DanceSafe: Education Director

Classification: FT Exempt 40 hours/week (2080/year) 

Location: Remote position based in USA

Salary: $87,700

Report to: Chief Operations Officer

Office hours: 10-6 pm local time

About DanceSafe

Founded in 1998, DanceSafe emerged from a recognized need within the rave community for better access to drug checking and education.

Today, our mission has expanded to promote health, safety, and fulfilling experiences for people who use drugs and their communities. We believe in harm reduction as a pragmatic approach to mitigate risks and enhance benefits associated with various health behaviors, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health and well-being.

In recent years, we have undergone significant growth focused on establishing essential administrative infrastructure, revamping outreach systems, implementing a brand refresh, and meeting the increasing demand for our services. Moving forward, we plan to further develop organizational infrastructure, diversify revenue streams, expand our programs and services, and deepen into our values and principles.

Position Summary 

DanceSafe’s Education Director serves as a key member of the leadership team alongside the Executive Team and fellow directors to strategically advance the organization's mission and vision.

Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the Education Director drives the strategic direction and execution of all education initiatives, including print and digital. Collaborating across teams, the Education Director is intimately familiar with all of DanceSafe’s programs, resources, and products. They are the “go-to” for internal or external questions about drugs, drug checking, trends, best practices, and mythbusting.

The Education Director engages with all levels of the organization, serving as the messaging expert. They are comfortable with public speaking, advising external stakeholders on educational and/or drug checking strategies, and support the development of all external communications. Collaborating closely with the Digital Media Director, they ensure quality educational content on the DanceSafe website and social media platforms. They are naturally inclined to teach, listen, and incorporate feedback, with a strong ability to summarize information and adjust tactics depending on the needs of stakeholders and to say "I don't know" when unsure.

The Education Director ensures all DanceSafe literature and materials are up-to-date, accurate, and scientifically backed. They keep track of resources using Airtable and work with the Brand Manager to co-design new materials (or updates) as needed. The ideal candidate is self-driven to learn new information, demonstrates high proficiency at reading and understanding dialectical information about stigmatized topics, and values feedback. Background in educational design is preferred.

Essential Job Duties/Functions 

[35%] Education & Resource Development

• Engage in strategic planning to drive curriculum development and improve educational resource accessibility and quality
• Oversee and develop educational literature, the DanceSafe Training Program including the DanceSafe Volunteer Training Course, customer services resources, etc.
• Ensure that all educational content, drug information, and drug checking materials are up-to-date, accurate, and messaged in alignment with DanceSafe’s values
• Collaborate with key team members to continuously improve drug checking literature and resources based on the latest science and best practices
• Oversee and provide feedback and editing services to all organizational resource creation, including physical and printed materials
• Provide oversight, consulting, coaching, and mentorship throughout the organization for educating, messaging, etc.
• Support external organizations and entities in messaging, accessing materials, and resourcing
• Research and vet amplifications, collaborations, and partnerships

[25%] Social & Digital Media Collaboration 

• Co-lead materials and asset design with the Digital Media Director, digital media team, subject matter experts, and design/brand management team
• Oversee and contribute to writing, editing, reviewing, and/or updating content, both written and visual, on the DanceSafe website to ensure up-to-date, quality educational content
• Participate in graphic design projects, including digital content creation, with an emphasis on UX and design accessibility
• Research and vet amplifications, collaborations, and partnerships

[10%]  Self-Education & Landscape Analysis

• Self-educate to ensure up-to-date knowledge and skills that are required to manage educational programs and content, specifically around related social, cultural, economic, scientific, and political topics
• Track trends in drug markets, social-political landscapes, and scientific findings as they arise

[10%] Training: Drug Education & Checking Training  

• Oversee organization-wide Drug Education & Checking Training on and off site for National and volunteers (excludes FTIR, but works alongside the FTIR Program Coordinator to ensure programmatic continuity)
• Utilize extensive knowledge of drug checking messaging and best practices to inform team members and volunteers of the most up-to-date methodologies
• Collaborate with FTIR technicians to expand drug checking opportunities and assist with designing best practices in outreach

