Ambassadors welcome participants, manage event information at the “Embassy,” and handle lost and found during and after the event. Positive energy and a friendly demeanor are key.

Who we’re looking for:

• People who are passionate about the culture of burning man and SOAK who want to help new participants be passionate too!

• Organized and knowledgeable about SOAK with a willingness to help spread this knowledge to the Ambassador team and participants.

Ambassadors Specific Responsibilities:

• Organize and support Moop and Found including onsite and after event.

• Plan and execute safe procedures for having Greeters interact with participants

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 4-8 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

The Census Team collects participant data onsite to improve future events. Volunteers engage with arriving guests, requiring patience and attention to detail. Shifts start early and may include post-event data entry.

Who we’re looking for:

• People who have a passion to understand SOAK from the view of who the participants are and what they need.

Census Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with production to help inform decisions that need data about the event

• Work with Gate to allow for accurate sampling 

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 4-8 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

DPW manages site infrastructure and asset transportation, involving physical labor, like lifting and building. Volunteers must be hard-working and comfortable working long hours. Shifts include setup, strike, and transport tasks both pre- and post-event.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks who enjoy seeing their work manifesting as real things with a passion for building, lifting, and enabling other departments!

• Folks joining one of the largest department teams have a real impact on all aspects of SOAK making you one of the real rock stars!

• A current or former SOAK DPW volunteer who loves being the first boots on the ground, helping the event take shape from nothing, and returning the site to its natural beauty. 

DPW Specific Responsibilities:

• Coordinate with other departments to ensure needed items are transported to and from the SOAK event site

•  Discuss and help to create structures and signs for various SOAK departments.

• Coordinate and understand where and how items are stored at the PNW Burner Barn working with the Barn manager

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Help lead pre-event weekend work parties (x3-4) and truck load/unload at the Burner Barn

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 6-10 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day (pre/post-event), 0-8 hours/day (during event)

• Able to be on-site through build, event, and strike periods: May 18th-26th morning

Additional Requirements:

• Current or former SOAK DPW volunteer

• Must be local to Portland or the immediate surrounding areas

• Must have a current driver’s license (by mid-May)

• (If you think you have a strong case, despite not meeting one of the above requirements, feel free to reach out!)

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Traffic & Exodus facilitates traffic flow in and out of the event site and coordinates our exodus from the event on Monday.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks who like to organize and have a passion for keeping our event safe!

Traffic/Exodus Specific Responsibilities:

• With production, develop a plan for signage and traffic flow to increase event safety and help participants know where to go while driving

• Interface with Parking to ensure there is signage that changes based on where cars are parking during the different days of the event.

• Document processes and detailed maps of signs for future events.

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 3-7 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Gate staffs the event entrance and perimeter, manages wristbands, scans tickets, and performs vehicle searches.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks who have worked in Gate at SOAK, other regional burns, and/or Burningman.

• People with a passion for their teams and the desire to help their teams understand the role and excel.

Gate Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with the SOAK Production team to ensure participants are properly ticketed, searched, and have waivers signed

• Identify sustainable practices for keeping fellow leads and volunteers energized and excited for their roles

• Document Gate practices and report to production on successes and suggestions for improvement

• Ensure that all practices have safety as a core goal

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 4-8 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

If you have a passion for keeping our world sustainable and unspoiled, Being a Lead for the Leave No Trace (LNT) Department is a great fit for you.  LNT ensures the SOAK site is fully restored back to how we found it, or better. Your efforts pre-event to arrange for volunteers and your dedication on site are critical to keeping our event site healthy and clean.

Who we’re looking for:

• Passionate about sustainability and leave no trace with a desire to share your passion with others including volunteers, leads, and participants.

LNT Specific Responsibilities:

• Coordinate with MBS department to ensure proper restoration of burn sites

• Educate/communicate LNT ethos with team, camps, & attendees

• Lead the post-event LNT sweep of property

• Track MOOP distribution in relation to theme camps & communication with Placement team

• Coordinate post-event Monday night volunteer dinner

• Coordinate removal of MOOP, lost & found belongings back to the Burner Barn

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• January-May: attend soak meetings, hire, train, and schedule volunteers.

• On-Site: Attend daily Leads meetings. Most of the active work will happen Monday (last day of event) & Tuesday (post event).

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

The Media Dept is responsible for content production for the SOAK digital ecosystem. Volunteers write copy for newsletters, capture, coordinate, and curate photography, and raise the level of polish of both internal and external facing collateral by making informed choices about layout and design.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks who have education and/or experience in graphic design, content strategy, photography, or related domains.

• Folks who have worked in branding, visual/content marketing, front end web development, or a related field.

Media Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with the SOAK Production team to ensure routine distribution of SOAK newsletter with time-sensitive information

• Coordinate onsite photography during in-person meetings, trainings, and at the event itself

• Make routine updates to SOAKpdx.com and maintaining a change log and interdepartmental lines of communication to keep everyone in-the-know

• Create or coordinate graphic design and production as needed to support other departments

• Copy editing

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 4-10 hours/week

• On-site: 1-3 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Graphic design software 

• Familiarity with Squarespace or other visual builders

• Knowledge of file management and basic information architecture

• Experience working with interdisciplinary groups and producing collateral based on statements of work and/or acceptance criteria ahead of a deadline

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Parks & Wrecks designs, maintains, and staffs the parking fields creating order for all the nonessential vehicles at SOAK. We do this while maintaining compliance with local and federal regulations regarding safe laneways for emergency vehicles.

Who we’re looking for:

• People who enjoy putting things into an orderly arrangement.

• People who are up to the task of figuring out how to maximize the limited space we have for parking and executing a detailed plan for the benefit of all attendees.

Parks & Wreck Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with the SOAK Production team to ensure adequate parking spaces are available. 

