Position Title: Assistant/Associate Museum Educator, Teen Programs

Department: Education

Reports to: Senior Museum Educator, Family, Teen, and Multigenerational Learning

Salary Grade: P4/3

Employee Classification: Exempt Full-Time

Effective Date: February 2016

 

General Description:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art seeks a creative leader and youth advocate to direct the vision

and strategy for dynamic teen experiences at The Met. S/he directs, plans, implements, teaches,

and evaluates programs that engage young people and create relevant connections between the

lives and interests of youth and the Museum’s vast collections. With a focus on out of school

learning experiences for young people ages 11-18 in the Museum, s/he supports the interests and

needs of middle and high school aged youth, fosters both independent and social learning among

them, develops youth leaders, and shapes comprehensive programming that advances teens’

agency, creativity, and skills. S/he establishes the strategic directions, pedagogy, and formats for

programs, engagement, and resources for young people. S/he leads teen-centered initiatives

including museum-wide, collaborative teen nights, the Teen Blog, and workshops, co-developing

and executing some with other Education program areas and with other Museum departments.

The Assistant/Associate Educator establishes and maintains relationships within the Met and

with the broader arts, education, and youth development community. S/he builds audiences for

teen programs, supporting New York City area community and Department of Education

educational priorities for these audiences. S/he actively contributes new research and practice based

knowledge to the museum education field, serving as a thought leader for teen

programming and as a resource for students and peers. The Assistant/Associate Educator has

excellent organizational skills and is able to manage multiple, logistically complex activities

simultaneously within a museum setting while guiding the pedagogical priorities of programs for

young people. S/he supervises the Teen Programs team and reports to the Senior Educator for

Family, Teen, and Multigenerational Learning.

 

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

  • Advocate for the arts and art museums in youth development, and for the role of youth voice

and engagement within the Museum, establishing and sustaining relationships with peers and

strategic partners inside and outside the walls of the institution.

  • Develop and implement the strategy and pedagogy for high quality, high impact teen

programs at the Met.

  • Identify key audiences for programs and develop and implement engagement strategies to

maximize visibility and reach in order to make the Met more accessible to a broader, more

diverse audience; and collaborate with external groups to expand out of school programming

and opportunities for middle and high school students.

  • Plan and execute each program season, meeting deadlines, calibrating program volume to

visitor needs and Museum resources, and drawing on both Museum and city resources to

ensure that programs are innovative, relevant to new and current audiences, and aligned with

mission and goals. Collaborate and communicate with staff across Education and the

Museum, including curators, conservators, Membership, Library, External Affairs, and

Visitor Services staff to plan and implement programs.

  • Develop and monitor budgets, oversee and track statistics, and mine data to identify

participation patterns and inform resource allocation and workflow. Prepare development and

other reports.

  • Manage Teen Programs staff. Supervise and evaluate staff.
  • Supervise teaching of all teen programs. Recruit, train, schedule, and manage a solid group of

high-performing contractual educators and teaching artists. Regularly observe and formally

evaluate teaching by contractual educators and interns in teen programs as well as other

program areas. Contract and guide guest presenters/performers, as needed.

  • Identify evaluation and research priorities for programs; design and carry out formal studies

with evaluators; analyze and report on results, applying these to strategic program decisions.

  • Regularly teach teen programs as well as programs for a variety of audiences, including

school groups.

  • Recruit, train, and supervise interns and teen volunteers who support teen programs to ensure

a high quality visitor experience. Mentor, empower, and supervise young people in their

leadership roles as High School Interns and foster their continued engagement with The Met.

  • With digital media, curatorial, conservation, education colleagues, and with the Senior

Educator, help develop and at times initiate the creation of interpretive resources for young

people, including high-impact online resources and materials for self-guided visits to the

Museum. Write interpretive materials for these audiences.

  • Oversee program logistics, working closely with the staff who manage the Uris Center for

Education, Visitor Services, Security, and operational staff across the Museum to ensure dayto-

day program coordination, efficiency, and communication.

  • Other related duties

 

Requirements and Qualifications:

Experience and Skills:

  • Minimum 5years experience working in museums
  • Minimum 5 experience leading programs involving young people.
  • Demonstrable excellence teaching with original works of art in a gallery setting for a variety

of audiences, including young people.

  • Demonstrable experience writing and developing effective interpretive materials for young

people and museum audiences.

  • Demonstrable experience setting strategic goals for public programs, prioritizing tasks to

support these goals, and implementing and evaluating such programs.

  • Demonstrated experience supervising teams and training interns and educators.
  • Evidence of well-developed collaborative skills and of experience leading teams through

complex projects.

 

Position Profile (continued)

  • Excellent organizational skills, including an ability to multitask and proactively follow

through on projects.

  • Ability to strategically build audiences for programs and develop promotional vehicles.
  • Demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively and professionally with different

constituencies, verbally and in writing. This includes: excellence in customer service,

motivated and personable stance toward visitors and colleagues, and a demonstrable desire

and ability to effectively engage with young people in the museum.

 

Knowledge and Education:

  • Master’s degree in art history, studio art, museum education, or related fields.
  • Demonstrated passion for youth development and knowledge of current theories and

practices, programming, and informal learning related to youth.

  • Demonstrated knowledge of teaching and learning with original works of art..
  • Demonstrated understanding of how to build collaborations with external groups; knowledge

of New York City communities and the landscape of youth engagement in the arts preferred.

  • Demonstrable understanding of the potential of and tools for digital learning, as well as

social media vehicles to build community and engagement. Command of Microsoft Office

Suite and solid computer skills required.

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed,

sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic

partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by

law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading,

demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.