Project Specialist in the Science Education Resource Center

Job Title: Project Specialist in the Science Education Resource Center

Department: Science Education Resource Center

Classification: Exempt 

Grade: 10

FTE/Working Schedule: 1.0

Position Overview:

This person works as part of the SERC team at Carleton College to develop new and improve existing websites, support professional development programming, maintain SERC collections, and assist in education research and evaluation projects.

Essential Job Functions:

The Project specialist works on the full scope of projects undertaken by SERC including website development, professional development, education research and evaluation. Working with other staff as well as collaborators, the specialist is called on to take responsibility for completion of projects at a variety of scales including:

• Write reports and webpages synthesizing data and findings, community discussions, literature surveys.

• Manage and coordinate projects, serving as primary point of contact from SERC, integrating multiple elements and meeting required timelines 

• Work independently and with collaborators on budgetary statements of work and the ensuing work involving web authoring and professional development projects covering topics within the geosciences, STEM, and education.

• Support face-to-face and virtual workshops and meetings, particularly the development of workshop websites, use of the website during the workshop, and collection of materials at the workshop for the website.

• Coach internal program staff on website development activities and designing for accessibility.

• Provide back up and support for the work of other web content developers and evaluators.

• Support community research teams and projects including managing and analyzing data and documenting findings.

• Be responsible for day-to-day management and operation of projects including managing timelines and calendars.

Supervision Received and Exercised:

The Project Specialist will work as a self-directed member of the SERC staff with leadership from SERC associate director, technical director, evaluation director, and external project primary investigators.  Overall priorities and assignments are developed by the SERC director.

Education/Experience/Skills:

Required:    

• MS in a science, sustainability, education or related field (including environmental studies, environmental economics or geography)

• Up to four years of similar or related experience.

• Strong interest in higher education.

• Demonstrated ability to clearly communicate ideas, claims, and supporting argument in writing and in oral presentations. A writing sample may be requested

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, documentation and organization skills, including ability to interview educators and synthesize results; create well-designed web pages that quickly convey the scope of content and its importance; to effectively edit submissions from a variety of sources to create cohesive products and to deliver professional presentations.

• Ability to confidently interact with college and university faculty, scientists and other professionals while managing projects, guiding the work of individuals and leading workshop groups.

• Comfort working with groups of workshop participants both during one-on-one virtual interactions and in large group face-to-face settings.

• Demonstrated ability to independently complete project on schedule and to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

• Willingness to make several trips per year to support workshops, make oral and poster presentations, and conduct evaluation activities.

• Ability to work independently on loosely defined tasks as well as in close cooperation with a tight-knit team.

Preferred:     

• Experience related to promoting and coaching others in practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Experience working with quantitative data, comfort with basic statistics and data visualization techniques, including developing graphs and figures that illustrate key features of the data set; willingness to grow in this area.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage and develop web content;

• Knowledge of higher education and its culture, knowledge of effective practices and challenges in higher education.

• Affinity for computer work, fluency with common commercial software products, and ability to quickly learn new computer operations, such as with SERC’s content management system.

• Teaching experience

Must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral work instructions, operations, safety procedures, and hazardous labels. 

Note: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive.  Employee may perform other related duties to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the hire is complete. We accept only online applications.

Carleton College is an AA/EEO Employer: We are committed to developing our staff to better reflect the diversity of our student body and American society. Members of underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Staff Salary and Benefits: The selected finalist’s salary will be based on the candidate’s qualifications, internal pay structure, and our overall compensation package. Carleton offers a generous benefits package, including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, 403(b) retirement plans with a 10% employer contribution with immediate vesting, a health savings account with a college contribution, a generous paid time off package, as well as access to many other campus amenities. 

Founded in 1866, Carleton College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of roughly 2,000 students located in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota.  Nationally recognized as the nation’s top college for undergraduate teaching, Carleton is known for its academic rigor, intellectual curiosity, and sense of humor. Carleton offers 33 majors and 38 minors  in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, and social sciences.