STEM Education Specialist in Science Leadership

Position Title: STEM Education Specialist in Science Leadership – 32-40 hours per week – $55k to $65k for 1.0 FTE Salary Range

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree is required in any science education related field, preference given to individuals with master’s degrees or higher
• Experience designing and leading STEM professional development for educators
• Experience writing and/or leading grant initiatives for STEM teacher, out-of-school educators, and/or administrator leadership
• Knowledge of formal and informal the STEM education landscape

Purpose of the Position
The STEM Education Specialist will be an integral team member and serve as an organizational representative in many science education initiatives to bridge formal and informal science learning. This position will work with the ACRES (Afterschool Coaching for Reflective Educators in STEM) project team to provide coaching in STEM facilitation skills to out-of-school educators, primarily afterschool staff and librarians. This involves both in-person workshops and coaching using Zoom videoconferencing.

This position will also work closely with the Science professional development team at MMSA to design and implement a statewide systemic effort to provide educators and administrators with the support to integrate NGSS 3-dimensional science teaching into their practice and preK-12 school culture.

Overall, the right candidate will have the opportunity to deepen and share his/her skills in science education methods, program development, and best practices in professional development to advance STEM education policy and practice, assessment, and policy.

Essential Functions:

• Provide professional development opportunities, coaching, and support materials for both formal and informal educators Project development and management
• Budget management
• Work closely with project partners to implement projects
• Work closely with the MMSA research and evaluation team to help design metrics and methods for identifying impact of programming
• Coordinate communication to participants through emails, newsletters, zoom conferences etc.
• Assist in or lead writing reports as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Selection criteria:

• Familiarity with evidence-based practices in STEM education, both in-school and out-of-school
• Experience in STEM education professional development or leadership initiatives related to STEM education for in- and out-of-school educators
• Prior experience teaching science in the classroom or informal learning environments
• Prior experience leading science professional development for educators (formal and informal)
• Experience with education equity-focused programming
• A clear understanding of rural education and the challenges and opportunities that presents
• Demonstrated ability to communicate to a wide range of audiences through in-person relationship-building, emails, and newsletters
• Organized, detail-oriented with experience managing complex project work
• Working knowledge of a range of software packages including Zoom video conference, Microsoft Office, Airtable, and familiarity with working on Apple products (laptops, iphones, ipads etc)
• Ability to work in a virtual office environment, collaborating with a wide range of personalities and interests
  Comfort using video-conferencing technologies such as Zoom, and troubleshooting such technology with PD participants
• Team player that complements the expertise of MMSA’s staff

The STEM Specialist will be expected to attend at least weekly team meetings at the MMSA offices in person, and will be expected to travel occasionally, including rare overnights, to locations elsewhere in Maine and other states (with travel expenses paid by MMSA). They will be able to work from home for part of their time, if desired, with the approval of their supervisor

Please send a letter of interest that specifically outlines your experience against each of the selection criteria above and resume by email to hr@mmsa.org or by regular mail to Human Resource Director, 219 Capitol Street, Suite 3, Augusta, ME 04330. Materials should be submitted by Feb 8th, 2019 to ensure full consideration.

The Maine Math & Science Alliance (MMSA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that finds inspiring new ways to get people excited about science, technology, engineering and math today, so that our youth can become the innovators and workforce of tomorrow. MMSA supports educators to teach science, technology, engineering and math in more meaningful ways by:

• Developing professional development experiences for K-12 educators
• Conducting research and evaluation of STEM learning experiences
• Building relationships and networks to sustain systemic statewide improvement

MMSA offers a work culture that is very team oriented, welcomes a mix of working-from-home and from-the-office work schedules, and is rooted in the belief that high quality professional development models and programming for educators can influence the future of our state and the nation. MMSA staff includes some of the best talent in STEM education, including researchers and curriculum specialists. 10% 401k match, 4 paid weeks vacation, excellent health and dental benefits.