• Job Description

  Req#: 529400
  JOB POSTING
  Community Engagement Field Program Specialist
  Posted: Open to internal and external applicants
  Reports to: Community Engagement Manager
  Status: Full-time, hourly, benefitted position
  Hours of work: 40 hours/week, the schedule is variable but set in advance, based on seasonal need. During the peak summer season this position will regularly work weekends.
  Date needed: August 2025
  Posting expires: Open until filled, priority given to applications received by June 5.
  Position description:
  The Seattle Aquarium is seeking a Field Program Specialist to support our Beach Naturalist and Cedar River Salmon Journey programs, ensuring equitable access to marine education for historically underserved communities. This role provides logistical and volunteer management support, helping to enhance accessibility, cultural relevance, and environmental justice education across our field and outreach programs.
  Reporting to the Community Engagement Manager, the Field Program Specialist works closely with the Community Outreach Coordinator, Connections Program Coordinator, and Waterfront Engagement Coordinator to coordinate volunteer training, scheduling, and communication while also supporting field program logistics, partner engagement, and cross-organizational collaboration. This full-time role requires a flexible schedule, including weekdays, weekends, and evenings, to align with public programming, low tides, salmon migration, and community events.
  Key functions:
  1. Volunteer leadership: take a community-centered and person-first approach to volunteer coordination, encouraging collaborative and mutually beneficial volunteer experiences. Keep familiar with current best practices and research in informal/non-formal learning environments, culturally responsive instruction, diversity, equity, inclusion, marine science and empathy for wildlife in order to instill this with our volunteers.
  1. Volunteer administration: provide support to community engagement program volunteers including recruiting, training, scheduling, communication and season wrap up. Be mindful that a ll 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.
  2. Communication: responsible for sharing program details with program staff, partners and volunteers on a frequent and ongoing basis with a goal of clarity, transparency and responsiveness. Examples include sharing schedules, training plans, sending program updates and responding to volunteer questions. This may be done through email, Seattle Aquarium sponsored online groups and the phone.
  3. Field Program Support: Provide onsite support during public program days from sign in to set up and supply management; help oversee field sites, offering guidance on marine life, beach ecology, etc. while ensuring program protocols are in place; foster a welcoming environment by modeling respectful visitor interactions and assisting with conflict resolution.
  4. Community Engagement & Outreach Support: help coordinate logistics for community engagement events, such as Community Days; assist in delivering outreach programs to Seattle Aquarium Connections partners using an inclusive, learner-focused approach; maintain strong relationships with community partners, ensuring programming aligns with their needs and the Aquarium’s mission; provide logistical support as needed.
  5. Collaboration: foster a collaborative approach to program support with internal teams and program partners to promote the program through print, online and social media, being mindful of project timelines to ensure all teams have what they need on time (such as graphics, content and production timelines).
  6. Logistics and documentation: responsible for regular and accurate record keeping for field programs, grant reporting and year end reporting including summarizing data compiled by field volunteers, coordinating volunteer and visitor evaluations and reporting results out.
  7. Other duties as assigned as appropriate to the level and position.
  Required skills and experience:
  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.
  • Minimum of one year of experience working in a field setting delivering public outreach programs related to salmon, the marine nearshore, and conservation.
  • Minimum of one year of experience working with and managing volunteers with respect and appreciation. Must be able to interact positively with volunteers and be willing to teach and be supportive of all volunteers’ abilities.
  • Experience developing and refining education or outreach programs using an equity lens to ensure accessibility and inclusion for overburdened audiences.
  • First aid and CPR/AED certification; proof required by first day of paid work. Red Cross online courses are accepted.
  • Washington state driver’s license or other state valid license and good driving record.
  • Interest and expertise in marine science, and/or place based environmental science and conservation.
  • Adaptable, flexible communication and listening skills to convey information about marine science and conservation to the public with a cultural lens for learners’ prior knowledge, and experiences, through practicing cultural humility and empathy. Multilingual and multicultural communication skills and experience are preferred.
  • Storytelling, interpretation or teaching skills for formal and informal program delivery.
  • Demonstrated commitment to anti-racist environmental justice and desire to center communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation; Interest and experience working with or mentoring others with a social justice lens
  • Enthusiasm and skill for relationship building, bridge building and establishing trust with people from our local communities. Deep connection to community through shared experiences.
  • Respect for and appreciation of volunteers. Be able to build relationships and establish trust with all volunteers and be willing to teach and be supportive of their abilities.
  • Ability to keep track of complex program schedules and details such as volunteer rosters, site information and materials needed for each program.
  • Ability to work effectively both independently and as a team player.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of the Aquarium’s Mission and Values, including Regenerative and Equity work.
  • Comfortable using and learning technology; the CE team uses MS Office programs, including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote as well as a volunteer management database.
  Working conditions:
  • Regular extended exposure to outside weather conditions, in particular during field program and community days.
  • Regularly required to lift and carry up to 30 pounds at the field sites (e.g. totes of outreach supplies, canopies, sandbags, signage including sandwich board style signs for directing visitors to field programs)
  • Comfortable being on the ground, with small children and moving at least a mile on the beach/sandy/uneven surfaces.
  • Job requires time spent in the field, facilitating and leading virtual and in-person trainings, time spent in virtual and in-person meetings with program coordinators and other Aquarium teams.
  • Flexible schedule required, this position will regularly work weekends and evenings to accommodate field program needs, as well as weekdays. Schedules are coordinated and agreed upon in advance whenever possible.
  • Hybrid work environment: Primarily based at the Seattle Aquarium and field sites with flexibility for remote work.
  • The Aquarium will provide a laptop and other accommodations.
  • Driving Aquarium vehicles, as needed, with Aquarium approval.
  Salary and benefits: $25.00 - $27.00/hour, Dependent on experience. Please include salary expectations in your materials. 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.
  
