Director of Education & Public Programs

Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond Town, New York, NY

 

The Director of Education & Public Programs is responsible for cultivating a vibrant community around Historic Richmond Town through envisioning, producing, and evaluating unique and memorable educational public events, activities, and multi-faceted initiatives. This position is a key member of the Executive team, and is responsible for overseeing all the educational and public programs of the Staten Island Historical Society (SHIS) at Historic Richmond Town. The Director is key in expanding and institutionalizing the outward facing public access points in alignment with the mission, vision, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan. Reporting to the Director are one full-time employee and one part-time employee, who, in turn, manages six full-time seasonal educators.

 

Reporting to the Executive Director & CEO, the Director’s responsibilities include but are not limited to the ones outlined below:

 

Primary Responsibilities and Qualities

 

●      Vision. Develop and execute a year-round calendar of programs, activities, and initiatives from idea through evaluation. Invent new, unique, high-quality programs from scratch and evaluate and tweak returning programs to make them better. Creatively envision ideas that achieve multiple goals, articulate their value, and work toward them over time with many different partners and collaborators.

●      Values. Promote public history as a key democratic element of community, education, and historical preservation. Believe in the ability of history to improve lives. Have a strong drive to work towards a more just and equitable society. Possess an interest in providing a platform for life-long learning, history, and nature. Strive for excellence and detail orientation in all initiatives. A respect and admiration for the history of the Staten Island Historical Society, while seeking to bring new and fresh ideas, is a must.

●      Leadership. Be an advocate and strong “voice” for public programming, community engagement, and related initiatives. Evaluate and be accountable for interdepartmental initiatives with regards to their impact on accessibility, program support, and more. Be able to articulate and advocate for these values in a patient yet firm and inspiring way. Manage selected other initiatives and weigh in on strategic plans for the organization that relate to the future programming and educational initiatives. Possess strong decision-making capabilities and a flexible nature to accommodate many ideas and working styles.

●      Programming & Education. Evaluate and improve upon current programs. Keep up to date with museum and park-based programming and education around NYC, the country and world, and seek to strengthen SIHS’s position as a thought leader for history-based parks, programming, and community projects. Some experience in the evaluation of programs is preferred as the department is currently undergoing an overhaul of its evaluation and reporting systems.

●      Community Organizing. Build support for SIHS in the various communities around it and throughout New York City. Possess an interest in – ability to – understand the various dynamics at play and develop personal relationships through spending time and being an effective listener and community partner.

●      Event Production. Produce small and large-scale events across the humanities discipline. Producing events at the SIHS properties requires flexibility.

●      Staff Management. Excel in staff management and interpersonal interaction, have keen listening skills, strong ability to guide others at differing levels of experience, and ability to teach and be taught by their staff.

●      Budget Management. Working closely with the Executive Director and Controller, to draft the annual department budget; monitor expenses and income throughout the year ensuring adherence to budget.

●      Collaboration. Internally, be a team player, and seek to actively work with the development, communications & special events, curatorial, and facilities departments, among others. Externally, maintain active contact with a variety of community leaders and organizations and seek to collaborate with them in new and meaningful ways, on and off site.

 

Qualifications

In addition to the qualities listed above, the successful candidate will possess:

·         A minimum of five years programmatic and staff management experience, preferably in the cultural sector

·         Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred

·         Demonstrated ability to both envision and execute a broad range of educational programming and public events and activities

·         Ability to thrive in a busy, fast-paced environment and be adept at working on many projects at once

·         Experience in converting nascent ideas into working programs

·         Strong computer skills and ability to automate processes

·         Track record of leadership, managing staff, and exceptional interpersonal skills

·         Ability to articulate strategy, and provide ongoing direction to implement that strategy

·         Strong written and oral communication and presentation skills, including the ability to deploy tact and diplomacy in pursuit of results

·         Experience engaging and strong interest in working to develop the SIHS’s relationships with currently undeserved populations

·         Availability during select weekends and evenings is required

·         Flexibility, fun, and collaborative personality

·         Ability to look at the big picture and search for insightful, creative solutions

·         Appreciates and relentlessly pursues the high level of excellence required in all aspects of the operation of this high-profile space

·         Skillful with the unexpected and with meeting aggressive deadlines

·         Appreciation for history and living history

 

Position Details

Permanent full time position: $50,000 - $75,000

Occasional evening, holiday and weekend work required.

 

 

To be considered, interested candidate should send cover letter and resume to jphillips[at]historicrichmondtown.org Please feel free to leave your name and address off your application but be sure to include a contact number and email. No phone calls, drop-offs, or faxed applications will be considered. Those whose candidacy is being considered will be contacted.

 

Staten Island Historical Society is proud to be an equal opportunity employment workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work and learning environment and look for future team members who share that same value.