Work at Do the North

Season

May–September (but not all crew members work the entire season).

Accommodation

Included in the job, you get your own room and share communal spaces.

Prerequisites

Certified kayaking guide
First Aid certification
Experience working as a guide
Drivers license, at least 5 years driving experience
Fluent in English

The position mainly consist of two parts—guiding multi-day adventures and instructing self-guided groups. Normally, but not always, you will alternate between one week on the water and one week on ”land”. Long guided trips are intense both socially and physically. We find this division fosters excitement for each trip, while it recharges the soul in between. Have a look at the driver/maintenance position also. You will have days, or parts of days, doing those tasks.

Guided 5-day Adventures

As you've probably gathered from the above, our guided trips are very guest-focused and leave lots of room for spontaneity, so we're not gonna ramble on more about that.

Some more practical tidbits however. We only do small groups, max 8 persons, with two guides. So you have a confidant and comrade with you! We find that works best both for the guests and for you. You'll begin the season as an assistant guide along one of our veterans. If groups are very small or the odd private group, there may only be one guide.

Read up more about our Guided 5-day Adventure. You may also be the assistant guide for niche trips like the Culinary Adventure, Flavours of the Archipelago or Photo Workshop by Kayak.

Instructor for Self-guided Groups

Self-guided adventures are a big part of what we do. They're similar to our guided trips, but with the obvious lack of a guide on the water. Our offer goes way beyond "just renting a kayak". It's a complete package including food ordering, transport, every single piece of gear needed, an extensive briefing, as well as support if the guests run into any problems during their adventure. We only do longer trips, anywhere from 4 to 12 days.

A normal day as a send-out instructor starts with a drive to Norrköping to pick up food orders and collect the guests. Then return to our launch. All the gear has already been packed and lined up at the launch next to the kayaks by other crew members. The briefing takes around 3 hours. You gotta give, often complete beginners, all the info and guidance they need to confidently head off into the wild on their own. It's a mouthful!

Of course we can't expect you to bond with the guests to the degree possible on a guided trip, but it's still super important to be engaging and find quicker ways to connect.

Season

May–September (but not all crew members work the entire season).

Accommodation

Included in the job, you get your own room and share communal spaces.

Prerequisites

Preferably experience working as a guide and
interacting with guests
First Aid certification
Experience working as a guide
Drivers license, at least 3 years driving experience
Fluent in English

Aspiring to become a guide but have no kayak certifications yet? We always send out two guides with a group, so it is possible to assist a more experienced and certified kayak guide on a guided tour. Maybe you’ve guided in a different field and wish to get a taste of what it would be like to be a kayak guide?

It's Not Set in Stone

What this position ends up being depends a lot on you. We need to feel confident that you will be able to assist the lead guide properly before sending you along for a trip. What does that entail then? It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint and goes both for work and your spare time. For example your eagerness and aptitude to learn, how you interact with the guests, and understanding the bigger picture of what we do. But also spending time kayaking during your down time, joining when some of the crew practices rescues or go on a trip for leisure, and your overall energy.

The Role of Assistant Guide

Being an assistant guide for us is a demanding position. You spend 5 days on the water with your group, almost always a new camp each day. It’s about facilitating all logistics involved in loading/unloading kayaks, setting up and taking down camp, cooking, and getting the guests involved in all tasks.

But most of all it’s about the guests as people – making sure the group bonds and has fun together, picking up subtle clues of how each group member is feeling and treating each participant as an individual. You also need to be very observant and figure out how you can best help the more experienced guide, so that you end up a well-oiled duo.

We’re all about working as a team, and all the other tasks involved in making our operation run are just as important as guiding. As an aspiring guide, you need to be prepared to spend a lot of your time driving guests and doing “behind-the-scenes” tasks. Check out the driver/maintenance position!

Season

May–September (but not all crew members work the entire season).

Accommodation

Included in the job, you get your own room and share communal spaces.

