Educator (3546)

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 34,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Long-term disability

403(b) retirement plan

Paid holidays

Personal business days

Sick leave

Vacation

Job summary

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ seeks a full-time Educator to lead conservation programs and hands-on learning for students and families. You will connect ecology, math, art, and more in interdisciplinary lessons, inspiring desert stewards and fostering curiosity about wildlife and habitats.

The position emphasizes exploring Sonoran Desert science, delivering engaging programs, and collaborating with the Conservation, Education and Science department.

Qualifications

• Assoc degree in science, education or closely related field.
• One year of experience in early childhood or elementary education, formal or informal, paid or volunteer.
• Bachelor’s degree in science, education or related field preferred.
• Two+ years working with children in formal groups.
• Experience working with animals and outdoors.
• Experience hiking, camping with youth; theater/presentation experience.
• Experience creating educational resources such as slides, handouts, or activities.
• Ability to read and interpret safety rules and write routine reports; speak before groups.

Responsibilities

• Support a variety of programming: classes, family groups, festivals, field trips, and events.
• Assist with programs and orientations for school groups and camps.
• Engage guests through exhibits and nature exploration on-site and off-site.
• Handle, transport, and teach with live animals; maintain animal handling certifications.
• Compile artifacts and materials for educational programs.
• Develop educational materials like slide decks and worksheets.
• Communicate with teachers and staff to coordinate program logistics.
• Communicate science topics including desert ecology and climate issues.

Skills

Science education

Public speaking

Education outreach

Education

Assoc degree in science

Bachelor's degree (preferred)

Tools

Google Slides

PowerPoint

Spreadsheets

Word processing

Job description

Job Location: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Tucson, AZ 85743

Join the Adventure at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum!

Join our creative and dynamic education team as a full-time Educator and inspire the next generation of desert stewards. In this role, you'll lead engaging conservation programs that ignite curiosity and foster a lifelong passion for wildlife, habitat preservation, and the natural world. Through hands‑on, interdisciplinary learning that connects ecology, mathematics, art, and more, you'll help students discover the wonders of the Sonoran Desert while making a lasting impact on their understanding of conservation.

This position will most likely begin in late Fall 2026, with interviews in late September to early October. Application review will begin in September. Please understand that if offered a position, you will be required to successfully complete a criminal background check, a pre‑employment drug screen, and provide a current satisfactory 39‑month driver’s history report as a final condition of employment.

Job Title: Educator

Department: Conservation, Education and Science

Reports To: Associate Director for Education

FLSA Status: Non‑exempt; Full‑time

Starting Salary: $16.49 per hour (initial step) plus a comprehensive benefit package, which includes medical, dental, vision, life and LTD insurance, FSA, HRA, 403(b) retirement plan, paid holidays, personal business days, sick leave, and vacation. Position is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Summary

The Educator role at the Desert Museum assists with educational and conservation experiences for school groups, families, children, camps, and the general public for people of all ages. Programs are a mix of in‑person (indoors & outdoors), overnights, virtual, and hybrid.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• The primary responsibility of this position is to support a variety of programming (classes, family groups, festivals, field trips, informal activities, overnight camping trips, special events, etc.)
• Assist with programs and orientations for school groups, teen programs, community groups, and camps.
• Engage and educate guests through exhibit or nature exploration in addition to onsite, offsite, virtual, and tabling events.
• Follow correct procedures for handling, transporting, and teaching with live animals (arthropods and reptiles) and maintain internal animal handling certifications.
• Compiles Museum artifacts, materials, and other educational tools for educational programs.
• Develops educational materials for programs such as slide decks, manipulatives, worksheets, booklets, and other hands‑on teaching tools.
• Assists with program logistics by communicating with teachers, group leads, and staff.
• Knowledge of and comfort with communicating science topics including the natural history of Sonoran Desert species, climate change, invasive species, the age of the Earth, and dinosaurs, among other topics.
• Maintain records of attendance, training goals, and animal handling.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

Associate’s degree in science, education or closely related field. One year of experience in early childhood or elementary education, formal or informal, paid or volunteer.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in science, education or a closely related field.
• Two+ years working with children in formal groups (classrooms, clubs, teams etc.).
• Experience working with animals.
• Experience working outdoors in a variety of weather.
• Experience hiking and camping, especially with youth.
• Theater/presentation experience.
• Experience creating educational resources such as slides, handouts, or activities.

Language Skills

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Computer Skills

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Virtual Programming, Google or PPT slide creation, spreadsheet, and word processing software.

Other Skills and Abilities

• Must be familiar with Zoom, Teams, Google, and Microsoft Office suite, and able to learn new technology quickly.
• Able to work most Saturdays, special events, and half of the Saturday nights in the summer.
• Must be able to occasionally work long shifts (>10 hours).
• Must be able to work overnight camping events (one to two nights in a row). Camping takes place in a variety of habitats (indoors, or outdoors in the low desert or Sky Islands).
• Must be able to routinely drive at night and in low‑light situations.
• Able to teach in Spanish and English, preferred.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

• Must have, or be able to obtain, an Arizona Driver's License with 6 years’ driving experience and a clean driving record.
• Fingerprint Clearance Card (or ability to obtain).
• First Aid and CPR (or willing to obtain).

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of the position, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include distance vision and peripheral vision.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is occasionally exposed to high, precarious places, unlevel rough terrain, and outdoor weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate with occasionally loud experiences.

IDEA Commitment

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is committed to fostering a welcoming space and a diverse, inclusive team that reflects the communities in which we live and work. We understand that inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) are integral to the fulfillment of our mission, and to our success as an organization. To that end, we are working to build the structures, policies, hiring practices and organizational culture that ensure representation and opportunity for all, and create an environment of belonging where everyone feels respected, safe, and understood. Additionally, as we continue to engage in this work, we are working to integrate the core values of IDEA into our programs, exhibits, communications, and other public offerings. Valuing each other’s differences brings us together to create a thriving workplace and fair work culture, allowing us to fulfill our mission more effectively.

We believe inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. Ways in which commitment is demonstrated include continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively addressing bias.

The Museum’s IDEA Coalition consists of staff members who are driving our efforts to build a culture where people feel they belong and have a voice. Visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's IDEA page to learn more.

The above description reflects a general overview of the responsibilities, reporting relationships and position requirements for this job classification. It is not intended to be a complete description of all duties and requirements that may be inherent in the position.