The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is recruiting people for a team that will live and work in Antarctica.
The “opportunity like no other” will see the team stripped of Wi-Fi and running water but they will tackling jobs like a daily penguin count.
UKAHT has launched its latest five-month opening for some of the most remote jobs in the world at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, Antarctica, located around 9,000 miles from the UK.
The charity is looking for new recruits to look after the premises at the outpost which will be marking its 80th anniversary this year and is home to the world’s most southern Post Office.
What jobs are available?
Caring for the flagship site, running the Post Office and gift shop, maintaining artefacts at the museum at Bransfield House, and conducting daily counts to protect the colony of gentoo penguins will all be tasks the team is responsible for.
If you have a keen sense of adventure and a love for Antarctica, you could be suited the role.
New recruits will also need to be resilient, physically fit and environmentally aware.
There are five jobs available including base leader, postmaster and wildlife monitor.
Following a period of heavy snow, the charity is also looking for two conservation carpenters to restore parts of Bransfield House.
UKAHT chief executive Camilla Nichol said the positions are “incredibly popular” and attracted a record number of applicants last year.
Nichol said: “We are excited to offer an opportunity like no other, living in a landscape that makes you feel pure awe and wonder and working at Port Lockroy – the birthplace of the British Antarctic Survey – where pioneering generations have gone before us making groundbreaking discoveries about our world.
“Last year we received a record number of applications for just four roles based on Goudier Island, so these positions are incredibly popular.
“This is also a really exciting season to be working at Port Lockroy as we will be celebrating its 80th anniversary.
“In 1944, Operation Tabarin – a secret Second World War mission – established Port Lockroy as the first British base in Antarctica and marked the start of British scientific research on the continent.
“Our contributions to Antarctic climate research, mapping and geology can be traced back to that moment and this year’s team will be bringing this rich history to life for visitors from around the world.”
The current Port Lockroy team of postmaster Clare Ballantyne, wildlife monitor Mairi Hilton, shop manager Natalie Corbett and base leader Lucy Bruzzone said in a joint statement: “We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend this time in Antarctica caring for this important heritage site and seeing the seasonal changes in the amazing scenery and wildlife,” they said.
“It is a beautiful place that has inspired us all to reflect on the importance of protecting this unique landscape and its heritage, and to consider what impact our actions at home may have on this very special environment.”
How to apply for the roles in Antarctica
If you’d like to apply for a position, you’ll need to do so before the closing date on Sunday, March 26, unless you’re applying for the role of conservation carpenter as the closing date for this is Wednesday, April 12.
To apply, visit the UKAHT website.
Interviews will take place online and those who are shortlisted will be invited to a two-day selection event in Northamptonshire.
Successful applicants will then undertake training in Cambridgeshire.
Those who are awarded the roles will live and work at Port Lockroy from November until March 2024.
Conservation carpenters will arrive at the site in January 2024 for six to eight weeks.
