Please note, the original job description is extremely long and only excerpted below. For complete details, view the PDF available here on the Nelson-Atkins’s website.

The successful candidate will serve as Director of Education and Interpretive Programs and will lead the department’s objective of developing and providing educational and interpretive programs, and initiatives that create transformative and educationally enriching experiences of art and culture for museum visitors.

As head of the Museum’s Education Division, the Director of Education and Interpretive Programs leads departments in Interpretation (including digital media); adult programs; family and youth services; studio programs; school and youth serving organizations; and library services. This leadership includes the oversight of the Museum’s expansive docent and docent-in- training program which is a critical ingredient in our endeavor to create enriching and educational visitor experiences.

The Director of Education and Interpretive Programs will report to and work with the Director and CEO of the Museum. He or she will provide the oversight, strategic leadership, and management expertise for the education division of the museum. The Director of Education and Interpretive Programs will oversee all the education division’s professional staff and programs and, in close partnership with the Director and CEO, will ensure that the museum’s mission is clearly articulated and strategic objectives are collectively agreed upon and attained.

The Director of Education and Interpretive Programs will be expected to create an extensive partnership with all curatorial departments mutually, expressly collaborating efforts in all educational program development. In addition, the incumbent will establish productive working relationships with board members and community partners serving as an advocate for the institution’s education programs internally and externally, assuring that the needs of the Museum are advanced and understood.

The Director of Education and Interpretive Programs is required to manage a wide variety of staff functions, in a rapidly evolving institution. He/she will need to innovate and initiate actions in new media developing interactive programs that consider market changes and the rise of new media as a preferred communications tool.

The Director of Education and Interpretive Programs will exhibit excellent judgment and communications skills while dealing with individuals with widely varying backgrounds and styles.

As a member of the senior leadership group, the Director of Education and Interpretive Programs will be expected to think and plan strategically as well and operationally and to then execute those plans personally and through staff members and others throughout the institution.