Fresh Listing

Posted: March 27, 2026 (0 days ago)

This job was posted recently. Fresh listings typically have less competition.

Supervisory Recreation Specialist - INST - (Recreation Supervisor)

Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System

Department of Justice

Fresh

Location

Yazoo City, Mississippi

Salary

$89,508 - $116,362

per year

Closes

April 17, 2026More DOJ jobs →

GS-5 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $33,878 - $44,042

Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience. Bachelor's degree.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This job involves overseeing recreation programs in a federal prison complex, including sports, fitness, arts, and leisure activities to support inmates' physical, creative, and social growth while ensuring security.

A good fit would be someone with experience managing recreational programs in institutional settings, strong leadership skills for supervising staff, and the ability to handle budgets and adapt activities based on participant feedback.

It's ideal for those passionate about community rehabilitation in a secure environment.

Key Requirements

  • Undergraduate or graduate degree in recreation or related fields like outdoor recreation, parks leadership, or physical education
  • At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-4 level in planning, organizing, or supervising recreational programs
  • Demonstrated ability to apply recreation principles in institutional or community settings, such as managing sports leagues, fitness, or hobby-craft activities
  • Experience supervising staff, including assigning work, evaluating performance, and scheduling
  • Skills in budget management, analyzing participation data, and developing strategies to boost engagement
  • Commitment to maintaining institutional security as a primary responsibility

Full Job Description

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements.

Basic Requirements: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- general recreation, or one of the appropriate fields of recreation such as outdoor recreation; recreation and parks leadership; wild land recreation management; natural resources recreation; youth recreation; public, urban, or community recreation; special populations recreation (e.g., senior citizens, institutional, etc.); or physical education.

OR Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience that demonstrated the ability to apply the principles of one or more specialty areas of recreation.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Planning, organizing, coordinating, supervising, or evaluating community, industrial, outdoor, institutional, or other recreational programs.

Planning, establishing, or evaluating a recreational curriculum for junior college or higher academic levels.

Instructing in the principles and techniques of recreational program planning and management.

Serving in a leadership role in the programs and activities of local, regional, and/or national recreational organizations.

AND In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must have: Education: There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this position.

OR Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level.

This experience is defined as that which demonstrated the ability to apply the principles of one or more specialty areas of recreation.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are: Experience supervising the overall management of a recreation program which includes intramural sports leagues, wellness, fitness, music, hobby-craft, leisure time and other special activities.

Experience monitoring and interpreting recreation data and crafting strategies to increase participation.

Experience supervising other recreation staff, which included assigning work, evaluating performance, scheduling the work of the group and determining materials needed to perform the activities.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.** Major Duties:

Supervises the overall management in multiple facilities in a Federal Correctional Complex.

Programs may include intramural sports, wellness, fitness, music, hobby-craft, leisure time and other special activities.

Within established agency policies and objectives, plans, organizes, and administers recreation activities and programs which promote the physical, creative, and social development of inmate populations.

Manages multiple and separate budgets for each facility, and in so doing, plans expenditures and future requests for funding based upon analysis of inmate participation patterns, feedback from recreational staff, and based on personal involvement in a wide variety of recreation activities.

Responsible for supervising multiple staff at multiple locations and security levels.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution.

The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Check your resume before applying to catch common mistakes

Browse Similar Jobs

Posted on USAJOBS: 3/27/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 3/28/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: SER-2026-0157