Experience Specialist, Computer Science

Description

At Discovery Place, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we fuel your passion for science and the natural world by delivering awe-inspiring exhibits and educational programs.
Our immersive experiences captivate, challenge, and empower audiences of all ages, sparking a spirit of discovery and lifelong learning. We hope to forge a future where science catalyzes, creating boundless opportunities, fostering hope, solving complex problems and driving positive change across the globe.

We’re looking for driven, talented individuals who share our passion for making an impact and having fun while doing it.

The person occupying this role facilitates programs, engages guests, and develops programming content and exhibit experiences at Discovery Place Science and Discovery Place Nature. Programs to be facilitated include camps, classes, home school programs, workshops, and programming in the museums. Additionally, this role develops units, classes, events, exhibits and programming for the museum as assigned.

Content Expertise: This role will serve as a content expert on computer science, including hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D printers, Hummingbirds, EV3s...etc) coding, computational thinking and related disciplines.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.  

•    Facilitates programs for children ages Pre-K to 8th grade in various topics utilizing museum displays to augment standard teaching methods
•    Adapts course content and complexity to ages and interests of students.

• Interacts with guests at Discovery Place Nature and at Discovery Place Science. Provides experiences that empower and inspire guests to engage actively with the relevant content.
• Develop programming to include school camp enrichment, camp curriculum, classes, lab units, museum floor experiences and other related projects.
• Contribute to the design of exhibits or exhibitions for Discovery Place Science and Discovery Place Nature, including Science Buzz stations. 
• Contribute to the design of contracted projects, including the writing of curriculum for museums, school districts, film studios, etc.
• Occasionally serve as a program supervisor supporting other program staff.
• Follow defined processes and procedures and elevate undocumented situations that arise.
• Work with other members of the Content and Experience team to develop standards and targets for experiences at our museums.
• Develop evaluation metrics to assess the effectiveness of designed experiences both as a facilitator and as a developer, including customer feedback, revenue generated, observed level of engagement…etc.
• Contribute to and follow all outlined processes and procedures to ensure consistency and a high standard of quality across the organization.
• Develop and adhere to project timelines to ensure that all work is completed in a manner most appropriate for the project.
• Provide constructive and appropriate feedback on projects when requested by the project lead to help improve designs of experiences or curricula.
• Request and incorporate constructive and appropriate feedback on own projects and consider how to improve designs of experiences or curricula.
• Work closely with the Sr. Director of STEM and Exhibit Experience Development to create workplans and scopes of work for emergent or requested projects both internal and external.
• Develop and implement museum-wide events and special after-hours events including but not limited to adult oriented programming, special events, staff field trips, and programs corresponding to national events. 
• Occasionally develop and provide professional development for teachers.

The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities of this job. Other duties may be assigned. 
 

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:
Bachelor's degree (B.S. or B.A.) in a field related to content expertise above from a four-year college or university; and one to two years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. 

Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Problem Solving - Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; Develops alternative solutions; Works well in group problem solving situations; Uses reason when dealing with emotional and sensitive topics.

Customer Service - Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; Responds promptly to customer needs; Solicits customer feedback to improve service; Responds to requests for service and assistance; Meets commitments.

Adaptability - Adapts to changes in the work environment; Manages competing demands; Changes approach or method to best fit the situation; Able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.

Innovation - Displays original thinking and creativity; Meets challenges with resourcefulness; Generates suggestions for improving work; Develops innovative approaches and ideas; Presents ideas and information in a manner that gets others' attention.

Planning/Organizing - Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives; Organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; Develops realistic action plans.                

Executes/Delivers - Makes sustainable and timely progress on assigned tasks; communicates with supervisor when project timeline changes; delivers outcomes that provide value for the organization.

Language Ability:
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.  Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.  Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format.

Math Ability:
Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Reasoning Ability: 
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Computer Skills: 
To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft office, word processing and spreadsheet software, Vernier and LoggerPro equipment, LEGO mindstorms, and basic computer troubleshooting and programming (C or Arduino preferred). Knowledge of 3D printing software preferred. Knowledge of Vicnet and Volgistics preferred. 

Certificates and Licenses: 
North Carolina Teaching Certificate or equivalent degree in a field of science is preferred, but not required.

Supervisory Responsibilities: 
On occasion, this position is asked to supervise the daily operations of a camp or program.

Work Environment:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be regularly exposed to wet or humid conditions (non-weather). The employee may be frequently exposed to work near moving mechanical parts and machines (such as saws, drills, and other power tools) and work in high, precarious places.
The noise level in the work environment is usually loud.

Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to climb or balance and taste or smell. The employee is occasionally required to sit.

Employees of Discovery Place should uphold the mission, vision and values of the organization. We create positive change in our communities through our four core values: (1) science leads us, (2) equity drives us, (3) integrity guides us, and (4) innovation energizes us. We value the diversity of opinions and intellectual thought and encourage an environment where employees can share ideas openly.

The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities of this job. Other duties may be assigned. This job description may be changed to include new responsibilities and tasks or change existing ones as management deems necessary.