Leadership Roles
What each pack role actually involves.
Every pack is built by the parents in it.
No two years look the same, because no two groups of families are the same. Roles shift, new ideas show up, and the program grows in whatever direction the people in it push. That is not a flaw in how Scouting works. That is how Scouting works.
If you want to get involved, we will find something that fits you. The roles below are a starting point, not a menu you have to pick from. Tell us what you are good at or what you enjoy, and we will shape something around it. We all get out of this what we put into it.
Scouting America has plenty of standard roles beyond what's below, like a New Member Coordinator who helps new families feel at home, or a Training Chair who keeps leaders current on theirs. If a role would help the Pack and isn't listed, let's build it.
Open Right Now
These roles are currently unfilled. If any sound interesting, or you want to know more before deciding anything, just ask.
Committee Chair
Assistant Cubmaster
The Key 3
Every pack has three positions that work together to keep things running. Scouting America calls this the Key 3.
Cubmaster
The Cubmaster runs the program the Scouts actually see. Leading Packtivities, working with Den Leaders on the year's plan, and being the face of the Pack at events. This role is hands-on and visible, and it works best with a Committee handling the planning behind it.
Committee Chair (OPEN)
The Committee Chair leads the adults who run the Pack behind the scenes, so the Cubmaster and Den Leaders can focus on the Scouts. Scouting America puts the time commitment at three meetings a month: the pack meeting, the committee meeting, and Roundtable, which is a monthly gathering of leaders from other local units.
Responsibilities include:
- Calling and presiding at pack committee meetings
- Assigning duties to committee members and making sure jobs get done
- Identifying and recruiting volunteers so the Pack has the people it needs
- Approving bills before payment by the Treasurer
- Conducting the annual program planning conference
- Planning for charter review, recruitment events, and reregistration
- Maintaining the relationship with our chartered organization
- Helping Arrow of Light Scouts transition smoothly into a Scouts BSA troop
One part of this role matters more than the rest.
The Committee Chair leads the search for the next Cubmaster and assistant Cubmasters. Every Cubmaster eventually moves on, usually when their own Scout crosses over to Scouts BSA, and a pack that plans for that keeps its momentum instead of scrambling. Filling this seat is how Pack 535 stays strong past any one family.
The ideal Committee Chair is organized, a good communicator, and genuinely enjoys helping other people succeed. This is the role that makes everyone else's role easier.
Chartered Organization Representative
The link between Pack 535 and the organization that charters us. Approves adult leader applications and keeps that relationship healthy. Light time commitment, concentrated around charter renewal.
Pack Committee
The Committee handles planning, money, records, and communication so the program runs smoothly. Anyone is welcome at a committee conversation, with or without a title attached.
Treasurer
The Treasurer manages the funds for the pack. This role is busiest from late August to late October, supporting new membership enrollment and our annual popcorn fundraiser, requiring several hours a week during peak season. This role requires 1 to 2 hours a month the rest of the year plus participation in committee meetings.
Responsibilities include:
- Administering our bank account and PayPal account
- Reimbursing Pack members for approved expenses
- Paying bills in a timely manner
- Creating a budget
- Creating a treasurer's report at least 4 times a year
- Collecting dues
The ideal Treasurer candidate is organized, responsible, and fiscally responsible.
Secretary
Nice to have, but not required for the Pack to run. Keeps the Pack's records straight. Notes from committee meetings, tracking what was decided and who agreed to do what, and maintaining an inventory of Pack property. A good fit for someone who would rather organize than stand in front of a crowd. An hour or two a month plus committee meetings.
Advancement Chair
Makes sure Scouts get recognized for what they earn. Keeping advancement records current, ordering awards, and helping plan the ceremonies where ranks and badges get handed out.
Membership Chair
Handles recruiting and registration. Membership applications, getting new families set up, and the annual recharter process. Busiest in late summer and early fall.
