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.

Serves as the firefighting element at sanctioned burns, remediates unintentional fires, and assists with life safety emergencies.

Who we’re looking for:

• Folks with a passion for safety

• Folks with professional experience assisting in crisis situations (firefighters, EMT/paramedics, emergency management, etc)

Fire Safety Specific Responsibilities:

(Along with a co-Lead)

• Schedule and facilitate two team training pre-event, and 2-3 trainings during the event

• Present the fire safety related course at SOAK Safety Day

• Participate in the Fire Art Safety Team (FAST) meetings

• Set up the Fire Safety HQ on-site

• Coordinate Burn Night Safety Teams meetings on-site

• Supervise the setup of the hose system to the upper bowl

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: Varies, shared on-call schedule
  

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

• Must have attended SOAK, and volunteered at SOAK, a regional burn, or Burning Man previously

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.

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.

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.

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.