Are you an experienced outdoor professional who lives for the sea, the coast, and the kind of days that leave people buzzing long after they’ve dried off? Do you want a role where your office is the Jurassic Coast? We’re looking for a Lead Instructor to join the Land & Wave team on a permanent basis and play a key role in delivering quality adventure experiences.
As an activities manager, you will be at the forefront of creating unforgettable experiences for our customers. The role of activities manager is crucial in shaping their adventures.
About Land & Wave
We’ve been running adventures on the Dorset coast since 2009. From coasteering along the limestone cliffs of the Jurassic Coast to paddling out across Studland Bay, we get people of all ages and backgrounds into the outdoors. We love what we do. Schools, stag and hen groups, DofE expeditions, holiday clubs, corporate teams – there’s loads of variety day-to-day, week-to-week. We’re a tight-knit crew of outdoorsy people who genuinely love what we do, and we work hard to make sure the people who work here do too. We’re not a faceless organisation. Everyone here knows everyone and we aim to make it feel like home. If something isn’t working, we talk about it. If someone’s doing great work, we shout about it. We’d love to welcome you into the fold.
The Role: Activities Manager
Job Title: Activities Manager Contract Type: Permanent Salary: £27,000 – £31,000 DOE Start Date: 1 May 2026 Location: Swanage, Dorset (and various coastal sites across Purbeck) This isn’t just an instructing role. As an Activity Manager you’ll be taking ownership of sessions, supporting less experienced staff, and helping us deliver consistently brilliant experiences for our clients. You’ll be out on the water and the coastline doing what you love, but you’ll also be a key figure in how we run things day to day. You’ll be leading activities including coasteering, sea kayaking, bushcraft and climbing sessions, as well as supporting residential programmes for schools and DofE groups. Some days you’ll be wrangling a group of excited Year 6’s on their first coasteering experience. Others you might be leading a sea kayak journey along one of the most stunning stretches of coastline in England. Most days, it’ll be a bit of both – and that’s exactly how we like it.
Your passion as an activities manager will shine through in every session. As an activities manager, you will set performance targets for your team to hit.
What We’re Looking For
Essential Qualifications
To be considered for this role, you’ll need to hold all of the following:
- Outdoor First Aid Level 3
- D1 Minibus Licence
- RLSS NVBLQ (National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification)
- National Coasteering Charter Guide Award
- Enhanced DBS
- Paddlesport Leader
- Sea Kayak Leader
- Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI)
Desirable Qualifications
These aren’t essential, but they’ll definitely make your application stand out:
- Lowland Leader — useful for our hiking and DofE walking programmes
- DofE Assessor — we run a lot of DofE residentials and assessor experience is genuinely valuable
Beyond the quals, we’re looking for someone who communicates clearly with groups of all ages, can lead by example on and off the water, and brings the kind of positive energy that makes a long day on the coast feel easy. You need to be someone who takes safety seriously without numbing the fun. Experience working with young people, school groups, or DofE expeditions is a real plus.
Why Work for Land & Wave?
The location. Swanage and the Purbeck coast is genuinely one of the most spectacular places in the UK to be an outdoor instructor. Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site on your doorstep. Stunning sea caves, limestone ledges, sheltered bays, and open water – it’s an instructor’s playground.
The variety. No two weeks look the same here. Between school residentials, DofE programmes, stag and hen adventures, holiday clubs, and instructor training, you’ll be across a huge range of activity types and client groups. That keeps things interesting and it means your skills stay sharp. You’ll get to hone your coaching skills in the winter on our Outdoor Instructor Training programme. The team. We’re a small company with a big heart. The crew here are a genuinely good bunch; experienced, passionate, and quick to laugh. You’ll be well supported, especially in those first weeks as you get to grips with how we do things.
The progression. This is an Activity Manager role, which comes with real responsibility and room to grow. We invest £500 a year in every one of our full time staff to help them develop in their training and skills. The perks. Alongside your salary, you’ll benefit from use of kit and equipment, access to continued professional development, and the knowledge that you’re going home every evening having genuinely made people’s days better. We work hard to be a good employer. That means fair pay, honest communication, and treating people like the professionals they are.
How to Apply
To apply for the Lead Instructor position, please send your CV and a short covering letter to [email protected] with the subject line “Lead Instructor Application – [Your Name]”. In your covering letter, tell us a bit about yourself, the qualifications you hold, and why you want to be part of the Land & Wave crew. We don’t want a generic template – just be honest about who you are and what you’re looking for. Applications close when we find the right person, so don’t hang about. If you’ve got questions before applying, feel free to give us a call on 01929 423 031 – we’re happy to have a chat. We look forward to hearing from you.
Land & Wave is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All successful applicants will be required to hold or obtain an enhanced DBS check prior to starting work.