Popcorn Kernel
The Popcorn Kernel manages the annual popcorn sale fundraiser, which is typically the largest source of income for the pack. This role is busiest from late August to late October, requiring a few hours per week during the peak sales period. This role requires very little time or effort for the remainder of the year, you are just another trained leader who can help out as needed and participate in committee meetings.
Responsibilities include:
- Being the pack's point of contact for the Capitol Area Council popcorn executive and District Kernel
- Collaborating with the pack committee on the tone, goals, and execution of the popcorn sale
- Motivating scouts and parents to participate in the fundraiser
- Managing the popcorn inventory, including picking up, storing, distributing, and receiving boxes and boxes of product
- Working closely with the Treasurer to ensure accurate accounting and transfer of incoming cash
- Communicating fundraiser progress and upcoming sales opportunities to the pack
- Helping parents navigate the Trail's End system and app
- Coaching scouts and parents on in-person and online sales
- Taking a whipped-cream pie in the face from every scout who sells popcorn (optional, but encouraged)
The ideal Popcorn Kernel candidate is organized, responsible, motivational, comfortable speaking in public, a good communicator, and fun. You need not be ideal to succeed as Popcorn Kernel though, you just need a willingness to Do Your Best!
Program and Events
Outdoor Activities Chair
The Outdoor Activities Chair plans the campouts and camp-ins for the pack. This role requires 1 to 2 hours a month year-round plus participation in committee meetings.
Responsibilities include:
- Selecting campout locations and booking the events
- Creating and sending out information about the campout to the Pack, including maps, packing lists, and itinerary
- Receiving Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) training (not required but preferred)
- Attending campouts and answering any questions from parents that may arise
The ideal Outdoor Activities Chair is organized, a good communicator, and fun!
Pinewood Derby Coordinator
Runs our biggest single event of the year. Securing the track, organizing check-in and heats, managing awards, and making race day go smoothly. Concentrated effort in the weeks around the Derby, quiet the rest of the year.
Den Leadership
Den Leader
The adult who runs a single grade level's den meetings. This is the closest role to the Scouts themselves, and the one that shapes their experience most. Planning and leading den meetings, working through the year's adventures, and keeping families in the loop through the Den WhatsApp group.
Den Leaders get a full program guide laying out what to do at each meeting, so nobody is inventing it from scratch. Training is free, online, and available any time.
The best Den Leaders are not the ones who already know Scouting. They are the ones willing to learn alongside the Scouts. Every Den Leader in this Pack started out not knowing how to do it.
Assistant Den Leader
Shares the load with a Den Leader. Covering meetings when the Den Leader cannot be there, helping run activities, and making sure one person is not carrying a whole den alone. A great way to get a feel for the role without committing to all of it.
Assistant Cubmaster (OPEN)
Works alongside the Cubmaster at Packtivities and pack events, and steps in when the Cubmaster cannot be there. This is also the natural path toward becoming Cubmaster, for anyone who finds they enjoy the front-of-the-room side of Scouting.
Not Ready for a Title?
That is completely fine, and it is not a lesser way to help. Plenty of what makes this Pack work comes from parents with no position at all. Running one event. Bringing a skill to a den meeting. Showing up early to set up chairs.
Our Committee WhatsApp group is open to any parent. No title, no commitment, no expectation to take anything on. Come see how planning happens, and jump in when something catches your interest.
Email pack535.cubmaster@gmail.com to be added to the Committee group
What You Get Back
Scouting America says it better than we could. Volunteering gives you the chance to build a lifelong bond with your own child, to meet their friends and those friends' parents, and to help shape young people into adults with real strength of character.
The honest version from parents already doing it: you get to be in the room for the moments your Scout will remember, instead of hearing about them in the car on the way home.
See the full Pack Leadership Roster for who is currently serving.
Interested? Just Ask.
You do not need to know what you want to do, and you do not need to be qualified. Email pack535.cubmaster@gmail.com and we will talk about what sounds interesting and what actually fits your life. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.