IOF Commissions – Call for Volunteers

The International Orienteering Federation relies on voluntary work by passionate orienteers all around the world. Everyone from the IOF Council to Commission Members and Event Advisers offer their time and expertise on a voluntary basis. The IOF is now looking to strengthen its commissions with new members and volunteers.

In accordance with the IOF Strategic Directions to improve diversity and representation in the whole organisation, great importance will be placed on diversity of gender, age and regional representation when evaluating applications.

As we improve our proficiency in digital working practices, the opportunity for global participation in IOF Commissions has greatly improved. We would really like to see applicants from Member Federations that in the past may have hesitated in nominating candidates for IOF Commissions due to travel costs for meetings, since they may now participate with greater ease through digital tools.

The IOF Council recently updated the limit of commission members from the same Member Federation to two, instead of the previous single candidate, so even if your commission of choice already has a member from your federation, please still apply.

General requirements for Commission Members:

  • To be able to communicate in English, both orally and in written form
  • To attend and actively contribute to up to four online meetings during a year
  • To work on assigned tasks and projects between the meetings
  • To respond to commission related emails within 7 days
  • To work on behalf of the IOF and all its members, without national interests

What we offer:

  • The experience of working in an international team of enthusiastic and engaged volunteers
  • A unique opportunity to exchange experiences and learn new things
  • The enjoyment and satisfaction of contributing to the development of orienteering worldwide

More information about working in the IOF can be found here.

Requirements per commission:

Map Commission (looking for 2-3 new members)

The Map Commission is looking for members who are professional cartographers, preferably from the Americas. However applicants from other continents may apply too.

Rules Commission (looking for 1-2 new members)

Essential

  • Substantial experience of orienteering as a competitor
  • An interest in the Rules of Orienteering and an understanding of their importance
  • A reasonably good English reader, writer and speaker
  • A good communicator
  • An independent thinker

Desirable

  • An IOF Event Adviser
  • Experience of orienteering in several different countries
  • Experience of competing and/or organising/controlling IOF competitions (WREs and above)
  • Experience of the IT used in orienteering including using and managing the use of electronic punching
  • Experience and knowledge of more than one of the IOF disciplines (FootO, SkiO, MTBO, TrailO)
  • Experience of jury work at major competitions
  • A very good user of English

SkiO Commission (looking for 1-2 new members)

Desirable characteristics for a potential SkiO Commission Member:

  • A person who has a good network in ski orienteering community
  • Good leadership skills
  • Experience of ski orienteering in several different countries
  • Experience of competing and/or organising/controlling IOF competitions (WREs and above)
  • Experience of jury work at major competitions
  • A very good user of English orally and written

Global Development Commission (looking for volunteers for Working Groups)

The IOF’s the Global Development Commission (GDC) plans to set up a web portal with material and courses. We are therefore continuously looking for volunteers interested to contribute to one or more of the following tasks: gathering of resources, translation, layout and graphic design, video production, and the Recreational Orienteering Working Group.

Read more about each task here.

Environment and Sustainability (looking for 2-3 new members)

For the moment, we have identified these profiles/competences that would be particularly useful:

  • Law (in order to support the ESC on legal aspects of access rights)
  • Certification/Quality systems (ISO 14001, ISO 20121)
  • Carbon management and assessment
  • Environmental Chemistry (to deal with pollution and materials)

How to apply:

Please send an email to iof@orienteering.sport, and include the following information about yourself:

  • Name
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Member Federation
  • Your orienteering background
  • What personal and/or professional strengths and interests do you have that are relevant for the positions described above?

The deadline for submitting applications is 31 December 2020.

Please note: applications must be endorsed by your National Federation.

We look forward to receiving your application!