Cultural attraction education manager job description
An education manager runs the field trips, summer camps and public programs at a museum, zoo or garden. They lead the educators, set the child safety rules, train docents with the volunteer coordinator and keep the counts that grant reports need.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
Our Education Manager runs the programs that teach children and adults on our grounds and in schools. You plan school field trips, summer camps, and public programs, lead the educators, and work with the Volunteer Coordinator to train docents. You keep programs safe for children and within budget.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Plan field trip programs, school outreach, camps, and family programs tied to state learning standards.
Hire, train, and schedule educators, including the seasonal camp staff.
Set child safety rules for programs: staff-to-child ratios, check-in and pickup, bathroom policy, and allergy and medical forms.
Train docents with the Volunteer Coordinator on content, tour skills, and [object handling or animal contact rules].
Manage program budgets and fees, and send attendance and outcome data to development for grant reports.
Work with the Curator on [ambassador animal use, gallery content, or garden tours] so programs follow collection rules.
Review evaluations from teachers and families, and change programs based on what you learn.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check the day's school groups, programs, and staffing, and fill any gaps.
Visit programs in progress to observe and coach educators.
Answer teachers' and parents' questions about bookings, camp forms, and accessibility needs.
Plan or edit lessons, camp schedules, and materials.
Meet with the Volunteer Coordinator about docent schedules and training.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Field trip students served: [your target].
Camp enrollment against capacity: [your target].
Education program revenue against budget: [your target].
Teacher satisfaction score: [your target].
Active trained docents: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in [education, biology, history, art, museum studies, or a related field].
[4+] years teaching or running informal education programs, including [2+] years supervising staff.
Experience running camps or youth programs with written supervision procedures.
Clears the background check your policy and state law require for work with children.
First Aid and CPR certification, or willing to earn it before camp starts.
6. Preferred Experience
Has trained docents or other volunteer teachers.
State teaching certificate or experience writing lessons to state standards.
Experience writing or reporting on education grants.
Knowledge of your state's day camp licensing rules, where they apply.
7. Physical Requirements
Stand, walk, and teach for long periods, indoors and outdoors.
Carry program supplies up to [30] pounds.
Move with groups of children across the site in all weather.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time. Weekdays during the school year, with longer days during camp season.
Some weekends and evenings for public programs and events.
Busiest in the spring field trip season and summer camps.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new education manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes education management at a zoo, museum or garden different
A school principal or a parks director also runs programs for children. Here the classroom is a gallery, a habitat or a garden path. Many of the teachers are seasonal staff or volunteers, and grant reports depend on your counts.
Camp permits depend on your state
Whether a day camp needs a permit is set by state and local rules. In New York, for example, a program that counts as a camp needs a permit from the local health department, staff with First Aid and CPR training on site, and a check of staff and volunteers against sex offender registries. Check your state's rules before registration opens. Source: New York State Department of Health: Children's camps.
Paid educators can't donate teaching time
Labor Department guidance says a nonprofit's paid employees can't volunteer to do the same kind of work they are paid to do there. So an educator can't give a free camp week or an unpaid Saturday program. The same guidance says volunteers typically don't take the place of regular paid workers. Plan docent tours on top of the paid team's schedule, never in place of a paid teacher. Source: U.S. Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #14A, Non-profit organizations and the FLSA.
Programs must work for children with disabilities
The ADA covers child care and summer programs: Title III for privately run ones, Title II for government-run ones. Justice Department guidance for child care centers says to assess each child one by one and make reasonable changes to policies. It also says a program generally doesn't have to hire extra staff for one-on-one care. Plan for this before camp forms go out. Source: ADA.gov: Commonly asked questions about child care centers and the ADA.
Two peaks a year, both hard to staff
Spring brings field trip buses every morning, and summer brings full camp weeks. Seasonal camp staff are hired in winter, trained in late spring and gone when school starts, so the manager runs a hiring and training cycle every year on top of the programs.
The collection sets some lesson rules
Lessons have to fit the Curator's rules. Those say which ambassador animals may visit a classroom and how often, which objects children may touch, and which garden beds are off limits. The education manager builds those limits into each program. Then educators never have to pick between the lesson and the rule.
