Manager of Education Programs at The New York Aquarium

Job Title: Manager of Education Programs 

Job Status: Full-time

Location: New York, NY

Salary: $68,000 – $72,000

About Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS stands for wildlife and wild places. As the world’s premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has a long track record of achieving innovative, impactful results at scale. We run field programs spanning 60 countries and the entire ocean. We build on a unique foundation: Our reach is global; we discover through best-in-class science; we protect through work on the ground with local and indigenous people; we inspire through our world-class zoos, aquarium, and education programs; and we leverage our resources through partnerships and powerful policy influence. Our more than 4,000 diverse, passionately committed team members in New York City and around the world work collectively to achieve our conservation mission.

Job Summary

The Manager of Education Programs is an integral member of the New York Aquarium Education team, supporting high quality STEM and nature-based learning while advancing conservation education through the lens of Discover, Inspire & Protect. The Manager of Education Programs oversees and supports the staff leading all types of educational programming, including school field trips, scout programs, informal children, family and adult programs, birthday parties, overnights, and summer camp. Our programs seek to engage with diverse groups of neighborhood and wider New York City residents to build a connection with WCS in unique, creative and enduring ways and to leverage the New York Aquarium resources to address community interests. The Manager creates and fosters relationships, both internally and externally, to ensure the success of programming and to expand the diversity and inclusion of participants, staff and volunteers. The ideal candidate has strong people and program management skills, as well as experience coordinating events and a deep knowledge or pedagogy, which together allow them to effectively coach and professionally strengthen the team while also managing projects of their own. The Manager ensures the team has the support, training and resources to successfully integrate STEM education, participant-based learning and conservation action into a variety of programming.

Major Responsibilities

The Education Manager’s main responsibility is managing New York Aquarium Education staff and ensuring the success of the team in coordinating, developing, teaching, and supporting programming.

Responsibilities Include

  • Work closely with the Curator of Education and Program Coordinators to conceptualize and develop a broad spectrum of education programs. Oversee the implementation and evaluation of program offerings, ensuring they are innovative and meaningful educational experiences that engage participants in STEM learning and conservation action. This will include observing programming, providing feedback on instruction and program structure and content, and overseeing program refinement.
  • Manage specific projects and programs by leading the curriculum development, coordinating logistics, collaborating with Events, Visitor Services and other WCS departments, tracking associated expenses, and scheduling and training staff, interns and volunteers.
  • Serve as Camp Director and manage the camp team to ensure the success of summer camp programming. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, overseeing curriculum development, hiring and training camp counselors, scheduling camp staff, and communicating with caregivers.
  • Coordinate with internal and external partners to plan and implement education events such as science fairs and family days.
  • Interview, hire, train, supervise and evaluate full time and part education staff; support Program Coordinators in doing the same for part time staff and interns.
  • Oversee the administrative tasks including monitoring booking systems, reserving rooms, scheduling educators, ordering supplies and materials, tracking budgets, and meeting regularly with the Education Admin team.
  • Utilize annual program data to evaluate program sales and performance and develop a yearly marketing strategy including pricing strategies for fee-based education programming. Work closely with the Education Admin team to ensure appropriate monthly e-blasts, social media posts and external marketing, and that the website is kept up to date and accurate.
  • Work closely with our Animal Teams to safely and effectively incorporate live animal demonstrations into New York Aquarium education experiences. This includes being trained in handling our ambassador animals and supporting team members with their training and animal use scheduling.
  • Be an active and supportive team member in the education department by participating in on-site and off-site staff development days, team meetings and trainings (both individual and team), and through contributing to a positive work environment.
  • Facilitate team growth professionally and create an encouraging culture by identifying education team members’ strengths, providing professional development opportunities and feedback, and delegating effectively.

Qualification Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in science, conservation, education or related field; Master’s degree a plus.
  • (3) years of dynamic leadership experience of a team of staff, interns and/ or volunteers.
  • Strong people management skills that include experience directly supervising and evaluating staff.
  • (5) years of instructional experience in formal or informal science education, including programmatic development, implementation and evaluation.
  • Demonstrated experience building and maintaining strong internal and external relationships, and working with diverse partners and audiences.
  • Ability to lift up to 20lbs and to perform light physical activity including occasional extended periods of time spent sitting, walking and standing.
  • Possess a valid driver’s license.
  • Conversational fluency in Spanish a plus.

How To Apply

Apply via LinkedIn

Equal Employment Opportunity Disclaimer

WCS is an equal opportunity employer, and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and engaging a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on gender, race/ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, genetic information or any other covered status or characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we do not tolerate discrimination or harassment based upon a person’s membership in one of these protected categories in areas such as recruitment, selection, job assignment, supervision, training, promotions, job grading, transfers, termination, compensation, benefits, educational opportunities, WCS sponsored recreational activities and facilities.

Note that the salary offer will reflect the selected candidate’s individual experiences, skills and qualifications, internal equity, work location and country of work.