Education & Engagement Specialist II

The mission of the Allen Institute is to unlock the complexities of bioscience and advance our knowledge to improve human health. Using an open science, multi-scale, team-oriented approach, the Allen Institute focuses on accelerating foundational research, developing standards and models, and cultivating new ideas to make a broad, transformational impact on science.

The mission of the Allen Institute Administration team is to provide support and structure to the scientific divisions. Coinciding with the team science approach, administration helps facilitate team learning and the Institute’s overall mission.

The Education & Engagement Specialist is a key member of the Education & Engagement Program team, part of the Communications department. The team produces educational and training resources that promote the use of the Allen Institute’s open scientific resources to working scientists, 9-12 and college students/instructors/institutions, and the public. The Program encompasses all Allen Institute research including neuroscience, cell biology, immunology, and more.

The Education & Engagement Specialist will lead projects and assist teammates in the development and execution of materials, events, and other resources across the portfolio of the Program, focusing on college educators/students, and occasionally high school educators/students. They may also contribute to team-wide collaborative efforts, including programs that reach scientific audiences and the general public.

They will concentrate on developing and maintaining the education resources library, including developing open educational teaching and professional development resources, accepting external submissions of resources, coordination of the peer review of resources, and website maintenance. They will represent the Allen Institute to the education and scientific community online, at conferences, and in professional societies and networks. They will work independently, support projects led by other Education & Engagement team members, and collaborate with both scientific partners and/or external educators. Many projects will have a computational biology, math, and/or programming element. They may also work on grant-funded education projects.

This Specialist will focus on the Allen Institute’s Education Resources library. Specific areas of responsibility include but are not limited to:

1. development and maintenance of the Allen Institute Education Resources library
2. supporting our external network of educators as they develop, finalize, and prepare publication of open educational resources (OERs), including teaching and professional development resources
3. initiating collaborations and cross-posting with other OER platforms
4. developing, analyzing, and interpreting resource usage and impact measures and metrics

The Specialist will lead the development and execution of open educational/professional development resources and/or other resources across the portfolio of the Program. They will also present or facilitate professional development trainings typically initiated by colleagues or educator network members. They will provide specialized expertise in curricular design and OER development during the events and may also contribute to the ideation/planning process.

They will expertly target and customize their content and approach for different audiences. They will represent the Allen Institute to professional communities online and at conferences. They will maintain current knowledge of emerging curricular design, educational research, and OER developments across biomedical sciences and STEM education.

The ideal candidate has either a strong scientific background and curricular design experience, OR a strong curricular design background and some scientific experience or education. No existing expertise in the Allen Institute’s research programs is required. They have an interest in developing expertise in a wide range of technical content through collaboration with scientific partners, as well as OER design approaches effective for a range of audiences.

At the Allen Institute, we believe that science is for everyone – and should be open to everyone. We are dedicated to combating biases and reducing barriers to STEM careers more broadly.

We also believe that science is better when it includes different perspectives and voices. We strive to make the Allen Institute a place where everyone feels like they belong and are empowered to do their best work in a supportive environment.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and strongly encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for our open positions.

Essential Functions

• Lead and contribute to Education & Engagement programs, events, activities, and materials development across relevant divisions and programs of the Allen Institute
• Collaborate with the Education & Engagement team, the Communications department, scientific partners, external collaborators, and others to contribute to high-impact education programs
• Develop and maintain a network of contacts, such as individuals, other education programs, scientific consortia, nonprofits, universities, federal agencies, and others as relevant
• Develop and maintain familiarity with the scientific background and technical use of relevant open resources from across the Institute when relevant to projects
• Collaborate with stakeholders to plan, execute, and facilitate new and existing professional development and educational resources and events
• Contribute to educational development workshops and other programming for our educator network
• Develop and maintain the educational resources library, including developing open educational teaching and professional development resources, accepting external submissions of resources, coordination of the peer review of resources, and website maintenance
• Represent the Allen Institute to the scientific and educational community at conferences, professional societies, and networks
• Collect, analyze, and implement feedback on outcomes from training, education, and outreach programs and resources
• Lead tours of the Allen Institute, including staying up to date on new content and messaging
• Provide additional programmatic support as needed

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in EITHER education, OR biology, immunology, neuroscience, or a related biomedical science field
• 1 year of teaching or developing STEM courses and curricula

Preferred Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in Instructional Design, Curriculum & Instruction, Science Education, Adult Education, or related field
• 3+ years of developing STEM courses and curricula
• Experience with the open educational resource (OER) landscape, stakeholders, platforms, and tools
• Experience with aligning teaching materials with professional organization and/or national standards (e.g., Vision & Change, AAI Recommendations, ASBMB Core Concepts, NGSS)
• Experience with accessibility for educational resources and best practices in universal design for learning (UDL)
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Strong organizational skills
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and budgets for on-time and on-budget execution
• Outstanding networking skills
• Strong MS Office 365 skills
• Additional software skills, either experience or ability to learn new software quickly and comfortably: Adobe Creative Suite, website content management (e.g., Webflow), Asana, GitHub, OER authoring tools
• Strong work ethic, sense of urgency, and self-motivation, including the ability to follow through to complete tasks independently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate with people at all levels of the organization, from a wide variety of backgrounds, and across age groups
• Exceptional collaborator; able to work with a variety of teams and personalities; ability to tailor approaches to best suit collaborators’ preferences

Physical Demands

• Fine motor movements in fingers/hands to operate computers and other office equipment, or proficient use of voice-to-text or related software
• Accommodations available for all below:
  • Occasional lifting up to 30 pounds
  • Push/pull up to 40 pounds
  • Stooping, bending, crouching
  • Reaching or climbing ladders/stepstools

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

• Occasional evening and weekend hours required
• This role is currently able to work both remotely and onsite in a hybrid work environment. We are a Washington State employer, and the primary work location for all Allen Institute employees is 615 Westlake Ave N.; any remote work must be performed in Washington State.

Travel

• Travel to exhibit at and/or participate in national conferences 3-6 times a year; remote participation not an option for most events

Annualized Salary Range

• $80,200 - $102,465*

* Final salary depends on the required education for the role, experience, level of skills relevant to the role, and work location, where applicable.

Benefits

Employees (and their families) are eligible to enroll in benefits per eligibility rules outlined in the Allen Institute’s Benefits Guide. These benefits include medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance. Employees are also eligible to enroll in the Allen Institute’s 401k plan. Paid time off is also available as outlined in the Allen Institutes Benefits Guide. Details on the Allen Institute’s benefits offering are located at the following link to the Benefits Guide: https://alleninstitute.org/careers/benefits.

It is the policy of the Allen Institute to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, the Allen Institute will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.