Curriculum Specialist - Education

About the California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—we are dedicated to exploring, explaining, and sustaining life on Earth.
Our extensive collections span plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. We are a diverse team of leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who work collaboratively to advance knowledge and inspire action through science and storytelling.

Why Join Us?

When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. Whether you're working behind the scenes in research or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.

About the Role: 

This role will be reporting to the Senior Manager for Teacher Programs, the Curriculum Specialist will be part of an interdisciplinary group leading a new teacher-facing program as well as a digital climate action module. Both initiatives are anchored in action-oriented and transdisciplinary learning. The Curriculum Specialist will lead the conception, structuring, design, and evaluation of associated instructional materials for both initiatives.

The position is primarily responsible for producing a series of instructional materials for two distinct programs. One program focuses on teacher professional development in action-oriented formal education. For this program, the Specialist will be the lead in the process of generating resources such as sample lesson plans, databases of lesson plans and other resources, and other relevant materials identified by the Director of School and Youth Programs and the Chief of Education and Learning. The second program is centered at producing a digital multi-lingual climate action module, that contains activities that can be used by both formal and informal educators working with middle school age youth. The Specialist will be in charge of producing a multi-unit, sequenced set of activities and resources that together form the Climate Action Module. The Specialist will collaborate with the  Director of School and Youth Programs and the Program Manager to field test the created draft resources with teachers and students. Using the collected data, the Specialist will refine the resources before presenting to teachers and other relevant groups the finalized Climate Action Module.   This is a long-term temporary, grant-funded role.  

POSITION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design resources for both programs under the learning principles and standards set by Transformative Education, with direct guidance from the Chief of Education and Learning.
• Lead the development of resources and all instructional materials to meet the needs and profiles of diverse educator and student audiences and to ensure programmatic goals.
• Under the guidance of the School and Youth Programs and Chief of Education and Learning, learn about progressive and state of the art training methods, as well as teaching practices and design approaches relevant to Transformative Education, climate change education, and biodiversity education.
• Collaborate with the Director of School and Youth Programs and Chief of Education and Learning to develop a design plan for the instructional materials associated with the teacher professional development program and the Climate Action Module program.  
• Coordinate field test sessions with the Program Coordinator for the resources that will be part of the different units within the Climate Action Module.
• Conduct field testing through  with the Program Coordinator and Director of School and Youth programs for the Climate Action Module.
• Analyze and report the finding of the field tests and make recommendations for changes to the Director of School and Youth Programs and Chief of Education and Learning
• Support the Senior Program Manager for the teacher professional development and the Program Coordinator for both programs to ensure that the programs meet all the articulated goals and outputs.
• Provide up-to-date program statistics and stories of impact for fundraising and marketing efforts; inform, and/or review grant proposals as needed.
• Document and generate reports with the insights from all programs’ sessions and events.
• Support all other divisional tasks and goals as needed.

EXPERIENCE and/or EDUCATION:

• Five (5) years of experience conceptualization, structuring, design, evaluation, and implementation of curricula, instructional materials, and teaching resources that include and/or are focused on sustainability education, climate change education, and action-oriented education. 
• Five (5) years experience as a classroom teacher.
• Four (4) years of experience working with educators.
• Experience creating and maintaining productive partnerships with external collaborators, emphasis on educational partnerships.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience in the field of instructional design and education. Priority will be given to candidates with experience in climate change education in formal and informal settings. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of or experience in sustainability education and literacy, action-oriented learning, and climate change education.
• Experience collecting data and evaluating data to inform product design.
• Experience in collaboration as a member of diverse and fast-paced teams.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES:             

• Commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion; ability to welcome and honor diverse perspectives, values, and identities
• Excellent leadership skills and commitment to positive team dynamics
• Excellent public speaking, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and implement efficient work strategies
• Ability to co-develop and execute an evidence-informed project plan from concept to implementation; knowledge of design thinking a plus
• Adapts and maintains flexibility in changing and fast-paced environments
• Works well independently and as part of a team
• Proficiency with data collection and evaluation metrics
• Proficiency in Spanish or Cantonese a plus
• A track record in curriculum development and instructional design for non-standardized education
• Familiarity with experiential, nature-based, and solutionary-centered learning
• A track record of work with traditionally marginalized communities, youth, and students; and working under the lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and justice
• Five years classroom teaching experience, and demonstrated ability to create science and sustainability, action-oriented focused teaching lessons and units
• A track record of working with academic standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, and California State Content Standards, and environmental literacy and sustainability literacy standards and principles
• Committed to improving science and climate change education systems at the local, regional and national levels to improve public science literacy for all, and demonstrated examples of such 
• Experience in designing and implementing online and in-person training materials for educators and students

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to work at a computer communicating with others in person, on the telephone, and online. Ability to perform repetitive motions 25% of the time. 

• Ability to transport 50 lbs with assistance

Ability to safely work in both outdoor and indoor environments that may include stairs, uneven paths, loose substrates, and secure access areas. May require time on the museum public floor which includes: frequent travel across concrete floors and bark while transporting materials, intervals of time outdoors in varying environmental conditions, extensive public speaking often in noisy environments, and exposure to high levels of noise.

Compensation and Benefits:
The salary for this position is   $74,422.00 - $77,438.00 .   Actual compensation will be commensurate with experience, skills/knowledge set, and internal equity. We believe in fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to providing competitive salaries within the industry and market standards. The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked. Further details regarding compensation and benefits will be discussed during the interview process.

Schedule: Full-Time, 40 hours per week

APPLICATION PROCESS:
Please upload your resume, and complete the brief online application.

The California Academy of Sciences will give full consideration for employment to all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance(SF Police Code, Article 49). 

We are committed to ensuring that all employees and applicants shall receive equal consideration and treatment. All terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, placements, transfers, promotions, compensation, benefits, terminations, training, and social and recreational programs, will be on the basis of qualifications of the individual for the positions being filled. The Academy does not discriminate against qualified applicants or employees with respect to any terms or conditions of employment on account of any characteristic protected by state or federal law or local ordinance. Read our full Equal Opportunity Statement here.