Director of Guest Education

California Academy of Sciences; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The California Academy of Sciences is seeking a Director of Guest Education to develop and implement innovative educational programs that maximize guest attendance and enhance learning experiences. This role requires strong leadership, collaboration across departments, and extensive experience in education and program development.

Located in San Francisco, this position offers a full-time schedule, and candidates should expect to actively participate in the Academy's mission.

Qualifications

• 14+ years of experience in education or related field.
• 7–10 years of supervisory experience over teams.
• Experience in developing public educational programming.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy and vision for guest education.
• Develop engaging museum learning experiences.
• Manage departmental budget and financial projections.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Budget Management

Program Development

Collaboration

Education

BA/BS in science and/or environmental education

MA/MS in related field

PhD in relevant area

Tools

Google Suite

MS Office

Adobe Acrobat

Job description

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, research center, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

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.

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 Opportunity

Reporting to the Chief of Education and Learning, the Director of Guest Education is responsible for the strategy, conceptualization, implementation, and assessment of programs at the Academy, including all staff‑led programs and educational presentations offered to Academy guests. The Director works most closely with managerial leaders in the Education and Learning Division, and collaborates with teams from other Divisions such as Exhibits, Guest Experience, and Sales to ensure that we are meeting the Academy’s goals for visitor satisfaction, entertainment, and educational value. As a member of the Academy Leadership Team, this individual will participate in strategic‑level decision making for the Academy as a whole, in addition to representing the Academy externally to board members, donors, and partners.

This position is based in San Francisco, California. The specific onsite/hybrid schedule for this position is listed below.

Key Responsibilities

• Devise, articulate, and implement an innovative strategy and vision for 21st‑century museum‑based learning experiences, in partnership with the Chief of Education, to maximize guest attendance, strengthen our position as leaders of innovative museum learning experiences, and meet set educational impacts for our guests, such as increased science learning, climate and biodiversity literacy, and sustained commitment to agency for the natural world.
• Creatively expand the Academy’s portfolio of guest programs by providing project and staff management, along with state‑of‑the‑art and foundational resources, structures, and expert guidance to teams as they innovate new impactful ways to interpret the Academy’s mission, deliver transformative education, and connect exhibits, initiatives, and the work of Academy researchers through cohesive learning experiences.
• Research, evaluate, and propose new media, technologies, formats, tools, and modalities to create person‑led and human‑designed transformational learning experiences on the museum’s floor.
• Partner proactively and effectively enterprise‑wide with IBSS (Institute of Biodiversity Science and Sustainability), other Education departments, Exhibits, Marketing and Communications and other internal stakeholders to set and consistently meet guest experience goals, educational impact metrics, and support daily attendance projections.
• Collaborate with IBSS and Exhibits leadership to explore, identify, and consolidate pathways to integrate Academy’s original scientific work into programming for guests that centers on climate and biodiversity literacy and action.
• Enhance the quality and modalities of authentic, transformative learning experiences in which Academy guests can participate—before, during and post‑visit, creating holistic experiences that inspire individuals of all ages and backgrounds to take action toward regeneration of the natural world and the human‑nature connection.
• Effectively leverage AI as a support tool for developing educational programs and for science learning.
• Apply emerging immersive learning and engagement technologies for cutting‑edge programming.
• Inspire, direct, lead, mentor, and manage a team of 20–25 public programs staff of various levels and experiences.
• Leverage Academy educators to collaborate cross‑divisionally to develop engaging and evolving fee‑based programming to engage students across all age groups.
• Allocate and manage the budget for the department, including tracking all expenses, creating spending plans, and guiding staff to request and assign resources appropriately.
• Collaborate with Membership and Marketing and Communications to develop and market in‑person program offerings to generate revenue for the Academy.
• Help lift the Academy’s profile and impact—locally and beyond—as an innovative educational leader by developing strong external strategic program partnerships.
• Develop and maintain external partnerships with organizations and donors that support the public engagement strategy of the Academy and our attendance and utilization goals.
• Implement success metrics and evaluation tools to assess the alignment of designed programs with Transformative Education, measure learning goals set for guests, and desired external impact.
• Develop and direct the implementation of data collection tools for impact metrics specific to guest satisfaction such as attendance to programs, level of entertainment, and value proposition of programs.
• Identify and materialize opportunities for growth for the department’s staff in order to increase their expertise and knowledge on niche areas and expose them to new emerging trends for museum‑based learning experiences.
• Actively partner with Experience Studio on the development of offerings and with the Director of Activations to bring offerings to life in new ways.
• Act as a thought partner with the Senior Director of Experience on strategy‑level decisions regarding guest experiences through new exhibits and immersive experiences.
• Follow all Academy safety regulations and complete all People and Culture (PACT) assigned trainings.
• Support the Academy’s mission, vision, and Academy‑wide initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education and/or Experience:

