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Remote Backcountry Jobs in Colorado (NOW HIRING)

Remote Backcountry information

What are some common challenges faced by remote backcountry guides, and how can applicants prepare for them?

Remote Backcountry Guides often encounter challenges such as unpredictable weather, navigation in rugged terrain, and ensuring group safety far from immediate help. Applicants should be prepared to handle emergencies, adapt quickly to changing conditions, and maintain clear communication with both team members and clients. Building strong outdoor skills, obtaining relevant certifications (such as wilderness first aid), and gaining experience in similar environments can help candidates succeed and feel confident in this demanding role.

What is the difference between Remote Backcountry vs Remote Wilderness Guide?

AspectRemote BackcountryRemote Wilderness Guide
CredentialsFirst aid, outdoor skills certificationsFirst aid, outdoor skills, possibly guiding certifications
Work EnvironmentRemote, rugged outdoor areas, often isolatedRemote wilderness locations, guiding groups or individuals
Employer & IndustryOutdoor recreation companies, adventure tourismTour operators, adventure companies, conservation groups
Search & Comparison IntentYesYes

Remote Backcountry and Remote Wilderness Guide roles both involve working in remote outdoor environments, requiring outdoor skills and certifications. However, Remote Backcountry typically emphasizes self-sufficient outdoor work, while Remote Wilderness Guides focus on leading groups and ensuring safety. Both roles are common in outdoor recreation and adventure tourism industries, with overlapping skills but different primary responsibilities.

What is a remote backcountry?

A Remote Backcountry job typically refers to work performed in wilderness or remote outdoor areas, often far from urban infrastructure. These jobs can include roles such as wilderness guides, park rangers, or field researchers, where employees spend extended periods in natural environments. Duties often involve outdoor survival skills, navigation, environmental monitoring, and ensuring safety in challenging conditions. Remote Backcountry jobs usually require physical fitness, adaptability, and a passion for nature and conservation.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a remote backcountry guide, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Remote Backcountry Guide, you need expertise in outdoor survival, navigation, first aid, and risk assessment, typically supported by certifications such as Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or Leave No Trace (LNT). Familiarity with GPS devices, satellite communication tools, and mapping software is often required for safe and effective guidance in remote areas. Exceptional leadership, problem-solving skills, and clear communication help guides manage group dynamics and respond to emergencies. These skills and qualities are crucial for ensuring both client safety and memorable outdoor experiences in unpredictable wilderness environments.
What are the most commonly searched types of Backcountry jobs in Colorado? The most popular types of Backcountry jobs in Colorado are:
What are popular job titles related to Remote Backcountry jobs in Colorado? For Remote Backcountry jobs in Colorado, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What cities in Colorado are hiring for Remote Backcountry jobs? Cities in Colorado with the most Remote Backcountry job openings:
Infographic showing various Remote Backcountry job openings in Colorado as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 74% Full Time, 13% Part Time, and 13% Temporary. Highlights an 100% Remote job distribution.

Director of Therapeutic Care and Formation (part time/remote)

Seeds Wilderness Therapy

Montrose, CO • On-site, Remote

Part-time

Re-posted 6 days ago


Job description

Applicant Letter (job description below)
Cover letter with more information will be sent upon receipt of application or upon request by emailing heather.m@seedswildernessway.org.
Director of Therapeutic Care and Formation
Seeds Wilderness Way (formerly Seeds Wilderness Therapy)
The Invitation
Seeds Wilderness Way is seeking a spiritually mature and clinically experienced leader to guide transformation and restoration in the lives of teens, families, and ministry leaders. This is not a standard clinical role. We are looking for a partner who bridges professional therapeutic excellence with deep, Spirit-led ministry-someone who longs to advance the Kingdom of God rather than secular modalities.
Our ideal candidate is a Clinical Shepherd who brings high-level training under the submission of the Holy Spirit, shaping both the spiritual and clinical culture of Seeds.
About Seeds Wilderness Way
Seeds Wilderness Way uses wilderness expeditions and community-based discipleship to accelerate spiritual formation and healing. We seek to serve a diverse population-at-risk youth, parents, community leaders, youth pastors, missionaries, and families in crisis. While our flagship offering is a 40-day backcountry expedition for teens, our ministry extends far beyond that single program to include:
  • 40-Day Wilderness Expeditions for teens (Retreat-Restore-Revive model)
  • Parenting Workshops at diverse or home locations across the country
  • Parent and Family Intensives, a 4 day seminar for repair/prevention of deeper issues
  • Spiritual Development for Ministry Workers and Missionaries
  • 3 Year Aftercare Follow-Up Programs, helping build transformational relationships for long term restoration
  • Community-Based Discipleship & Church Partnerships

