the organisation of the office staff to get things set up for us in advance. Thank you one and all."
Rosie - Scottish Highlands 2023

"The group of young people I was with have been through some major challenges in their lives but to see them have fun, grow and have a laugh was something that I feel honoured to have been part of and I hope they have learnt as much from me as I have learnt from them."
Joey - Iceland 2023