Prerequisites

Drivers license, at least 5 years driving experience
Fluent in English

This position mainly consists of two parts – driving guests, usually picking them up from their adventure, and maintenance of equipment. Every single person in the crew does some days, or parts of days, of this. If this is your sole position, you can expect around 70% on the roads and 30% on maintenance.

Driving guests

It’s very social, constantly meeting new people and spending a few hours with them. You’re normally picking up the guests from their adventure, at one or more of our four pick-up points, and driving them to Norrköping. Sometimes you may also pick up guests heading out on their adventure.

As a driver you’re the last face the guests see when they leave (and perhaps also the first). It’s vital that they feel warmth and enthusiasm from you, and that you inspire confidence behind the wheel.

Maintenance

What we somewhat glamorously call maintenance can be physically demanding and tedious, and the work needs to be both meticulous and efficient.

When you check out our reviews, almost each one mentions the high quality of our gear. A lot more time and effort go into achieving that than one might think, and it’s a super essential part of the trust we build with our guests. Sure, we use top-of-the-line equipment, but it’s all about making sure it’s pristine and in perfect working order for the next guests.

It’s fantastic if you have a mindset where you not only take pride in being methodical and getting faster and faster, but also feel joy in being a strong link in the chain. There is a cake of work to be done each day. The bigger the slice you do, the more you’re contributing to the team. And when everyone has that attitude, it all runs smoother, more stress-free and we all get to finish on time. And a relaxed crew makes for a lot more fun times all around, on and off work!

Maintenance tasks include

Loading and unloading kayaks and gear
Setting up the launch—lining up kayaks and all the gear
Sorting/hanging/assembling used gear
Checking and cleaning every single piece of equipment according to strict procedures
Repairs

Season

January–March

Accommodation

Included in the job, shared or private room and share communal spaces.

Prerequisites

Depending on your qualifications, you may require a certified mountain guide with you at all times and act as an assistant guide. If you have the adequate mountain guide certifications, you may eventually become the lead guide.
Drivers license, at least 5 years driving experience
Fluent in English
First Aid certification

This is a very demanding position. But also very rewarding. You get to play an integral role in our guests building critical skills, overcoming fears and share in their amazing feeling of accomplishment when the tour reaches its crescendo—a two night camping expedition on skis in alpine conditions. Our Winter Adventure in Northern Dalarna is about so much more than Nordic skiing. It’s about living a Nordic winter life style through and through.

As opposed to our kayaking tours where we have a big team, during the winter it’s just three of you—two guides and a cabin host. You work two weeks on, one week off, so there are of course more than two guides in rotation. Helena cooks most of the food remotely and aids with administrative stuff. But up there during the trip, it’s just the three of you. You gotta really be able to lean on each other.

Cabin Life

Our cabin is off-grid, which means no electricity and no running water. It's very cosy, with wood-fired heaters in each room and a proper kitchen that runs on gas. Water is collected in a stream nearby, and the "bath tub" is an ice hole and sauna combo. The cabin host is there to assist with keeping the fires going, collecting water and so on, but it's you as a guide who lead the guests through this new way of life.

Building Subzero Skills

Nordic skiing isn’t the tricky part for our guests. It’s learning all the tips and tricks to staying warm no matter if it’s during activity, leisure and sleep. Making camp in waist-deep snow. Cooking and drinking when everything freezes. And most of all, feeling excited about spending three whole days outside even if it happens to be very cold out. You’re there for them every step of the way, gradually building their skills and confidence over the week—sharing your knowledge, encouragement and love for a true adventure in wintertime. Check out the tour.

Join the Team

The front

The back

Available Positions

Apply Now!

Join the Team

The front

The back

Available Positions

Kayaking Guide / Instructor, Summer 2025

Aspiring Kayaking Guide, Summer 2025

Driver/Maintenance, Summer 2025

Nordic Skiing Guide, Winter 2025

Cabin Host, Winter 2025

Apply Now!