  How to apply: The Seattle Aquarium is committed to expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive conservation movement. We are invested in building an Aquarium with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, languages, cultural ways of knowing, and life experiences. We know research shows that society has conditioned communities of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized candidates to more frequently not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed even if they are qualified. 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.
  Interested candidates should upload a résumé to our online application to be considered. Application review will begin immediately.
  SeattleAquarium.org/careers
  Please let us know if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for this job by emailing us at jobs@seattleaquarium.org.
  Note: If offered the position, candidates must pass a background check and motor vehicle records check. Conviction record is not an automatic disqualifier; we are a second chance employer. Regarding driving records: Within the last three years, you must not have had more than two moving traffic violations or any major violation (DUI, reckless driving, negligent driving, etc.).
  About the Seattle Aquarium:
  The Seattle Aquarium is a respected authority on Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the world’s one ocean. Our passionate staff increases awareness and drives the change needed to preserve and protect our marine environment by providing an inspiring visitor experience, engaging daytime and evening events, conservation education programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, community outreach to marginalized populations, research that advances understanding of animals in our care and their counterparts in the wild, advocacy and policy work, an award-winning volunteer program, high-impact marketing and communications, and more.
  Our values, developed in conjunction with our staff, include commitments to adopting and promoting sustainable practices, creating awe-inspiring experiences, constantly learning and improving, fostering an inclusive community, maintaining scientific credibility through evidence-based practices and honoring our unique place by using our location and history as a lens for larger understanding.
  Proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, we’re among the top 10 aquariums in the U.S. by attendance, and we welcome over 850,000 people each year. Guided by our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment, we’re working to substantially increase our conservation impact by expanding our campus with a new building, the Ocean Pavilion. Learn more at SeattleAquarium.org.
  Timeline:
  We anticipate the following recruiting schedule for those candidates who are selected for consideration. The following dates are preliminary and subject to change. We will work with candidates to set interview dates. If hired, relocation assistance is not available.
  • Application deadline: Open until filled.
  • Priority given to applications received by June 5.
  • Interviews completed in July 2025.
  • Start date: August 2025.
  
  

• About the company

  The Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium in Seattle, Washington, United States, located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront.

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