Additional Responsibilities

[10%] General Culture & Administration

• Internal communications, cultural development, general org participation, administrative tasks

[10%] Public Speaking & Relationship Building 

• Forge networking connections, public speaking, presentations, workshops, etc.
• Serve as a point of contact and/or speaking for any internal or external questions about DanceSafe’s messaging, drug checking practices, and informational materials

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience working on the ground in nightlife, party, or gathering settings in some capacity
• 3+ years working in public health, harm reduction, drug policy reform or related fields especially in educator roles
• Wide variety of experience in various countercultures and a strong desire to unpack and respond to stigma, bias, and ingrained harmful behaviors
• Extraversion and experience leading group settings a strong plus
• Four year degree or equivalent experience in visual, creative, health, or science fields a strong plus
• (Strongly preferred) Graphic design proficiency and/or background
• (Preferred) Bilingual in Spanish

Requirements

• Passion and dedication for DanceSafe with an ability to promote and communicate its philosophy, mission, vision, values, and principles of DanceSafe to internal and external stakeholders
• Academic background (doesn't have to be a degree) in biology or physical sciences, with special emphasis on reading and understanding scientific journals
• 5+ years of lived experience with and exposure to drugs, preferably extensive
• 4+ years of experience of demonstrated experience in leadership positions, preferably in nonprofit or advocacy organizations, with a track record of driving organizational growth and achieving strategic goals
• 3+ years experience in organizational management such as administration, budgeting, problem solving, etc.
• 3+ years of program planning, implementation, and evaluation including the development of SOPs, trainings, policies, and other relevant documentation
• 3+ years of experience in curriculum or educational program development as an educator in community settings
• 3+ years of background in designing, delivering, and refining educational materials is required, with an emphasis on person-first language and messaging
• Exceptionally strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to self-start and manage multiple projects across a wide spectrum of topics while maintaining an attention to detail, including developing plans for ongoing educational campaigns and/or responding to urgent public health needs
• Experience and/or strong commitment to learning and understanding new technologies and software (Google Suite, ClickUp, Slack, LMS, Notion)
   
• Strong understanding of intersectionality in public health outcomes

Salary and Benefits 

The salary for this position is $87,700. Salary offer is firm in a desire to keep compensation equitable within our organization.

In addition to your regular salary, you will be eligible to receive employment benefits, including the following: 

1. Generous PTO policy with 10 day vacation to start, holidays, wellness days, sick days, and more  
2. 100% employer covered health insurance for employee only 
3. 75% employer covered dental insurance for the employee only
4. HSA, FSA, DCFSA
5. 100% employer covered life insurance for FT employees 
6. Employee Assistance Program
7. Yearly professional development fund
8. Yearly home office fund
9. Monthly remote work fund
10. 401k 3% employer contribution (after 12 months)

Travel Expectations 

The Education Director will need to periodically travel to engage in public speaking, implement and evaluate outreach-related educational efforts, provide in person training, and attend conferences and team gatherings.

Job Accommodations & Specifications

General

• Keyboarding up to 8 hours a day 
• Up to 5+ hours of remote meetings per day

On Outreach

• Camping and/or working in a variety of weather conditions including freezing and hot temperatures, (sometimes both within a single event), rain, wind, dust, etc.
• Standing, sitting, and walking for long periods of time
• Lifting/carrying heavy objects (up to 75 lbs) such as camping equipment, boxes of literature, etc.
   

DanceSafe is an equal opportunity employer. DanceSafe does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, place of birth, age, marital status, or ability.
 

Applicants who are queer, trans, non-binary, Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, parents, non-monogamous, immigrants, and anyone else who has experienced systemic oppression and/or gender-based violence are encouraged to apply.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Nonprofit HR is committed to fostering and maintaining a work environment where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fully integrated into everything we do for the benefit of our employees and the clients that we serve. To fully realize our goal, we prioritize our understanding of the complexities of DEI within our workforce to inform our approach to talent management. We believe that this guides how we do our work, advise our clients to operationalize DEI and position our content and educational opportunities help strengthen the talent management capacity of the social impact sector.

Continue reading our about our commitment at nonprofithr.com/deinow.