Posted August 28, 2014.

The San Antonio Children’s Museum seeks a seasoned, mission-focused, and collaborative individual to lead the Museum’s Educational programs and staff. The Museum is in a rapid expansion phase, with plans to open a state-of-the-art new facility in Summer 2015. SACM is committed to being a city-wide resource in early childhood education. The Education Director will be tasked with crafting and implementing highly effective educational programs and overseeing education staff; creating a high-performance culture; developing, motivating and evaluating diverse, talented team members across assigned functions; and developing and executing programs that produce measurable results and visibility for the museum. It is essential that the Education Director bring effective systems to increase the productivity of the organization, it is also important that s/he fit into an overall SACM team with the creative spark that drives the SACM mission and vision.

Responsibilities Include, but are not Limited to:
The successful candidate will have strong leadership skills, significant experience and demonstrated results in educational and museum settings, will be an innovator, and will be capable of helping lead the museum into the next era of its educational programming.
Lead the museum’s approach to exemplary education programs including all school programming, daily floor programming, and teacher professional development.
Oversees 5 direct education staff reports and indirectly another 10 -12 educational floor staff.
Ensure that all educational staff are trained in best practices in informal learning environments and is aware of innovations in educational pedagogy.
Develop educational activities so that they are consistent to informal learning standards, effective with teachers and administrators, and that they meet curriculum requirements.
Develop high-level relationships with local schools and explore various models for school/museum partnerships.
Expands the reach of museum programs by cultivating relationships with the San Antonio educational community.
Oversee development and monitor departmental budgets.
Develop and implement evaluation tools to measure, interpret, and analyze the outcome of educational programming.
Work with the Development office to secure grants and gifts for educational programs.
Work with the Volunteer Coordinator to ensure volunteers are trained to interact appropriately on the museum floor.
Work with the Public Programming and Community Partnership Manager to ensure weekend and community based programming is appropriately staffed with educational staff.
Work with the Guest Services Manager to ensure guest services floor and birthday party staff are trained on best practices in visitor facilitation.
Participate as a team member in the Exhibit Department to advise exhibit projects on interpretation goals, label writing, and content development as necessary.

Job Requirements
Ideal Candidate Attributes and Key Qualifications

As a prerequisite, the successful candidate must believe in SACM’s core values and be driven by the mission. The ideal candidate will be a team player and an effective leader who demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills and will be highly organized and detail oriented. The candidate should have a passion for creativity, work very well with people, and be inspired to contribute to the growth and development of our museum. Above all, the Education Director must be a fit within a museum culture that is nimble and entrepreneurial, values collaboration and teamwork, fairness, clarity of decision-making and a level of selflessness that places the good of the institution first.

Job Requirements

The Education Director will be a proven professional with 15 plus years’ experience working in informal learning environments and teaching in schools.
S/he will possess strong organizational skills, detail-oriented, ability to prioritize work and resources;
S/he will be a self-starter with strong work ethic, professional demeanor, sense of urgency, a clear set of priorities and the ability to adapt to change;
S/he will demonstrate clear ability to lead, motivate, inspire and support the capabilities of a bright, diverse team; and to attract and retain outstanding talent by earning trust and respect.
S/he will have a proven track record of creating new and innovative programs
S/he will have the ability to conceptualize and analyze both actual and potential problems and solutions, identifying key performance indicators and systemic improvements with sustainable impact.
S/he will be able to operationalize mission and vision, set compelling goals, and turn them into thorough, actionable and quantifiable plans, schedules and procedures.
S/he will be an outstanding communicator, both orally and written, one-on-one, in small and large groups, and under pressure.
S/he will understand and appreciate the important and ever-evolving role children’s museums play in the life of a vibrant community.

APPLY FOR THIS JOB
Email Address: melissa@sakids.org