VP, Education and Learning Initiatives [San Antonio Children’s Museum]

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 June 2015.  SACM is committed to being a city-wide resource in early childhood education. The VP Education and Learning Initatives will be tasked with crafting and implementing highly effective educational programs—with a  focus on STEM and STEAM content—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 VP, Education and Learning Initiatives 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.

The successful candidate will have strong leadership skills, significant experience and demonstrated results in educational and informal learning settings, will be an innovator, and will be capable of helping lead the museum into the next era of its educational programming.  S/he will have demonstrated classroom teaching success, will have instructional oversight and/or mentor teaching experience, will have deep knowledge of the San Antonio learning landscape and will have strong educational contacts in the K-12, nonprofit and higher education fields.

Responsibilities Include, but are not Limited to:

• Unifying the museum’s strategic approach to all educational content through unique experiences that capitalize on the museum’s role in providing learning experiences that engage children’s motivation and interest through inquiry and deeply interactive experiences.
• Leading the museum’s approach to exemplary education programs including all school programming, weekly enrollment and homeschool programs, parent and caregiver programming and teacher professional development.
• Overseeing 4 direct education staff reports and indirectly another 12-15 educational floor staff in implementing highest quality programs and facilitating the learning experience for all guests.
• Ensuring that all educational staff are trained in best practices in informal learning environments and is aware of innovations in educational pedagogy.
• Developing educational activities so that they are consistent to informal learning standards, effective with teachers and administrators, and that they meet curriculum requirements.
• Developing high-level relationships with local schools and explore various models for school/museum partnerships.
• Developing a model to train all floor staff on best practices related to facilitating the Museum learning experience, with a focus on encouraging adult/child interactions; supporting the Volunteer Coordinator in training volunteers in similar practices.
• Expanding the reach of museum programs by cultivating relationships with the San Antonio educational community.
• Developing and implementing evaluation tools to measure, interpret, and analyze the outcome of educational programming.
• Overseeing and monitoring department budgets.
• Working with the Development office to secure grants and gifts for educational programs.
• Participating as a team member in the Exhibit Department to advise exhibit projects on interpretation goals and content development as necessary.

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 VP Education and Learning Initiatives 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.
• Masters’ Degree in Education or Museum Studies preferred.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of work performed by the VP, Education and Learning Initiatives.  They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of this position.  SACM is an equal opportunity employer.