Director, Education

 

The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. It engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future. Founded in 1923, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) showcases the city’s unique stories and cultural treasures. The country’s first and largest city museum, MCNY presents immersive exhibitions and programs at the intersection of history, popular culture, and art to 200,000 people annually, including 30,000 students and educators, fostering shared identity, civic pride and engagement, and social cohesion for New Yorkers. MCNY has been recognized as one of the leading museums in New York City by publications such as Condé Nast Traveler and the New York Times, with Time Out New York awarding MCNY “Best Museum” in New York in 2021.

The Director of Education leads MCNY’s mission to foster a civically engaged generation of New Yorkers—reaching children at every age, equipping them to engage actively in their communities and city. Partnering with the Chief Curator and Deputy Director, the Director sets the strategy for MCNY’s education programs and leads the operations that bring that strategy to life across K–12, youth, and family audiences, deepening young learners’ connection to New York City and their capacity to participate in shaping it.

The Director will be expected to evaluate, refine, and strengthen MCNY’s existing education programs while setting a roadmap for ambitious expansion that elevates the visibility and reach of these programs, deepens the Museum’s relationship with the DOE, and grows the audiences MCNY serves. This role oversees two distinct but complementary program areas: K–12 Learning, encompassing field trips, curriculum development, and teacher professional development; and Youth and Family, encompassing grant-funded youth civics programming and public family programming. The Director works with the Chief Curator and Deputy Director to translate the Museum’s strategic plan into educational experiences that are intellectually rigorous, grounded in New York City’s history and contemporary life, and accessible to diverse audiences across age groups and learning contexts.

Reporting to the Chief Curator and Deputy Director, the Director of Education directly manages an Assistant Director (K–12 Learning) and an Assistant Director (Youth and Family Programs), leading a total team of approximately 10 full-time and part-time staff, and works in close collaboration with curatorial, development, marketing, and external affairs colleagues. The Director also plays a key role in grant stewardship, funder reporting, and relationship management with institutional funders who support education and youth programming.

This role involves direct work with students, teachers, families, and young people. Flexibility in schedule is required for occasional weekend and evening programs.

 

Roles and Responsibilities:  

Strategic and Operational Leadership

  • In partnership with the Chief Curator and Deputy Director, develop a multiyear education vision aligned with MCNY’s strategic plan and institutional mission, lead its implementation across program areas, and represent the education perspective in institutional planning conversations.
  • Position MCNY as a leading resource for educators, schools, and families engaging with New York City history, civic life, and contemporary experience, and represent the Museum externally at professional conferences, education forums, and partner convenings.
  • Supervise, mentor, and develop the Assistant Director (K–12 Learning) and Assistant Director (Youth and Family Programs), and oversee a total team of approximately 10 full-time and part-time staff.
  • Contribute to grant proposals, funder reports, and donor cultivation efforts in partnership with the Chief Curator and Development team.
  • Manage program budgets across both program areas, ensuring responsible stewardship of resources.

K–12 Learning

  • Build and maintain relationships with the NYC Department of Education, individual DOE schools, and DOE curriculum leaders to position MCNY as a trusted partner for classroom learning.
  • Oversee the Assistant Director and K–12 team in delivering all field trip programming, including curriculum-aligned school visits, educator resources, and on-site learning experiences.
  • Direct the team’s curriculum development efforts, ensuring educator materials connect MCNY’s collections and exhibitions to classroom learning and align with NYC DOE curriculum frameworks and New York State learning standards.
  • Set the direction for teacher professional development programming, working with the Associate Director and team to design and deliver workshops eligible for professional learning credits.
  • With the team, evaluate program quality and student engagement, using data and educator feedback to refine programming.
  • Ensure the team manages logistics, scheduling, and coordination for school group visits, and maintain senior-level relationships with school administrators and teachers.

