Assistant/Associate Museum Educator Teen Programs/Education Department [The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY]

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.

This is a permanent full-time position.

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 day-to-day program coordination, efficiency, and communication.
• Other related duties

Please send cover letter, resume, and salary history to careers@metmuseum.org with “Assistant Associate Museum Educator Teen Programs/Education Department” in the subject line.

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.  AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and national service alumni encouraged to apply.

Requirements

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.
• 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.