Public Observing Educator

Public Observing Educator

Full Time

About the Adler Planetarium

The Adler Planetarium connects people to the universe and each other. Whether it is introducing a guest to the Ring Nebula, a neighborhood school to a community partner, a research team to a network of citizen scientists, or one staff member to another, Adler’s focus on meaningful connections dates back nearly a century.

Today, the museum hosts more than half a million visitors each year and reaches millions more through youth STEM programs, neighborhood skywatching events, online citizen science, and other outreach projects.

With Adler’s support, people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities gain the confidence to explore their universe together and return to their communities ready to think critically and creatively about any challenge that comes their way.

The Position

The Adler Planetarium is seeking a Public Observing Educator to join our dynamic team located on Chicago's Museum Campus.

This position is responsible for the day-to-day development, facilitation, and coordination of various onsite and offsite Public Observing program activities.

This position develops educational programming and activities on telescope and sky observing topics. This position trains and supervises telescope volunteers and collaborates with other Adler departments on various aspects of telescope-related programming.

This individual will be responsible for :

Collaborating with Adler staff to recruit, onboard, and train telescope volunteers

Coordinating, coaching, communicating with, & supervising our telescope volunteer team

Developing & building relationships between the Telescope volunteer team and other Adler volunteer teams

Collaborating with the Director of Public Observing, the other Public Observing Educator, and with staff from other Adler departments to implement sky observing, telescope observing, and Doane Observatory programs and events for in-person guests, students, offsite program participants, and online audiences

Developing educational activities for use on the exhibit floor, in outreach programs, and online programs

This position requires weekend and evening hours. Most work will occur during a Tuesday through Saturday workweek, including many Wednesday evenings.

Full-Time Compensation & Benefits

Compensation

Base Pay : range : $21.65 - $23.81 / hr.

Work-Life Balance

35-hour workweek

3 sick days as of date of hire (can accrue up to 6.5 days per year)

7 Adler paid holidays

4 Personal Holidays (Prorated for new hires starting after January 1st)

Eligible to accrue up to 15 vacation days per year to start

Flexible work arrangements

Competitive Health Coverage

Medical, Dental, & Vision insurance

Healthcare, Dependent Care & Commuter flexible spending accounts

Adler Paid Short-Term Disability insurance

Retirement Savings Plan

403B plan with Adler match

Adler match is 100% vested immediately

Eligible to enroll as of the date of hire

Network of Support through our expanded EAP program

Monthly webinars, workshops, and self-care content

Life and Career Coaching

Specialized Coaching Programs

Therapy with a Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Discounted Onsite Parking Passes

Free Entrance to Chicago area museums and cultural institutions

The Person

Required Qualifications :

Bachelor’s Degree or five or more years of professional work experience

Valid Illinois driver's license

Two years of experience developing and coordinating educational programs for in-person and outreach audiences.

Experience setting up and operating telescopes and related equipment and accessories.

Demonstrated ability in the areas of science communication, inquiry education, writing, and program facilitation for a variety of audiences, especially children ages eight to twelve, teens, undergraduate students, and adults.

Demonstrated ability to manage day-to-day aspects of projects.

Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with small and large teams of people.

This position will be required to work Wednesday afternoons into the evening (10 pm). Periodic night and weekend shifts will be required.

Preferred Qualifications :

Bachelor’s Degree. Specializations : physics, astronomy, astrophysics, education, or museum education

Two years experience in any of the following areas :

Developing and / or facilitating educational programming at an observatory or planetarium.

Volunteering for an educational or public-facing organization.

Supervising, coaching, training, and / or developing training for volunteers.

Developing and facilitating online educational programs.

Experience in any of the following :

Conversant or fluent in a second language, especially Spanish.

Familiarity with astronomical image processing software, such as MaxIM DL or DeepSkyStacker.

Familiarity with astrophotography techniques.

Experience conducting research projects and / or astrophotography projects with a small-to-medium-sized telescope and related equipment.

Experience being interviewed by radio, television, and / or online media for live and / or recorded video or audio programs.

Experience appearing on camera for live and / or recorded programs.

• Knowledge in any of the following areas : history of astronomy; telescopes (modern and / or historical); the Sun & solar observing;
• night sky observing, including bright stars, constellations, planets, comets, our Moon and moon phases; light, color, and optics;

light pollution; and / or space exploration.

The Adler Planetarium is dedicated to complying with its obligations as an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact Jenean Featherson by email at recruiting@adlerplanetarium.

org and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis.