Director, Education

**_Taking action for the ocean today, so we can all flourish._**

**ROLE SUMMARY**

The Director of Education (“Director”) is responsible for leading Ocean Wise’s suite of education programs and activities to achieve the long-term goal of empowering 20 million people around the world as ocean and climate literate citizens. This includes leading the Education team to (1) develop and deliver ocean education activities in classrooms and communities, (2) equip educators with the knowledge and resources to embed ocean and climate literacy into their practice and (3) develop partnerships and networks to achieve local, national, and international engagement. This role, reporting to the Vice President of Youth & Education, currently provides leadership to a national team of 10 staff who engage over 100,000 people through education activities and resources each year and manages an annual budget of $2M.

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**

**Leads development and execution of strategy and provides operational leadership to the Education team**:

- Participates as a member of Ocean Wise’s leadership team and contributes to the strategic direction of the organization.
- Leads development and review of the Education component of Ocean Wise’s plan for growth and impact.
- Provides strategic direction to education programs by establishing mid and long-term goals, objectives, outcomes, KPIs, and workplans, and staying informed of industry trends and opportunities.
- Sets milestones and monitors progress towards goals and objectives, proactively identifying solutions to challenges and strategies to overcome barriers.
- Overseas department finances by developing annual budgets, reforecasting, reconciling revenues and expenses, and monitoring and controlling expenditures to ensure programs are delivered on budget.
- Ensures sustainability of Education programs by seeking diverse financial resources and collaborating with Development, Government Grants, and Business Development to prepare proposals and negotiate funding agreements.
- Leads management of funding contribution agreements including timely preparation of financial and activity reports, proactive negotiation of amendments, and liaising with funder representatives.
- Establishes and maintains relationships with a range of partners and collaborators (ex. school boards, Ministries of Education, teachers, informal/nonformal education organizations, conservation organizations, youth-serving agencies, civic institutions, and education institutions).
- Ensures adherence to organizational policies and procedures and to industry regulations and best practices.

**Oversees education program development, delivery, and evaluation**:

- Stays current of and adapts to emerging practices, trends, and opportunities within the education sector.
- Ensures programs are developed with diverse learners in mind to support program engagement for participants from equity-deserving groups.
- Ensures integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into program content and equips educators to deliver content in a culturally sensitive manner.
- Develops programs to align with best practices in experiential, environmental, inquiry-based, and place-based education.
- Ensures cross-department collaboration to ensure education content is aligned with Ocean Wise’s conservation initiatives and messaging.
- Ensures programs provide a safe physical and emotional learning environment for all participants.
- Establishes metrics to measure the impact of the programs and utilizes evaluation tools to monitor effectiveness of the programs in developing participants knowledge, skills, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviours.

**Directs the Education team and supports employee engagement as a people leader**:

- Models the Ocean Wise values, adheres to organizational policies and procedures and ensures the same of Education team members.
- Develops the team through recruitment, training, coaching, performance management and maintenance of the Staff Handbook.
- Creates an environment supportive of individual development, continuous learning, and growth mindsets.
- Motivates the team to achieve a high level of performance and productivity reflective of the importance of conservation issues Ocean Wise is working to address.
- Establishes performance objectives and goals, reviews progress throughout the year, and completes formal performance reviews for direct reports.
- Promotes an environment which encourages creativity, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
- Keeps the Education team, senior leadership and executives informed through clear, timely, and transparent communication.
- Recognizes and rewards success and accomplishments.
- Contributes to positive, engaging work culture by implementing employee engagement action plans.

**QUALIFICATIONS**

**Education and Experience**:

- Minimum 10 years experience working in education, including 5 years leadership experience, or an equivalent combination