Youth and Family

  • Oversee the Assistant Director and Youth and Family Programs team in delivering MCNY’s grant-funded youth civics program, setting direction on curriculum, staffing, participant recruitment, and program delivery.
  • Direct the team’s development of public family programming, including drop-in activities, ticketed programs, and special events tied to exhibitions and the institutional calendar.
  • Maintain senior-level relationships with youth-serving community organizations, schools, and civic partners, and guide the team in cultivating partnerships that broaden reach and deepen participation.
  • Set programmatic standards ensuring family and youth programming reflects MCNY’s commitment to inclusive engagement across communities.
  • And other duties as assigned.

A successful candidate will have:

 

  • 7+ years of experience as a museum educator, education program leader, or cultural institution educator, including significant experience managing teams and developing staff; someone who has shaped the identity and direction of a K–12, youth, or family program, and who is equally comfortable leading people, developing rigorous curriculum, and producing engaging public experiences for young people and families.
  • A body of work that reflects sustained commitment to education as a form of civic and cultural engagement: a record of helping shape and then executing on a programmatic vision, developing learning experiences that connect history and contemporary life, or a track record of building substantive education programs for broad public audiences.
  • Demonstrated experience developing K–12 curriculum and working with classroom teachers, including direct experience with the NYC Department of Education—its schools, curriculum frameworks, and learning standards.
  • Track record of building and maintaining operational systems, including budgets, timelines, and scheduling logistics, in a cultural or educational setting.
  • Demonstrated experience managing, mentoring, and developing a team of education staff, including direct reports who themselves manage others; comfort setting performance expectations, navigating personnel decisions, and building a strong team culture.
  • Experience working with grant-funded programs, including familiarity with program reporting and relationship management with institutional funders.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfort presenting publicly and representing an institution externally.
  • An established network within the NYC Department of Education and among NYC schools, education partners, and youth-serving community organizations; the relationships to position MCNY as a known and trusted partner from day one.
  • Familiarity with New York City history, culture, and civic life, or a clear and demonstrable commitment to developing that fluency.
  • Experience working with development and fundraising teams to support grant writing and donor engagement.
  • Fluency in Spanish is valued, but not required
  • A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and a passion for advancing equity and addressing structural racism within nonprofit organizations.

 

Physical Requirements & Work Environment:

 

While performing the essential functions of the job, this role primarily works on Monday-Friday with occasional weekend or evening work required. This position entails occasional weekend work, with schedules determined by operational needs. Work is primarily onsite at the Museum, in an open office plan setting. The Museum environment is fast-paced and workspaces include the Museum’s galleries and classroom spaces. Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time and able to traverse through office and museum gallery environment. Requires the ability to operate standard office equipment including computers and keyboards for extended periods of time. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color and peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. On occasion, the employee may be required to work outside events with weather conditions including heat and cold.

 

Benefits:

 

The annual salary for this position is $100,000. The position offers a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, life insurance, 401K and a defined benefit pension plan, short and long-term disability, and an Employee Assistance Program, with options for critical illness insurance, accident insurance, legal services, and pet insurance. The Museum provides a paid time off policy that includes 10 days of annual leave, rising to 15 days in year 2, and to 20 days in year 3, plus 12 sick days per year and 12 holidays. Your employment relationship with the Museum qualifies you for free or discounted admissions to other participating cultural institutions.

 

The Museum of the City of New York is committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with staff as diverse as New York City and the audiences who are curious about learning more about its history and engaging in contemporary urban issues. Our staff members are dedicated to working towards a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring city museum in the world.

 

The Museum of the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer. As such, the museum provides equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants without unlawful discrimination with respect to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identification or expression, marital status, military status or veteran, national origin, political association, political/personal convictions, predisposing genetic characteristics, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and style), religion (including attire, clothing or facial hair worn in accordance with religious requirements), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and transgender status), sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographic location, philosophies, or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws, in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay-off, and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. The Museum complies with applicable state and local law governing nondiscrimination in employment which prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employees, applicants for employment or interns, as well as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, other individuals providing services in the workplace or their employees in every location in which the Museum has facilities.