Director of Travel Natural History Program

Join the Chewonki Team as our new Director of Traveling Natural History Programs! Based in scenic Mid Coast, Maine, you'll lead our dynamic Traveling Natural History Programs, inspiring wonder of the natural world. If you're passionate about education, leadership, animals and making a difference in the lives of all ages, especially children, this full-time, year-round opportunity awaits you!

• Location: Wiscasset, Maine (On Campus, in-person)

• Reports to: Vice President of Operations

• Direct Reports: Science Educators, Administrative Assistant and Schools Liaison 

• Permanent/Temporary:  Permanent

• Schedule: Full time, year-round

What is Chewonki? 

Chewonki is a environmental and outdoor learning center in Wiscasset, Maine, that inspires transformative growth, teaches appreciation and stewardship of the natural world, and challenges people to build thriving, sustainable communities throughout their lives. Please visit www.chewonki.org for a full description of each of our programs.

What is the Traveling Natural History Program?        

Chewonki's Traveling Natural History Program is an education program that brings the wonders of nature straight to it’s participants. With captivating outreach lessons, live animals, and hands-on activities, we ignite curiosity and inspire learning all year round in our surrounding communities. On campus, we're stewards to an incredible array of resident animals, from raptors to reptiles, mammals, and more! These charismatic creatures, specially trained for teaching, receive top-notch care and attention daily, ensuring they're always ready to dazzle in educational settings. Off campus, we serve communities throughout Maine, and sometimes even venture into New Hampshire and Massachusetts, providing one-hour lessons to schools, libraries, community organizations, and resorts. Each year we teach over 800 presentations to approximately 20,000 participants. 

Key Duties: 

• Promotion/Enrollment: 

  • Participates in the creation of an annual marketing and enrollment plan with the VP of Marketing and Technology, School Liaison, and other team members as needed.

  • Collaborates with School Liaison for Education Partnerships to support the program booking process. 

• Relationship Management: 

  • Puts a high priority on friendly, responsive customer service and building lifetime relationships with families/partner organizations.

  • Directs team members to adhere to our customer service standard.

  • Works in partnership with our Development & Alumni team to record partner/family notes, provide lifetime stewardship, and share future enrollment and charitable giving opportunities.

• Budget: 

  • Participates in the annual budget creation process, submits real-time revenue and expense records to the business office, and is responsible for meeting budget targets. 

• Operations Team:

  • Collaborates with operations team leaders such as facilities, kitchen, other programs, etc. to ensure a mission-aligned experience for participants and staff. This includes submitting timely requests, developing an awareness of the demands on shared resources, and partnering on collaborative projects.

• Development:

  • Develops understanding of the Thrive comprehensive campaign and helps to share out stories and metrics that illustrate the implementation of our mission.

  • Participates, when asked by the development team, in conversations with donors and trustees about your program or responsibility area.  

• Hiring and Management: 

  • Partners with Human Resources to recruit and hire responsible and talented staff of 4-5 full-time members.

  • Provides oversight to direct reports and volunteers, including coaching, regular check ins, annual performance reviews, and goal setting.

• Program Management:

  • Schedule/Training

    • Is responsible for the creation, evaluation, and delivery of staff training that is relevant to the program needs and driven and framed by our mission, vision, and values.

    • Coordinates schedules for educational programming, animal care and strategic projects.

• Curriculum Delivery and Development: 

  • Is responsible for ensuring an integrated, equitable and aligned program for all participants that: 

    • is coherent, framed/ driven by our DEI principles and mission, and is true to the vision of aligned programming.

    • represents current best practices for group management and social/emotional learning and youth outcomes.

  • Teaches science and natural history topics to participants (pre K – Senior adults) in a variety of teaching settings using effective teaching techniques for different ages, audiences, etc. 

  • Maintains and improves existing curriculum and develops custom programming as needed.

  • Continually adds to knowledge base and stays abreast of current events as they relate to program topics.

  • Coordinates with other Chewonki programs to leverage Traveling Natural History Program curriculum and resources to support program goals and participant experiences. 

• Animal Care/Operations:

  • Learns and manages each animal’s daily feeding and care routine.

  • Demonstrates best practices in safe animal handling and teaching with live animals.

  • Coordinates and implements routine health checks and veterinary appointments as needed. 

  • Leads training of new animal ambassadors and maintains training of current animals.

  • Keeps abreast of current and emerging best practices in animal welfare and enrichment. 

  • Shares rotating weekend and holiday feeding duties with TNHP team.  

  • Performs administrative duties to support the functioning of the program (digital and written record keeping, creation of systems/policies, scheduling, etc.).

  • Organizes/maintains equipment, teaching materials, and physical spaces.

• Program Development:

  • Is responsible for increasing Traveling Natural History Program enrollment to meet mission impact and revenue goals.

  • Promotes and manages Chewonki’s relationships with local schools through program development and oversight of grant dollars.

  • Collaborates with internal partners to identify new funding sources including grants, partnerships and sponsorships. 

• Community Responsibilities:

  • Works to honor and uphold the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and a lens of anti-racism in the best interest of participants, constituents, and staff across the organization.

  • A willingness to work as a team member among the Traveling Natural History Program and the greater Chewonki community.

  • Work on the Chewonki campus and share meals with the community.

  • Contributes to and collaborates with the Chewonki community through committees and foundation wide events.

  • Shares the collective responsibility within risk management (physical, behavioral, institutional, etc.) by:

• Using sound judgment

• Operating within your skill set and Chewonki protocols

• Responding to and/or alerting the appropriate person(s) when you see something that may compromise safety

• Ability to understand and describe all Chewonki Programs and interdepartmental connectedness.

• Assumes other responsibilities as needed.

Qualifications:

• Rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (or commitment to obtain within the first 3 months of hire).

• CPR and First Aid Certification (or commitment to obtain within the first 6 months of hire).

• Attend required onboarding and training sessions (in-person/on campus).

• Valid Driver’s License approved by Chewonki’s insurance carrier.

• Attend Chewonki driver training.    

• An undergraduate degree preferably in the fields of science or education or equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience.

• Comfort in public speaking.  

• Experience training and providing high quality care for animals;  raptor experience preferred..

• Experience teaching a variety of audiences/age groups.

• Knowledge of effective curriculum design.

• Management/mentoring experience. 

• Ability to communicate effectively.

• Ability to represent Chewonki in a professional manner.

• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with different kinds of people.

• Values and is capable of receiving and offering honest and timely feedback.

• Flexibility, organization, and attention to detail.

• Experience using Google Apps for Education.

• Must have reliable transportation to and from the main Chewonki campus.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to drive long distances (individually or as a team) up to 5 hours; one-way.

• Must be able to lift up to 40 lb at a time.

• Must be able to work in an active, outdoor environment in a variety of weather conditions.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

Salary:  $52,000 - $59,000/ Annually Based on experience 

Time Off: Eligible to accrue 25 days PTO during first year of employment, and 3 Floating Holidays

Health Insurance: Eligible for medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. Eligible to contribute to a 403(b). 

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Applications close at 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 18, 2024