Director, Education & Experience

Job Title: Director, Education and Experience

Location: In-Office

Department: Education

FLSA: Exempt

Reports To: VP, Education

Position Overview

The Director, Education and Experience provides senior-level leadership for the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation’s education and engagement work. This role oversees the development and delivery of high-quality programs that serve all audiences—students, educators, families, veterans, and adults—ensuring alignment with the organization’s impact goals and mission to inspire America. In addition to advancing on-site experiences, this position plays a critical role in supporting the Foundation’s national character development initiatives delivered in schools regionally and across the country. The Director ensures programs are strategically designed, consistently delivered, and continuously improved to maximize impact. Reporting to the Vice President for Education, this position collaborates across Foundation to integrate education, interpretation, field trips, teacher professional development, community engagement, and national outreach into a unified, high-impact portfolio.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Alignment

• Translate strategic priorities into programs and initiatives that advance both the Museum experience and the Foundation’s broader education mission.
• Direct the development and implementation of policies and processes that ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality public programs and activations—across fall and spring seasons—aligned with the Foundation’s mission and strategic impact goals
• Partner with Foundation and Museum leadership to shape clear expectations and shared practices that foster excellence, inclusion, and service across all visitor-facing teams.

Program Development & Oversight

• Lead the design, delivery, and evaluation of impactful education and engagement programs for youth, adult, and intergenerational audiences.
• Support the oversight and growth of national character development programs delivered in schools, ensuring content quality, scalability, and measurable outcomes.
• Apply instructional design and curriculum development expertise to create inclusive, accessible, and engaging experiences in classrooms and at the Museum.

Experience Design & Institutional Collaboration

• Partner with Research, Exhibits & Collections, Marketing, and Development to integrate educational content into exhibitions, public programming, digital platforms, and outreach campaigns.
• Ensure tour, curriculum, and interpretive content are consistent and aligned with best practices in pedagogy / andragogy.
• Collaborate across departments to embed education into all institutional initiatives as needed.

Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Oversee daily education operations in coordination with managers and cross-departmental partners.
• Establish and maintain education SOPs for programs, customized tours, and public activations.
• Use impact data and visitor feedback to guide program refinement and institutional decision-making.

Audience Engagement & Partnerships

• Build and sustain partnerships with schools, districts, community organizations, veterans’ groups, and civic partners to expand access and reach.
• Lead strategies to engage diverse audiences and ensure equitable participation.
• Elevate visibility of education and character programming through campaigns, events, and national outreach initiatives.

Required Skills and Abilities

• Proven ability to lead across a complex organization, building high-performing teams and aligning stakeholders to impact goals.
• Expertise in instructional design, curriculum development, and nonprofit/museum education.
• Demonstrated success in managing large-scale programs for both youth and adult audiences.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence at all levels of a nonprofit foundation.
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills; ability to balance strategic leadership with operational oversight.
• Flexibility to support programming and events during evenings and weekends as needed.

Education and Experience

• 5–7 years of senior leadership experience in a cultural, educational, or nonprofit environment, including managing professional teams, budgets, and organizational initiatives.
• Demonstrated success in developing, scaling, and evaluating educational programs for multiple audiences.
• 5 years of experience in museum education, K–12 education, nonprofit programming, or public engagement.
• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferred in Museum Studies, Education, Nonprofit Leadership, Public History, or a related field.