• Review of maps and other materials to identify locations, plan for handling cars, and test different layouts to achieve maximum possible capacity.

• Coordination with Traffic and Exodus to ensure participants can find where they are supposed to park and later retrieve their car with a minimum of concern.

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 5-10 hours/week

• On-site: 4-6 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Pathlighters design, place and maintain consistent lighting along pathways and roadways for event goers to traverse the property safely.

Who we’re looking for:

• People with experience and a passion for electronics and creating art and safety through light

Pathlighters Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with the SOAK Production team to ensure safety lighting is in place and meets the needs of the event

• Coordinate with Placement to create lighting to enhance SOAK zones, art, and other points of interest

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 8-10 hours/week

• On-site: 1-3 hours/day

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Placement assists with camp coordination and site layout. Volunteers work onsite early, helping with flagging and guiding participants. Map-reading and public engagement skills are required.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks have a passion for mapping and making the neighborhoods in our event lively and wondrous.

• Individuals who want to help theme camps understand our event and be the life blood of the event.

• Collaborators who work with all departments, artists, theme camps, and production to make a safe and amazing event by putting the right things in the right places!

Placement Specific Responsibilities:

• Revise and update the Camp and Art Placement Applications form each year with the other Placement Leads to capture all needed information between the Art Application form and the Camp Placement Application form.

• Help create policies, criteria, and general communication to the camps and artists.

• Read and review all Placement Applications for mapping and standing considerations.

• Work with operations and other department leads to help facilitate where things go and safety considerations.

• Respond to emails from camps, artists, and other Soak departments. 

• Allocate resources to Camps and Artists like tickets and early entry passes

• Participate in Mapping the event with other Placement Leads during one full weekend.

• Be available and “on comms” from Monday to Friday of event week to troubleshoot with camps and other department leads.

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• December-January: 5-10 hours a week

• February-May: 10-15 hours a week

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Rangers are experienced members of the community who volunteer to help other participants. They roam the event in pairs, providing information, helping resolve disputes, and connecting people to resources.

Who we’re looking for:

• Individuals who are experienced Rangers from SOAK, Burningman, or other regional events.

• Folks with a passion for safety and helping participants to understand their role in mediating concerns at SOAK

• Rangers with a passion to coordinate and document their processes at SOAK

Ranger Specific Responsibilities:

• Schedule and attend/facilitate 3 Ranger trainings pre-event

• Responsible for the recruitment, training, scheduling, and supervision of all new, returning, and visiting Rangers to SOAK

• Responsible for building the framework of on-site Ranger HQ both logistically and physically

• Acting as a point of escalation for any issues that need to be escalated

• Act as the ultimate ‘on-point’ Rangers when our shift-leads feel they need to kick it sideways

• Work closely with other department SOAK Leads, participants needing extra support

• Responsible for improving processes and documentation at Ranger HQ

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 8-10 hours/week

• On-site: 4-8 hours/day (some days)

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

The Swag & Design team design and source printed materials and swag for SOAK leadership, volunteers, and participants. This includes the What Where When guide, maps, stickers, volunteer and department shirts, patches, and more! Leads on this team are passionate about bringing our principals to life through physical gifts and memorabilia, creative artwork, and critical operational prints.

Who we’re looking for:

• This year we are looking to fill a coordinator (admin) role; all lead design roles are currently filled. If you would like to help with designing for SOAK 2026, please apply to create this year’s theme art via the form emailed in the news letter.

Swag & Design Specific Responsibilities:

• Collecting and managing print and design orders for the event and related departments

• Research and source physical swag and printed items

• Organize volunteer shifts counting inventory and labeling boxes

• Manage receiving packages and delivery to the barn

• Highly organized and attentive to detail

• Good at solving complex problems and keeping track of many moving parts

• Experience with Google Suite (docs, drive, sheets, forms)

• Experience with Asana (or willing to learn)

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - May: 10-20 hours/week

• On-site: ~2-4 hours/day (set up is heavier, then lighter daily late morning meetings)

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

Temple Crew builds and assembles the SOAK Temple, requiring physical labor and pre-event build attendance. Volunteers must commit to several build days to be a member of this team.

Who we’re looking for:

• Someone who wants to work in concert with the two returning leads to foster a collaborative design process among a team of artist volunteers to bring to life a sacred space of reflection, contemplation, and release for the SOAK community.

Temple Specific Responsibilities:

• Work with fellow leads and team members to create the Temple for SOAK*2026

• Manage department logistics and interpersonal facilitation of the project including artist communications

• Document Temple volunteer responsibilities and help align with volunteer hour entry using our volunteer tracking webpage

• Design cycle begins late in December and build starts the last week in February.The job continues through onsite construction (leads should plan to arrive no later than Tuesday noon before the event), and ends when the structure has burned and things are closed up for the season. 

• Ability to take on one or more of the following Core responsibilities: Design Lead - CAD or Similar, Project Engineer/Construction Expert, Construction/Build Lead, Lighting Lead, Transport Lead, Swag Coordinator, Fluffing Lead, Temple Support Camp Mayor

Lead Responsibilities:

• Attend SOAK meetings, manage emails & communications

• Establish department budget

• Recruit, manage, and track hours for department volunteers

• Write the After Burn Report for your department

Time Expectations:

• Dec - June: 10 hrs a week

• On Site: Arrival by noon Tuesday, 10 hrs/day T-Th, 1-3 hrs per day event days

• Post Event: Build Site Clean Up, potential burn plan B coordination

Additional Requirements:

• Must be in good standing with PNW and have not been dismissed or disqualified from volunteer service at a past Regional Event or Burning Man.

• Candidates must have experience volunteering with the temple department. 

• Previous experience with burnable structures, community spaces, and community focused art are a plus.