Education Manager

Common Ground is a non-profit organization based in Beacon, NY with a mission to support and engage our community by fostering access and connection to fresh food and local agriculture. Common Ground Farm is seeking an Education Manager to lead our farm-based education programs. Through Preschool on the Farm, Farm Camp, Farm to School partnerships, and community workshops, we connect people of all ages to fresh food, farming, and the natural world.

The Education Manager plays a central role in advancing Common Ground Farm’s mission to support and engage our community by fostering access to fresh food and connection to local agriculture. This role shapes meaningful educational experiences, supports a collaborative team, and builds systems that sustain and strengthen our programs over time. This is a hands-on position that combines leadership, administration, and direct teaching, with seasonal variation in workload. During the spring and summer seasons, this position is supported by a seasonal Assistant Camp Director. The Education Manager reports to the Executive Director.

Success in this role includes strong program enrollment, positive participant feedback, effective staff leadership, and well-organized systems.

Responsibilities

This role balances program leadership, staff management, and operational systems. Priorities shift throughout the year based on the season, with the summer camp period requiring increased focus on daily program execution. The Education Manager is expected to manage competing priorities and adjust focus as needed to support high-quality program delivery.

Program Leadership & Curriculum

• Oversee all education programs: planning, scheduling, registration, curriculum development, communication, and evaluation
• Lead core programs—Preschool on the Farm, Farm Camp, and Farm to School—with opportunity to develop additional mission-aligned offerings
• Direct all aspects of Farm Camp, including compliance, staff leadership, enrollment, family communication, and program evaluation, with support from a seasonal Assistant Camp Director during the spring and summer
• Oversee educational programming and activities in the Children’s Garden, including seasonal planning and coordination

Staff Management & Leadership

• Hire, train, and supervise seasonal, part-time, and contract education staff
• Provide day-to-day leadership, support, and supervision for education team members, especially during peak program seasons

Operations & Administration

• Develop and manage the education budget in collaboration with the Executive Director and Operations and Finance Manager; track progress toward program and revenue goals
• Maintain organized systems for program operations and track data to support evaluation and fundraising
• Collaborate with staff on cross-program work (field activities, market programming, etc.)
• Participate in staff, board, and committee meetings

Community Engagement & Outreach

• Build and maintain relationships with community partners, including local schools and organizations
• Promote programs through newsletters, social media, printed materials, and community events
• Support grant writing and fundraising campaigns in collaboration with the Executive Director

Job Qualifications:

Required

• At least three years of teaching experience
• Experience leading outdoor, farm-based, or food-based programs
• Familiarity with growing vegetables and comfort cooking with whole foods
• Strong leadership and experience supervising teams
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and manage multiple priorities
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Comfort teaching people of all ages, from young children through adults
• Commitment to ensuring equitable access to farm-based education
• Experience with Google Workspace and/or Microsoft Office, including spreadsheets

Preferred

• Experience running a summer camp
• Basic Spanish language proficiency
• Basic knowledge of art and art-based education

Schedule: This is a year-round, full-time position (40 hours per week), typically Monday through Friday, with occasional weekends for programs and events.

The summer camp season (June 30th through August 21) is a particularly active period and requires additional flexibility and time commitment. Up to 5 hours of paid overtime per week is budgeted for this time.

Benefits include 100 hours of paid vacation, 40 hours of paid sick leave, paid holidays, a monthly healthcare stipend, a free CSA share, 25% off CGF programs, free camp tuition for dependents, and two tickets to all CGF events.

Basic Spanish proficiency preferred