STEM Simulation Designer & Coordinator

BridgeYear (www.bridgeyear.org) is a maturing nonprofit organization in its ninth year of operation that connects underserved individuals to employment and education opportunities. We provide meaningful career exploration of high-growth, high-demand careers and connections to postsecondary training for recent high school graduates with a focus on non-four-year college degree paths. We are looking for a passionate, creative, and self-driven individual who is excited about workforce development, access to higher education, and positively affecting change in their local communities.

PRIMARY FUNCTION/PURPOSE:

As the STEM Simulation Designer & Coordinator, your pivotal role revolves around crafting immersive simulations designed to deeply engage students. This entails delving into various industries to meticulously capture the essence of real-world work scenarios. Armed with in-depth research, you'll skillfully assemble and refine these simulations, effectively re-engineering experiences that students can actively partake in during our Career Test Drive® Fairs. During assembling and refining, you may have to use power tools and other instruments to construct these simulations. Beyond the physical construction, you'll spearhead the development of a comprehensive curriculum, fostering an environment where students are fully immersed in hands-on, exploratory learning experiences.

This full-time position is perfect for someone who loves crafting educational experiences and physically building projects. This position will report to the Build Manager. The job is based in Houston, Texas, offering a hybrid work model that includes in-office, remote, and offsite opportunities.

YOU’D BE GREAT FOR THIS ROLE IF:

• You are curious, empathetic, and motivated to create intuitive and experimental experiences for students.
• You like being “out and about” in your work. You love the idea of being able to travel to different schools and industry partners across the city of Houston.
• You are able to connect with diverse stakeholders including educators, employers and industry partners.
• You can learn new or technical concepts quickly and share them with others.
• You enjoy working with a team to create experiences.
• You enjoy DIYing with your hands, power tools, and creativity to build new products!

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

Career Test Drive® Builds and Maintenance: Experienced curriculum designer adept in experiential education, hands-on interactive lesson planning. Directly contribute to the creation and maintenance of Career Test Drive® Modules. Ensure reserve and back up systems are in place for materials and programming events. Monitor and manage the live-time Repair Chat during programming days, troubleshooting capacity, in-person if needed.

Curriculum & Materials Stewardship: Update facilitator guides, student instructions, one-pagers and relevant information in collaboration with Build Manager.

Stakeholder Engagement: Professionally engage and collaborate with corporate entities, stakeholders, subject matter experts, and HR professionals through a collaborative Career Test Drive® Module development cycle.

Technical Training and Support: Serve as technical lead with Build Program Manager for training the Career Exploration Team on in-depth, behind-the-scenes, and advanced CTD Module set up, tear down, facilitation, student support and troubleshooting

Cross-Collaborative Work: Collaborate effectively with other departments within the organization (for example with Career Exploration Program Coordinators). Work together to align initiatives, share resources / information, develop cross-departmental processes, and leverage collective expertise to enhance the overall impact of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Must Haves

• 2 years of prior full-time, professional experience.
• Experience working with middle and high school students in a teaching or mentoring capacity.
• Highly effective organization, multi-tasking, attention to detail, oral and written communication, negotiation, results-driven and interpersonal skills.
• Customer-service oriented mindset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities to identify challenges, evaluate options, and develop innovative solutions to complex issues.
• High value on transparency, operate with a sense of urgency and driven by self-motivation.
• Access to a car and willing to travel for work (will be reimbursed for mileage).
• Must be willing and able to lift at least 50 pounds.

Nice to Haves, but Not Requirements

• Spanish fluency.
• Prior work experience in a school setting.
• Curriculum writing experience preferred.

COMPENSATION

Compensation: $57,000 - $63,000

Upon review, candidates may be invited to in-person interviews, which will be held by the week of August 4th. Ultimately, an offer will be extended the week of August 11th.