Climbing Arborist / Crew Leader

Residential & Commercial Tree Care — [North Vancouver / Burnaby]

Join an awesome team-

Andrew started Silverback in 2007 with a truck and a saw. It is now thirty people across three yards — Squamish, North Vancouver and Burnaby — most of them ISA-certified arborists, and he still knows every climber by name. That is the part we work hardest to protect as we grow.

We are an inclusive and diverse crew of enthusiastic, motivated industry professionals who take real pride in high caliber workmanship, excellent customer service and uncompromising safety. Creating and maintaining a strong workplace culture is a top priority here. Attitude is everything.

What that actually looks like

- We promote from the ground up. Most of our climbers started on our groundcrew. If you can teach, we will keep giving you people to teach — and that is how you end up running your own crew.
- Stop-work means stop. If the wind picks up, the anchor looks wrong, or the plan stopped making sense, you stop. Nobody here will second-guess that call, and nobody will bring it up later.
- We train people properly. In-house training and development, anytime access to our online training platform, and we pay for certification and recertification. Nobody has to fund their own ISA dues here.
- We buy good kit. State-of-the-art equipment, maintained properly. You should not be fighting your gear to get through a day.
- Four-day week. Ten-hour days, three days off. It is a real recovery day, not a laundry day.
- Direct and generous. The crews are outdoors-minded, direct, and generous with what they know if you ask. Nobody here guards technique.

The short version

We are looking for a climber who can run a crew as well as a rope. You will be in the tree for most of the day — removals, reductions, deadwooding, storm work — and you will be the person responsible for how the whole day goes: the plan, the hazard assessment, the people on the ground, and what the property looks like when you drive away.

This is a working climbing job with a crew attached. If you are a robust production climber ready to lead, or you are already leading and want better gear, better people and steadier work, this is the one.

The work





- Technical removals — confined residential lots, over roofs, fences, gardens and vehicles
- Pruning and reductions — crown reduction, thinning, deadwooding and structural pruning to ISA standard
- Rigging — negative blocks, speedlines and balancers, and knowing which one the situation actually calls for
- Climbing systems — SRT and DdRT, plus MEWP and spider lift work where the site allows
- Crane removals — supporting crane-assisted work on the bigger jobs
- Storm response — hazard trees, failures, and callouts when the weather turns

A typical day

You brief the crew before anything moves — the plan, the hazards, the drop zone, who is doing what. You walk the site with the homeowner, confirm access and lay protection, and get set up properly before the first cut.

Then you climb. Most days you are aloft for the bulk of it, running the removal or the prune while two or three people work the ground. You are calling the rigging, watching the groundcrew, and adjusting the plan when the tree tells you something you could not see from the driveway.

At the end you clean up properly — chipped, blown, raked, gates closed — and you walk the property with the client. You are also the person who calls the office when the scope changed, rather than leaving it for someone to find on the invoice.

Who thrives here

The best crew leaders we have had share a few things:

- They are safe without being told. The tailboard and the hazard assessment happen every morning, not on the days someone might be checking.
- They lead without being loud. A clear brief in the morning, a correction on the spot, and they never make it personal. The crew knows where they stand.
- They teach. They will explain the same thing twice to a first-year groundie and mean it both times.
- They read the tree. Decay, included bark, previous topping,



a lean that does not match the crown — they see it from the ground and adjust before they tie in.
- They own their mistakes. Something goes through a fence eventually. We want to hear about it from you, not from the customer.
- They care how the yard looks when we leave. The reputation this company has was built one job at a time, and it gets defended or spent on every site.

What we're looking forRequired

- 3+ years production climbing in residential or urban tree care
- ISA Certified Arborist, or equivalent formal arboriculture training
- Competent in aerial rescue, and current on fall protection
- Confident rigging on tight sites — you can look at a limb, a target and an anchor and know what will hold
- Valid class 5 driver's licence with a clean abstract
- Physically able to work outdoors year-round in heat, cold, and rain
- Willingness to work safely and wear PPE without being reminded

Strongly preferred

- Experience leading a crew of two to four
- ISA Certified Tree Worker Climber Specialist
- Occupational First Aid Level 1 or higher
- Class 3 with air brake endorsement
- MEWP or spider lift experience, and crane signalling

Nice to have

- Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ)
- Working knowledge of protected tree and permit rules in the District of North Vancouver, Burnaby and Vancouver
- We'll train the right person on our systems and our gear. We can't train someone to care about the work.

Physical requirements

Extended periods aloft in a saddle, climbing and working overhead. Lifting and carrying heavy rounds and brush over uneven ground. Working around loud equipment, dust, and falling debris. Full-day outdoor shifts, year-round.

Pay and benefits

- $32–$45 per hour, based on experience, certification, and what you can climb on day one
- Four day working week (10-hour days)
- Health / dental / extended benefits after 90 days
- Company-paid certification, recertification and continuing education
- In-house training and development programme, plus anytime access to our online training platform
- All PPE and safety gear provided
- Boot allowance
- Steady year-round work

Pay: $32.00-$45.00 per hour

Benefits:

- Company events
- Dental care
- Extended health care

Work Location: In person

📌 Climbing Arborist/Crew Leader (Burnaby)
🏢 Silverback Treeworks
📍 Burnaby