13 Job Boards for Environmental and Outdoor Roles
Most people like nature in some way, from enjoying the smell of mountain air to sticking your toes in the sand at the beach. But some people really like nature and want to be outside as often as possible. I don’t understand it, because that’s where the bugs are, and it gets real sweaty out there, but I do respect it.
Thus, we present to you: outdoor jobs!
Open up your handy dandy job board database and organize it by industry. Scroll to the section labeled Environmental/Outdoors to find all of the job boards that have jobs listed in this industry. Some of them have just a couple environmental or outdoor jobs, while others are focused specifically on these types of jobs.
Do you want to work for nature, or in nature?
Something to clarify for yourself before you go searching is the level of “outdoors” you want in your job. Would you be happy in an office setting if the work you did contributed to sustainability or outdoor activities, or do you want to be out there in the field yourself? When you’re thinking back over your past experiences to determine your likes and dislikes, pay attention to this question in particular.
If you loved being a summer camp counselor, break it down—was it being an educator and leader for middle schoolers you loved? Working with LGBTQ+ youth? Or was it leading the hikes and teaching about foraging? Get as specific as possible so you know what kinds of jobs will truly light you up.
Job boards to work in the outdoors
So far, we only have two job boards focusing primarily on outdoor jobs (but if you know of any more, let us know so we can add them).
First up is CoolWorks, a job board featuring “job opportunities in great places — from national parks to ski resorts, dude ranches to summer camps, and everything in between.” The CoolWorks job board can be organized by job type, so you can really dial in your search for the exact kind of opportunity you’re looking for.
You can also sort opportunities by state or season, and CoolWorks has a list just for National Parks and another for “Cool Places,” featuring regional opportunities you may not have considered yet.
Another outdoor-focused job board is Queer Outdoors, a project run by environmentalist drag queen Pattie Gonia. On this board, you can search by type of employment (full-time, part-time, contract, etc.), location (country and state), and specialty or area of focus.
Job boards to work for the outdoors
Slightly less outdoorsy but no less committed to the environment, we’ve also got some job boards that are focused on jobs in the sustainability industry.
The Green Jobs Board “is the most transparent and accessible career platform on the market. Our vision is to build the standard for an equitable and sustainable future together.” You can sort opportunities on this board by Pathways (the career path that brings you here—such as policy, conservation, etc.), position type, remote/onsite, and experience level.
The pathways are particularly well-organized, with each pathway category denoted by a small, intuitive icon. A lightning bolt for energy jobs, a book for education jobs, a beaker for research, a trash can for waste management, etc.
Additionally, the North American Association for Environmental Education (or NAAEE for short) has a job board for all roles related to environmental education across schools, nonprofits, parks departments, and museums. Some of the roles are temporary or volunteer, but there are several full-time jobs posted as well.
Job boards that search by cause
Nonprofit and advocacy-focused job boards usually have the ability to search by cause or topic, so we’re including these searches in the list too, since it’s easy to sort them to show environmental, climate, and sustainability jobs.
National Association of Asian American Professionals has a detailed list of industry opportunities, including Biological Diversity, Biotechnology and Life Science, and more.
Ability Jobs is a board with a similar setup to NAAAP above. You can filter by industry including Energy, Environmental, and Non-Profit.
Black Remote She has a “Related Causes” dropdown menu with Ecology, Environmental/Climate Justice, Land Conservation, Land Justice, Marine Science, Sustainability, and Waste Reduction.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy can be sorted by field, including Advocacy, Animal Protection, and Environment.
Exec Searches is specifically for executive-level roles with nonprofits. You can search under their “Not-for-profit Job Sector” dropdown and select Climate/Environmental Jobs, Conservation and Sustainability jobs, and many other categories.
Foundation List is another nonprofit job site with a filter for Job Category, which includes Conservation and Environmental/Sustainability,
Idealist is a popular nonprofit job search site, with an option to filter by Cause Areas, including Agriculture, Animals, Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, and Water & Sanitation. You can further filter by Job Function to specify if you’re looking for an administrative role, communications role, or other function.
The Impact Job can be sorted to show only roles that deal with Climate, which can be further filtered by job type, location, and date posted.
Tech Jobs for Good has a sort by “Impact Area” dropdown with options like Clean Energy, Climate Change, and Environment.
Get out there!
As you get out there and apply for these jobs in the great outdoors, keep us posted on your success! We want to hear from our readers and clients about the job boards in our database so we have real experiences to back up our suggestions.
Are you the outdoorsy type? Would you want to work outdoors or just admire it from inside an air conditioned office?
PS. If you need help developing a sustainable search strategy, consider our Pocket Plan! You’ll get ongoing access to one of our career coaches to message whenever you have questions, and we’ll get back to you at least twice a week.
