Director of Education

About OpenMind

In recent years, our society has become increasingly divided. Rather than appreciating our differences, all too often, people view the world through an "us versus them" lens. OpenMind is a non-profit organization that works to address these issues by translating the latest behavioral science research into educational tools that are practical, scalable, and evidence-based in order to equip people with the mindset and skillset to bridge divides. Our educational tools are built primarily for use in higher education and high schools, but they are also used in workplaces and community organizations.

OpenMind was co-founded by psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the bestselling author of The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind. Since launching in 2017, our program has been used by 50,000 learners in more than 1,000 classrooms and 150+ organizations and companies across more than 30 countries.

OpenMind is at an exciting stage in our organizational growth. We just completed a 3-year strategic plan where we established ambitious goals to: (1) Develop a suite of educator- and student-facing tools to promote pluralism, intellectual humility, and constructive dialogue in schools and universities, (2) Scale these tools to reach a million students annually within the next four years, and (3) Execute a thought leadership agenda to establish the importance of intellectual humility and constructive dialogue to educational and civic outcomes.

About the role

We are looking for our first Director of Education — an educational expert with particular expertise in conflict resolution and/or teaching controversial topics. In this role, you will play a critical role in the creation of our educational tools and advancing our thought leadership agenda.

As our in-house subject matter expert, you will play a leading role in creating the content for our educational tools. You will also be expected to contribute to our thought leadership strategy by writing op-eds, blog posts, and white papers, serving as an expert for media interviews, and developing educational content for large-scale marketing campaigns. The ideal candidate will have experience with facilitation, and from time to time will lead workshops and webinars for educators and other stakeholders.

Over time, you will be responsible for hiring and leading our curriculum team. You will be expected to serve as a player-coach who contributes to and manages the team’s projects and priorities. As a small team, Directors should expect to roll up their sleeves and have a direct hand in executing their team's projects.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary subject matter expert to create the content for OpenMind's suite of educator- and student-facing educational tools
• Contribute to OpenMind's thought leadership strategy by writing op-eds, blog posts, and white papers, serving as an expert for media interviews, and developing educational content for large-scale marketing campaigns
• Keep up-to-date with trends and research in teaching, curriculum development, and conflict resolution and continuously incorporate into our content as appropriate
• Collaborate with our Learning Solutions and Research teams to build our educational tools
• Lead workshops and webinars with educators and other relevant stakeholders
• Build and lead a team of curriculum developers

Qualifications

• A master's or PhD degree in Education, Teaching, Curriculum, Instruction
• Expertise in conflict resolution, teaching controversial topics, civic education, and/or mediation
• At least 5 years of work experience creating educational tools and/or serving as a conflict resolution practitioner
• At least 3 years of experience teaching in a school or higher education setting
• Exceptional writing skills, with a knack for communicating complex ideas in memorable, straightforward prose
• Experience creating educational content for multiple formats, including online learning, live facilitation, and video
• Experience leading teams and overseeing complex projects

Why work with us

• A Mission-Driven Culture — we practice what we preach, so we wear our values of intellectual humility, continuous improvement, and open-mindedness on our sleeves
• Remote-First — OpenMind was founded as a remote-first organization, and we work hard to maintain a strong team culture across vast distances (our small crew is spread across six states and three countries)
• Compensation — salary starting from $140,000, negotiable, commensurate with expertise and experience
• Unlimited PTO

• Other Benefits — employer-supported health, vision and dental plans, subsidized parental leave, 401(k) program (not matched), short- and long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance, $1,000 annual professional development budget; more details here: https://bit.ly/35HydzY

OpenMind is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin. As an organization firmly committed to bridging divides, it is important for us to build a team representative of the nation’s rich diversity.