Director of Education [Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture]

The Director of Education inspires, manages, and sets the strategic direction for the Burke Museum’s Education Department. This department is responsible for developing and implementing high-quality, outcome-oriented educational programs for youth, educators, and families. These programs are a core function of the Burke Museum and presently serve 100,000+ participants each year. The Director of Education plays a critical role in advancing the Museum’s mission to care for Washington’s natural history and culture collections and to share the knowledge that makes them meaningful. The Director of Education builds effective collaborations with other departments within the Museum, with informal learning institutions across WA, and with subject matter experts at the University of Washington and throughout the region.

The Burke Museum is currently engaged in a multi-year transformation project that will culminate in a new museum facility. The “New Burke” will be a flagship natural history museum that inspires wonder and pride about the Northwest, places the collection and study of objects at the forefront of everyone’s experience, and emphasizes the connection between people and the environment in every aspect of the museum.

The Burke is the Washington State Museum, and its education programs are central to the institution’s core purpose of contributing to a better future for the state. The Burke has the oldest and largest hands-on teaching collection, reaches every district in the state, and develops programs that enable WA educators and parents to meet state standards and embrace the best practices in education. The Director of Education will build on the rich history of the program, while also seeking opportunities to develop new models and approaches, reach new and divers audiences, and raise the profile of the Burke Museum Education Department as we move towards the New Burke.

The Burke’s Director of Education reports to the Interpretive Director, and is part of a team that includes dedicated and enthusiastic museum educators and collaborative colleagues throughout the Museum. And, as part of the University of Washington and a rich cultural community, the Burke has access to expertise and resources across a wide range of disciplines and cultures.

Job Duties:

• Strategy: Create and implement a successful strategic business plan for the Burke Education Department that sets a course for growing collaboration, participation, outreach, and impact to the entire state. Grow programs in ways that support the museum’s broader goals of reaching new audiences and expanding community engagement; work with diverse communities to ensure representation of multiple cultural perspectives; support the Docent Program in ways that enable these dedicated volunteers to present a wide array of educational offerings.; create and maintain a three-year plan that supports the Burke’s institutional Strategic Operating Plan, while also serving as a model of financial and business planning for the Education Department.
• Supervision: Effectively lead a group of experienced museum educators. Provide strategic leadership to enhance departmental effectiveness by setting clear vision for the department, establishing annual goals, providing ongoing professional development, and ensuring the team is fulfilling the Museum’s strategic plan; recruit and train new employees as needed; regularly assess staff performance and the department’s progress in meeting short-term and long-range objectives; creatively utilize personnel to ensure the activities of the department are in line with the Museum mission, achieve goals, and mesh with the operations of the Museum; empower staff to act independently and delegate appropriately so that staff feel ownership and fulfillment in their work.
• Institutional Outreach: Serve as the primary liaison for representing the Burke Museum’s educational efforts at community meetings and professional associations, both in the local community and across the state. Contribute meaningfully to conversations about informal education at the University of Washington, city, regional and national level.
• Collaboration: Advocate for innovative learning and engagement initiatives across and between departments within the Burke. Work with collections staff to integrate current research topics into education programs; collaborate closely with exhibits, public programs, and visitor services departments to ensure a cohesive visitor experience; champion efforts to amplify and extend current best practices of child, family, and adult learning into the work of the Museum.
• Innovation: Maintain knowledge of current best practices of informal learning and museum education and ensure these are embodied in all educational offerings. Ensure that the Burke Museum programs are not only relevant, but also serve as a model of creative, unique informal learning occasions; act as a creative and entrepreneurial catalyst for the Education Department and the Museum, exploring and producing ideas for new education opportunities, partnerships and programs; communicate the results of these practices by attending and presenting at local, regional, and national museum and education meetings and conferences.
• Relevance: Ensure that Washington State standards are considered in all educational programming. Serve as a resource, statewide, to teachers and schools for producing and delivering relevant and appealing curriculum.

• Financial Management: In collaboration with members of the Department, develop annual budgets and ensure that income targets are met and expenses are kept within budget. Prepare budget revisions and a variety of financial reports; grow and diversify departmental funding sources in ways that make the department more self-sustaining; actively pursue grant and fundraising opportunities on behalf of the Education Department.
• Program Evaluation: Consistently assess all program offerings to ensure they are of the highest quality, meeting goals, reaching desired audiences, and relevant to the visitor. Offer a balance of changing and ongoing programs that continue to pique the interest of visitors and education professionals; establish an effective system of regularly evaluating programs, and discontinuing or modifying those programs that are not meeting established expectations.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Bachelor’s degree in a field related to museum education, science education, or informal learning.
• Three or more years of demonstrated success in leading the development of educational programs that achieve broad-reaching community engagement while maintaining awareness of participant and community needs.
• Significant engagement in the field of informal learning, with knowledge of best practices from across various disciplines, with specialization in one or more subjects related to natural history and culture.
• Understanding of the historical underpinnings and contemporary manifestations of social inequality that disproportionately impact select communities within the formal and informal education system
• Understands the problematic representations of Pacific Rim and Native history and culture in both formal and informal educational environments AND understands the need to take corrective action
• At least three years of supervising several staff members and managing complex budgets.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
• Established network and working relationships in the informal education sector.
• Successful track record of leading a team of creative educators, promoting cross-departmental working relationships, and fostering professionalism.