The ideal candidate will seek to advance the Kingdom of God, utilizing secular therapy models to increase understanding and treatment under the Lordship of Christ. Many of our clientele are coming in with previous diagnoses, complex traumas, and/or mental health disorders. Therefore, we honor clinical understanding, but we prioritize Kingdom approaches-prayer, scripture, spiritual disciplines, and identity formation in Jesus-over the standard "assess-diagnose-treat" model.
The Role
You will serve as a key restoration leader shaping both the spiritual and clinical DNA of Seeds. The role is primarily remote, with strategic travel to Colorado for field engagement, leadership meetings, and relational connection with staff and students.
You will operate at the intersection of:
  • Spiritual authority
  • Clinical oversight
  • Organizational leadership
  • Regulatory compliance

You will report directly to the Executive Director and work closely with the Field Director, primary therapists, and pastoral staff.
The Ideal Candidate: Spiritual DNA
  • Deep intimacy with Jesus and a life led by the Holy Spirit.
  • Believes experiential learning in the wilderness is a more powerful teacher than traditional talk therapy.
  • Alignment with the principles of Soul Care (Reimer), Breakthrough (Warner), and/or Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You (Wilder).
  • Recognizes the relational roles that biological family, adoptive family (legal or spiritual adoption), the Church, and the community play in transformation.
  • Ability to hear from God and lead with spiritual authority.
  • Adheres to Elder standards as described in 1 Timothy and Titus and as understood in the Life Model stages of maturity.

Key Responsibilities
-Spiritual & Strategic Leadership
  • Lead subordinates with spiritual authority, prayer, discernment, and a Kingdom mindset.
  • Shape the spiritual and clinical culture of the organization.
  • Participate in leadership strategy sessions, planning, and decision-making.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the board's leadership and the organization's other leaders, engaging with them in a posture of mutual relational submission.

-Admissions & Client Vetting
  • Oversee the admissions pipeline, evaluating clinical fit and making acceptance or referral decisions.

-Program Development & Field Engagement
  • Develop and implement curriculum for students, parents, and ministry leaders. This may also include contribution to the staff manual and training materials.
  • Support and/or supervise on site therapists. On site therapists will in turn disciple and shepherd students in the field and/or mom and dad at home.
  • Lead or contribute to clinical meetings, in-service trainings, webinars, and situational teaching engagements.
  • Support communication with parents through partnership with the parent coordinator.
  • Be onsite in Colorado for strategic trips to facilitate ministry or leadership engagements. This may include a mid-course parent week, training, or graduation ceremony. Additional conferences or key strategic events can be discussed

-Oversight & Compliance: Spiritual & Clinical
  • Review and approve all treatment plans, ensuring discipleship objectives, SMART goals and state licensing requirements are met.
  • Ensure Seeds adheres to evidence-based therapeutic practices while integrating Christ-centered ministry.
  • Maintain documentation compliance with Colorado DHS childcare facility regulations.
  • Monitor progress using tools such as YOQ and other outcome measures.
  • Oversee the professional development of the staff, both from a spiritual shepherding and clinical perspective.

Professional Qualifications
  • Master's-level training (LMFT, LPC, LCSW, or equivalent seminary counseling degree).
  • Licensed or license-eligible in Colorado (required).
  • Ability to supervise LPC or LMFT is preferred.
  • 3-5 years of clinical experience preferred.
  • Experience with trauma, addiction, identity work, and complex family systems.
  • Meets and maintains biblical elder standards.
  • Loves the wilderness and understands its transformative power.

Work Expectations
  • Minimum of 10 hours/week for part-time;
  • Weekly video meetings, including:
    • 1:1 with the Executive Director
    • Level 10 leadership meetings
    • Weekly clinical meetings (with additional supervision hours potentially to follow).
  • Flexibility for webinars, trainings, and occasional travel.
  • Keep up with emails, phone calls, and/or other professional correspondence (i.e. admissions updates).
  • Primarily remote with strategic trips to Colorado for relational and programmatic impact.

Why Join Seeds Wilderness Way?
  • Impact: Move beyond symptom management into true identity restoration in Jesus.
  • Community: Join a team that values prayer, discipleship, and the presence of God as the primary change agent.
  • Calling: Step into a role that blends clinical excellence with Spirit-led ministry.
  • Flexibility: Work remotely while staying deeply connected to wilderness transformation.

How to Apply
Please submit your
1.) Resume/CV
2.) A short cover letter outlining:
  • Your spiritual journey
  • Your experience with wilderness and/or how Creation has lead you to the Creator
  • Your clinical /spiritual formation experience

3.) A 3-5 page paper on your philosophy of ministry, and why you think wilderness retreat might enhance this.