Empathy Project Coordinator

JobPosting

Empathy Project Coordinator

Department: School and Public Programs
Reports to: School and Public Programs Supervisor
Status: Full-time, hourly, benefitted position
Hours of Work: Standard Monday–Friday workweek, 8am–5pm. Occasional need for weekend or after-hours work as related to events and other projects.

Position Overview
 
The Seattle Aquarium, a leading marine conservation organization, is seeking a full-time Empathy Project Coordinator to support and coordinate a three-year grant focused on fostering empathy for wildlife and the natural world. This role serves as a central point of coordination across multiple grant-funded projects, supporting content development, partner collaboration, and program delivery while ensuring work stays aligned with grant goals, timelines, and budget requirements. The Empathy Project Coordinator works closely with internal teams, external partners, and community collaborators to help translate research, education, and empathy-based approaches into accessible, meaningful resources for educators, learners, and peer organizations.
 
This position also supports the facilitation and continued development of empathy workshops and contributes to a collaborative, reflective, and values-driven team environment that centers wellbeing, inclusion, and continuous learning.
 
 The projects within this grant include:

• Adapting the existing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and conservation activity book “The Salish Sea & Me” from a 3rd–5th grade audience to a Kindergarten–2nd grade audience
• Translating educational resources into multiple languages to better serve local communities
• Creating empathy-based resources for teachers to use with students during Seattle Aquarium visits
• Developing toolkits and guides to support peer organizations in adapting empathy-based resources for their own ecosystems and audiences
• Producing a series of empathy-based videos for zoo, aquarium, and museum professionals
• Expanding and refining empathy workshops to meet the needs of educational and animal-focused organizations beyond the zoo and aquarium field

Essential Functions

Project Coordination (40%)

• Learn and build a strong working understanding of the details and requirements associated with the grant including activities, budget, timelines, and reporting requirements.
• Use organizational tools to monitor project timelines. Keep project activities and evaluation on track and within budget, working with project leads, the Principal Evaluator, and supervisors.
• Keep lines of communication open and active between team members and external partners.
• Schedule and facilitate regular meetings of the project leads.
• Support grant spending and reporting, working with the Grant and Admin Specialist as well as the Philanthropy team to proactively address any changes. 
• Document the development process and reflect on ways to improve.
• Coordinate advisory groups and review groups such as teacher cohorts for evaluation, comparable organizations for front-end evaluation for the video project, and community partners for translation review.

Content Development (30%)

• Provide coordination and support as well as participate in the development and updating of educational materials that meet school standards, grant expectations, and organizational values as well as resources for teachers and educators.
• Integrate diverse worldviews, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, different ways of knowing, as well as local and global perspectives into projects.
• Develop content in collaboration with partners, co-workers, and participants, incorporating perspectives from people with a range of lived experiences.
• Become familiar and up-to-date on child development standards and learning standards including Next Generation Science Standards, Social Emotional Learning, Since Time Immemorial, Ocean Literacy, and beyond. 
• Create toolkits/guides based on the development process for peers.

Program Delivery/Facilitation (10%)

• Become familiar with Seattle Aquarium programs and resources, shadowing programs as desired.
• Learn and become fluent in empathy as a tool for conservation.
• Become familiar with Empathy workshops given to internal and external Aquarium/Zoo professionals, potentially traveling with and co-facilitating workshops. 

Wellbeing and Creative Innovation (20%)

• Set time aside to allow for collaboration, future planning, and creative thinking.
• Intentionally pause to evaluate sustainability of individual and team workload.
• Create space for team reflection and rejuvenation.
• Foster an environment where team members’ overall wellbeing is supported. Prioritize ensuring psychological safety and practicing emotional intelligence in communications. Ensure self-learning on these topics.

General:

• All Aquarium staff and volunteers are expected to participate in advancing and integrating into their work Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Regenerative practices in alignment with our S.A.L.I.S.H. Values.  
  • Other duties as assigned as appropriate to the level and scope of the role.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to track and advance many concurrent projects across multiple teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage time and balance strategic and day-to-day tasks.
• Ability to assess priorities
• Familiarity with project management best practices and tools
• Experience with school standards and child development milestones 
• Experience coordinating or supporting multi-step educational product development
• Experience or interest in social emotional learning, environmental justice, social justice, and a range of science topics.
• Interest in equity, inclusion, and diversity
• Strong group and meeting facilitation skills as well as presentation skills
• Strong networking and communication abilities; interpersonal skills for working with teachers, contractors, and peers at comparable organizations
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team setting
• Able to take initiative and share leadership within a team as appropriate.
• Multilingual and multicultural communication skills and experience are preferred
• Ability to learn and convey information about empathy as a conservation tool to staff and external practitioners with flexibility, strong listening skills, and respect for learners’ prior knowledge and experiences.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software applications.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the Aquarium’s Mission and Values, including Regenerative and Equity work. 

Minimum Requirements: The skills and abilities listed below may be demonstrated through a combination of relevant cultural and community programs, jobs, internships, volunteer experience, and/or formal or informal education. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you.

• Approximately 2–3 years’ experience in project coordination (or equivalent experience).
• Experience tracking budgets  
• Experience with non-formal, learner-led education programs (through paid or volunteer experience)
• Experience with curriculum development

Working Conditions:

• This role may occasionally require work during evenings or weekends, with advance notice when possible.
• This role may include light physical activity such as sitting, walking, or standing for extended periods. Reasonable accommodations are available.
• Frequent interruptions; walking, standing, sitting for extended periods of time. 
• Majority of work is performed in a typical office setting at a computer workstation for the duration of their shift; Shared office with other staff.  
• Some exposure to elements as employees are located in campus environment with multiple buildings, outdoor, and semi-covered area

Salary and benefits: $30/hour. Full-time staff are eligible for the Seattle Aquarium’s comprehensive benefits package to include medical, vision, dental, an employer-funded health reimbursement account, medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, 403b retirement fund with employer match, access to a subsidized ORCA pass, a Seattle Aquarium Family Plus membership and generous paid time off.

The Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium in Seattle, Washington, United States, located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront. The aquarium opened in 1977 and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).