Posted: 18-Feb-26
Location: Hakuba Village, Japan
Type: Full Time
Categories:
Required Education:
Additional Information:
Our School
Hakuba International School is a new international boarding school (opened in 2022), located in the beautiful Hakuba Valley in the Japanese Alps. Our school is dedicated to answering the driving question: What kind of education enables people and the planet to flourish? Our focus is on personal and environmental well-being, combined with deeper learning methods to develop leaders who can solve the world’s most complex problems.
We are an intentionally small school, serving approximately 55 students in grades 7-11 during the 2025-26 school year, and adding one grade per year until 12th grade, reaching an eventual full size of 150 students. We call our faculty members guides, in the spirit of serving by a student’s side to create highly engaging learning adventures. For more about our school’s background and methods, please visit www.hakuba-is.jp.
The Outdoor Program Leader and Teaching Guide
The Hakuba International School Outdoor Program is a foundational pillar of the school, aiming to empower authentic experiential learning that transfers directly into student life on campus and to life beyond school. The program runs throughout the school year, and includes four overnight camping trips, ranging from 3-day to 10-day trips in a variety of dynamic environments, including high alpine mountains, scenic rivers, ocean ecosystems, and other unique settings.
ABOUT THE POSITION
Hakuba International School (HIS) is seeking an experienced and energetic Outdoor Program Leader and Teaching Guide who will plan and lead trips while advancing the school’s Outdoor Program. The Outdoor Program Leader works with teaching guides and local outdoor guides to organize and lead trips, overseeing all fieldwork, equipment management, and program administration. The position is foundational to helping students discover their leadership skills and personal potential through outdoor experiences, service learning activities, and more, including courses, certifications, clinics, and multi-day expeditions. This is a faculty role, supporting both middle and high school students in developing outdoor skills. A teaching load of 12 hours, in combination with leading the Outdoor Program, is expected. This is a full-time, benefited position.
- Requirements:
- A Bachelor’s degree and teaching certification
- We require at least 3 years of full-time teaching experience in a school setting
- A driver's license and willingness to drive students in school vehicles are also required
- Current Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or Wilderness Emergency Technician (W-EMT) certification or international equivalent is required
- Technical and instructional proficiency in both frontcountry and backcountry contexts, with demonstrated proficiencies in one or more disciplines of river, snow, and/or rock
- Prior experience leading youth in dynamic outdoor settings on multi-day trips
- Strong organizational skills and professional accountability commensurate with the magnitude of program demands, both administrative and logistical
- The ability to consistently empathize, mentor, and support colleagues, students, and families who are developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the outdoor context
- Demonstrated joy at spending time with students
- Project-based learning experience, either as a student or teacher
- An understanding of how to assess learners without standardized tests and scores
- An expert at facilitating the development of self-esteem, self-compassion, self-discipline, and a growth mindset, as well as instilling empowering beliefs in students
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including strong verbal and written communication skills with students, co-workers, and parents
- Has an energetic passion for problem-solving, and is incredibly resourceful—doesn’t require a lot of hand-holding
- Up for the professional challenge of creating something new, and the physical challenge of working outside most of the day
- Experience in international schools, boarding schools, and/or project-based learning is a plus
- Fluency in Japanese is also a plus
- Responsibilities:
- Planning and coordinating the Outdoor Program trip logistics
- Serving as a Trip Leader during the four outdoor trip cycles
- Spending approximately 30-60 days per year in the “field” on day and overnight trips
- Leading the HIS OEL Committee to act as an advising group that can assist with the organization and facilitation of OEL meetings, events, and expeditions
- Design and lead weekend excursions that enable students to explore and engage with the wider outdoor Hakuba area
- Maintaining, organizing, and evaluating the inventory of trip-related equipment for river, winter, ski/snowboarding, and camping for the outdoor program
- Developing, evaluating, and implementing best-practice assessments, safety protocols, and risk management systems for the Outdoor Program
- Building a program that progresses student skill development, organization, and leadership from 7th to 12th grades
- Personal Qualities: We’re looking for faculty who genuinely like spending time with adolescents outside the classroom, are excited about building a new school, ready for the startup experience, and passionate about a more holistic, humane approach to education. We believe learning is naturally fun and playful, and we try to live that way too. Our faculty are interested in co-designing curricula with students and seek to build relationships with students characterised by high trust and agency. We offer faculty significant creative autonomy so that you can bring your gifts into action.
- Teaching Philosophy & Curriculum: Our teaching style prioritises student voice and choice and is built on a project-based approach. This guide is expected to build on the existing curriculum framework by adding their ideas, designing lesson plans, or referencing preferred materials or textbooks, in collaboration with other members of the team. HIS is part of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, which applies a mastery learning approach to help each student build a rich portfolio of their work. HIS is accredited by the Japanese government and is well into the process of seeking WASC international accreditation.
- Advisory: Every faculty member is also an advisor, responsible for leading a group of 6-8 students over multiple years, meeting in brief daily check-ins during the school week, as well as one extended session per week. We see the advisor role as equally important to any academic teaching and provide training and support to enable faculty to hone this skill. At heart, we aim to make advisory a ‘safe and brave’ space to help students make sense of life, feel a strong sense of belonging, and hone their social and emotional skills.
- Residential Elements. As a boarding school, we also aim to create connections between academic and residential life and ask all faculty to support the residential program with rotating residential duties and support in our dormitories. This support is on the order of one weekday evening every two weeks, and two weekends per academic term (6 weekends a year).
Structure
- Compensation: Commensurate with experience.
- Benefits: Our benefits include a housing stipend, relocation stipend, annual home leave travel allowance, lunches on all academic days, a laptop, and many professional development opportunities (e.g., the Compassionate Systems Framework, Social-Emotional Learning, and others). All employees are also enrolled in the Japanese healthcare system, national pension system, and unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance.
- Safeguarding: HIS follows international standards for safe recruitment, meaning that we prioritise safeguarding and child protection in our hiring process. This includes multiple reference checks, a global background check, and a Staff Code of Conduct, which must be signed as a condition of employment, defining our safeguarding practices.
- Visas: We sponsor visas for candidates applying from outside of Japan, and our team hails from many countries around the world. Learn more here!
- Timing: The start date for this role is mid-August 2026. We offer a two-year contract for new faculty. Interviews for this opening will take place on a rolling basis, and we will make a hire as soon as the right candidate is identified. Our school year follows a September-through-June calendar (see 2026-27 academic calendar here).