ARISS-USA seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to serve as our Director of Education

Overview

ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3) educational and scientific non-profit organization, is seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to serve as our Director of Education. This is a part-time, remote position in the USA which includes a one-year probationary period.

ARISS provides and operates Amateur Radio systems on International Space Station (ISS) and elsewhere to inspire, educate, and engage youth and communities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and to support ISS backup communications. For more detailed information on ARISS, see the About ARISS-USA section, below, or visit the ARISS web sites: www.ariss.org and www.ariss-usa.org.

Responsibilities

·         ARISS Education Senior Leadership: As the Director of Education, work with the ARISS team to develop strategies and a vision to maintain and expand the educational outcomes of youth that participate in the ARISS experience.

·         Education Engagement Volunteer Team (EEVT) Leadership: Serve as the leader of the ARISS education engagement volunteer team, fostering passion within the team, recruiting new team members, and ensuring each radio contact opportunity meets ARISS’ objectives of inspiring, engaging, and educating youth in STEAM/STEM and encouraging youth to pursue careers in these fields.

·         Host Organization Contact Competitive Selection: Coordinate the semi-annual request for proposal (RFP) process to solicit and select host organizations (e.g., schools and informal education organizations) for ARISS astronaut radio contacts. Staff the proposal selection team, maintain RFP selection rubric and RFP process, conduct host organization information sessions, serve as the selection official, and coordinate with the ARISS executive team on endorsement of final selections and on ensuring host organizations and external media are promptly and accurately informed of the results.

·         ARISS Education Ambassadors (AEA): Recruit, train and guide AEAs, selected from the EEVT ranks. AEAs track their appointed ARISS contact host organizations to gather details and insight into how these contact teams are following their educational objectives as outlined in their proposals. AEAs also gather data to document ARISS contact educational outcomes, including photos, parent permission slips, student engagement descriptions, metrics and post-survey compliance. 

·         Diversity and Inclusion: Develop team strategies that explicitly target improvements in ARISS’ engagement with diverse and underrepresented youth and provide opportunities for these youth that motivate them to pursue STEAM careers.

·         ARISS Lesson Plans: Create or coordinate the development of lesson plans and educational kits that support the educational outcomes of ARISS host organizations. Compile external lessons that can serve ARISS host organizations, including lessons developed by our NASA and ISS National Lab sponsors. Maintain dedicated areas on the ARISS web site for posting these lessons for distribution.

·         National Science Standards Alignment: Ensure ARISS education initiatives—including the contact experience, lesson plans, and educational kits—align with National Science Standards.

·         Metric Collection: Work with the education volunteer team to ensure contact metrics and post-contact surveys are submitted. Conduct post-contact surveys and track survey performance over the course of the program. Present metrics and survey results to ARISS executive team and prepare materials and present results of educational outcomes to sponsors, stakeholders and prospective new partners.

·         Networking: Participate in meetings, conferences, workshops and other opportunities to convey the educational breadth and depth of the ARISS Experience to space agencies, educators, sponsors, stakeholders, education departments, and federal and state governments.

·         International Coordination: Work with ARISS educators in other countries to develop best practices and to convey the activities and methods employed by the ARISS-USA educator team.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

·         Demonstrated leadership in a formal or informal education setting.

·         3+ years of teaching experience in a formal or informal education environment

·         Graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in education, education administration or a related field.

·         Proficient in the use of virtual technology, including Zoom, and ability to learn other virtual tools, such as Google Meet, Teams, Webex, Dropbox, Google docs and Office 365 products.

·         Enthusiasm in providing education experiences in the STEAM field.

·         Enthusiasm learning about amateur radio and wireless technologies and to enthusiastically convey these to educators and youth.

·         Must be a U.S. citizen.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

·         Basic understanding of amateur radio; possessing an amateur radio license preferred; obtaining an amateur radio license required post-hire.  License training will be provided upon hiring.

·         Educator that has previously conducted an ARISS contact.

·         Experience and/or ability to work and lead a virtual, distributed, nationwide team.

·         Experience in coordinating experiences, lessons learned and best practices with ARISS international colleagues.

·         Experience in coordinating with partners, stakeholders and sponsors.

·         Experience interfacing with space agencies or space organizations.

Location

Remote, within the USA.

Anticipated Salary

Part time, 20-hour per week salary range is $23,000-$34,500 per year, depending upon experience.

Hours worked per week and during the day are flexible, as long as the candidate supports meeting engagements, meets deliverable times, and works an average of about 20 hours per week.

Other Position Information

Candidates accepted into this position will be required to first serve a one-year probationary period. All candidates must be U.S. citizens.

To Apply

If you are interested in making a difference as an ARISS-USA team member, please send your resume or CV to candidates@ariss-usa.org. Include a cover letter explaining your interest in the position and why you are the optimal candidate for this position.

All position applications are due no later than midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) July 15, 2023.

About ARISS-USA

ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization, is the United States arm of the international ARISS working group. ARISS inspires, engages and educates youth in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) by providing once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunities for youth to conduct ten-minute question and answer interviews directly with crew members on-board the International Space Station (ISS). Through these ARISS ham radio connections, students ask the ISS crew questions about life in space, career opportunities or other space-related topics. Students spend about four to six months in formal and informal education settings preparing for their contact. Preparation for the experience motivates youth to learn about radio waves, space technology, ISS research, science, geography and the space environment. In many cases, the students help write press releases, convey ARISS activities through social media and give presentations on the contact to their fellow students and to the local community. They also can fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with the onboard crew member. ARISS youth activities span many youth educational domains, including public and charter schools and universities (K-16), scout groups, museums, libraries, after school programs, and national or international events.

Recently unveiled, ARISS 2.0 represents a new STEAM education vision for the future of amateur radio on human spaceflight missions. ARISS 2.0 will augment the current ARISS education, operations, and on-board hardware capabilities to provide more extensive educational outcomes for our next generation. This will be accomplished through new, engaging education projects and lessons plans that will leverage our on-board space assets and interactive wireless radio kits on the ground. It will encompass multiple human spaceflight vehicles in low Earth orbit and deep space, including ISS, commercial space stations, such as Axiom, and may include cislunar opportunities on Gateway, Artemis, and lunar landers. These diverse, on-board wireless capabilities will be available to youth and lifelong learners 24/7, inspiring, engaging and educating participants across the globe.