Director of Education

Exploration Place is searching for a Director of Education to lead the next chapter of science discovery in Wichita. This is a role for someone who lights up at the chance to spark curiosity –a leader who believes science has the power to change how kids see the world, and who can rally a team around that mission every single day.

You’ll set the vision and quality standard for everything we do in education: school programs, live science shows, summer camps, public programming, and community outreach. You’ll mentor a passionate team, build deep partnerships with school districts and community organizations, and steward the KDHE-licensed camp programs that are a hallmark of summer at Exploration Place. The right candidate is structured, resilient, and steady in the chaos – equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and stepping into a classroom when the moment calls for it.

If you believe that wonder is contagious and that great science education changes lives, we want to hear from you.

Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in education, museum studies, or a related field, and a master’s degree is preferred. Experience supervising and coaching staff, building community partnerships, managing educational programming, and overseeing budgets preferred. Candidate must have a minimum of 3 – 5 years of experience in informal education, museum education, or a related field.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A deep passion and commitment to science and technology education;
• Familiarity with national and state-level education pedagogy, trends and best practices relative to informal STEM learning;
• Experience with online and hybrid learning programs;
• Ability to uphold values of diversity, equity, and inclusion;
• Proven experience in recruiting, developing, motivating, training, mentoring and supervising a strong and professional team of employees;
• Ability to build a strong and sustainable portfolio of programs. This includes discontinuing programs that underperform.
• Capability to manage an annual budget of more than $1 million;
• Experience in developing grant proposals and other fundraising initiatives;
• Well-developed management skills, able to work in collaboration with other departments on programming, exhibits, events and other museum initiatives;
• Proven track record of developing productive relationships with other education, cultural and community organizations;
• Aptitude for gathering and analyzing data, to drive continuous improvement;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Education and experience commensurate with the position. A Bachelor’s degree is desired, a Master’s degree preferred.