How much cultural attraction education managers make
The closest BLS group for cultural attraction education managers is education administrators. Education administrators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $81,920 a year ($39.39 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $95,200 median for education administrators in all industries. About 940 of the 55,130 education administrators in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Usually salaried. Camp weeks run long, so make sure the job's duties, and not only its salary, support treating it as exempt from overtime.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$81,920$81,920 median Middle half $64,980–$113,350 10th–90th $53,870–$164,280
All industries
$95,200$95,200 median Middle half $68,980–$126,590 10th–90th $51,910–$161,010
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$53,870
$64,980
$81,920
$113,350
$164,280
All industries
$51,910
$68,980
$95,200
$126,590
$161,010
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has run a camp or youth program with written supervision rules
Writes lessons and camp plans that other people can teach from
Coaches educators by watching them teach, then giving clear notes
Keeps budgets, fees and attendance counts accurate
Calm and clear with worried parents and busy teachers
Teach these on the job
Your collection's rules for animal contact, objects or garden tours
Your booking and camp registration software
Your state's learning standards for each grade
The grant report formats your development team uses
Docent training plans built with the Volunteer Coordinator
Education teams book field trips and camps in ticketing or registration software, sometimes the same system admissions uses. Camp forms, allergy notes and pickup lists live there or in a camp app. Ask candidates which booking systems they have run and how they kept pickup lists current.
Cultural attraction education manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
The right targets depend on your school district calendars, your camp capacity and your grants. Set them before spring booking opens and review them after camp ends.
Field trip students served
Count students by school, grade and program from your booking system, and compare spring with fall. Note groups that booked and then canceled, and why.
Camp enrollment against capacity
Divide registered campers by open spots for each camp week. Watch which weeks and age groups fill first and which stay short.
Education program revenue against budget
Track fees from field trips, camps and paid programs against the budget each month with finance, kept apart from grant money.
Teacher satisfaction score
Send every teacher a short survey once the bus leaves. Look in the comments for pacing, age fit and whether the lesson matched what students saw.
Active trained docents
Count docents who finished training and led a tour or program this quarter, using the Volunteer Coordinator's records.
Career path
EducatorLeads school groups and camp days on the floor.
Camp director or school programs coordinatorRuns camp weeks or the field trip calendar and trains seasonal staff.
Education ManagerRuns every program, the education staff and the budget.
Director of education and guest experienceAdds guest services, interpretation or volunteers at larger sites.
An education manager plans field trips, school visits, camps and family programs. Then they hire, train and schedule the people who teach them. They write the child safety rules, answer teacher and parent questions, and drop in on programs to coach staff. They also run the fees and budget and send counts and results to development for grants.
How much does a cultural attraction education manager make?
Education administrators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $81,920 a year ($39.39 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $64,980 and $113,350 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Can teens work as junior camp counselors?
Yes, with limits at 14 and 15. Federal rules allow some teaching work at that age, such as serving as a teacher's assistant. They may work only outside school hours: up to 8 hours on a day off school and 40 hours in a week off school, starting no earlier than 7 in the morning and ending by 7 at night. In summer, from June 1 to Labor Day, they may stay until 9. At 16 and 17, federal law sets no hour limits for jobs that aren't hazardous. State law may be tighter, and the stricter rule applies.
What background check should we run on an education manager?
Use the check that your written policy and state law call for with anyone around children, and check every finalist the same way. Using an outside screening firm brings in the Fair Credit Reporting Act: the candidate signs a stand-alone notice and consent before you order. If the report leans you toward a no, send them a copy plus the federal rights summary, and hear their side first. Some states and cities add steps.
Does an education manager need a teaching certificate?
No. The template lists a state teaching certificate under preferred, not required. A former classroom teacher knows state standards and how to run a full classroom. Someone from camps or nature centers knows supervision plans, parents and long summer days. Choose by your bigger season: school programs or camp.
How is an education manager different from a volunteer coordinator?
The education manager owns what is taught and who teaches it, paid or not. The volunteer coordinator signs up, screens, schedules and thanks every volunteer on site, from docents to event helpers. They share docent training. The coordinator handles sign-up and schedules, and the education manager handles the content and how to teach it.
