Lifeguard

Job Details: Job Location: Whatcom Family YMCA - Bellingham, WA, Salary Range: $19.70 - $20.50Hourly, Love the water? Want a job where staying alert, helping people, and making your community safer actually matters?

Join the Whatcom Family YMCA Aquatics Team as a Lifeguard!

As a YMCA Lifeguard, you’re more than the person in the chair with the whistle. You’re a safety champion, a friendly face, a role model, and an important part of creating a pool environment where everyone feels safe, welcome, and included.

Whether you're building your first résumé, looking for meaningful part-time work, or hoping to grow your skills in aquatics, the Y is a great place to start.

What You’ll Do

Your #1 responsibility is simple: keep people safe. You'll also help make our pool a clean, welcoming, and positive place for everyone who walks through the doors.

You’ll:

Stay alert and ready to recognize and respond to potential emergencies.
Prevent accidents and perform rescues when needed by following YMCA safety procedures and enforcing pool rules.
Create a welcoming experience by providing friendly, positive customer service to members and guests.
Help keep our water safe by taking and accurately recording pool chemical readings.
Keep things looking great by helping maintain a clean pool, deck, and surrounding area.
Complete required safety logs, reports, and other paperwork accurately.
Help members and guests understand pool rules through clear, respectful communication.
Be a dependable teammate by arriving on time and following YMCA procedures when arranging shift coverage.
Know and follow emergency procedures and remain rescue-ready with the appropriate equipment.
Attend staff meetings and in-service trainings and maintain required certifications.
Represent the YMCA's mission, programs, and core values in everything you do.

Why Work at the Y?

Because this isn't just about watching a pool.

At the Y, you'll have opportunities to build confidence, strengthen your communication and leadership skills, work with a supportive team, and make a real difference in your community.

Every shift is a chance to help someone feel safer, more confident, and more connected.

Everyone Belongs at the Y

At the YMCA, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We are committed to creating an environment where people of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and identities, abilities, ages, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, and other identities feel welcome and valued.

Our work focuses on removing barriers to access, reducing disparities in health, supporting education and working families, and helping develop the next generation of community changemakers.

Ready to Dive In?

If you're dependable, safety-minded, enjoy working with people, and want a job that has a positive impact, we'd love to have you on our team.

Bring your skills. Bring your energy. Bring your whistle.

Come help us make the Whatcom Family YMCA a safe and welcoming place for everyone.
Qualifications: Minimum Requirements:

Must be at least 18 years old.
Certifications: Basic life support or professional rescuer CPR/AED, first aid, and emergency oxygen administration
Current YMCA Lifeguard or equivalent
Child abuse prevention training within 30 days of hire date
Ability to maintain certification-level physical and mental readiness
Must demonstrate lifeguard skills in accordance with YMCA standard

Recommended Qualities: Alert, motivated, responsible, able to provide positive customer service, and able to work with different populations

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physically perform all skills required of a lifeguard.
Hear noises and distress signals in the aquatic environment, including in the water and anywhere around the zone of responsibility.
Remain alert with no lapses of consciousness.
See and observe all sections of an assigned zone or area of responsibility.