• BA/BS; preferably in science and/or environmental education, and 14+ years’ experience.
• MA/MS in science, science communication, informal education, museum education with 12+ years’ experience or PhD and 8+ years’ experience.
• Minimum of 7–10 years experience in designing and delivering informal science and action‑focused education, including a minimum of 2 years’ working experience in programs that deliver informal science education with Transformative Education.
• Combined minimum of 7–10 years’ supervisory, leadership experience over teams of informal educators and public‑facing staff and volunteers at a zoo or aquarium (AZA accredited institution) or at a science center or museum.
• 3–5 years’ experience in securing funding for public programming through grant writing and/or donor solicitations.
• 3–5 years’ experience in developing and cultivating multi‑organizational partnerships focused on family or general public science or environmental learning.
• 1–2 years of special event and/or festival programming experience desired.

Skills & Abilities:

• Expert in developing innovative and engaging science content and solution‑based learning experiences for all ages for use by museums, aquariums, zoos, planetariums and/or other informal science learning organizations.
• Passionate and skillful conceptualization and design of programs that integrate complex science translated into accessible content within experiences and interactions that strengthen the human‑nature connection.
• Excellent leadership skills and commitment to positive team dynamics including developing leadership and growth opportunities within teams.
• Demonstrated experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating exciting in‑person programs that merge informal science with action‑oriented information, targeted for all ages and types of audiences.
• Ability to review content for all the public, through a scientific lens to confirm accuracy and rigor, and to provide feedback on structure and content when needed.
• Outstanding budget management skills for individual teams and department‑level operations, including creating financial projections for proposed projects and programs.
• Ample knowledge of, and demonstrated implementation of, progressive science interpretation, science communication, and solutionary‑design approaches for public, volunteer, and internship programs.
• Excellent communication skills: employs tact and diplomacy to communicate complex issues to highly diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated commitment to safety, specifically in regards to working with youth and volunteers.
• Ability to develop, operationalize, and implement program strategy.
• Nimble problem‑solving skills that combine a strong understanding of what motivates volunteers and staff and the ability to address staff performance issues in a proactive, supportive, kind, and discreet manner.
• Excellent organizational, detail and time‑management skills, including demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and on deadline, with the ability to coach other staff members from any level in this area.
• Impeccable writing skills and significant experience with grant writing and donor report writing.
• High computer proficiency in Google Suite, MS Office, Adobe Acrobat.
• Ability to creatively contribute ideas to developing immersive, interactive, cutting‑edge experiences.
• General working knowledge of and experience using generative AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable (or other vibe coding tools), Gamma, Figma (presentations), etc.
• Bilingual (spoken and/or written) in Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, or other non‑English language preferred.

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. This position requires extensive 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. Employees must be able to lift, carry and pull up to 30 pounds with or without assistance. Must be able to perform repetitive motions 50% of the time.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $130,000.00–$150,000.00. Actual compensation will be commensurate with the final candidate’s qualifications and experience, including skills, knowledge, relevant education, certifications and aligned with the internal peer group. 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, Onsite

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

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).