Staff - Union

Job Category

CUPE 2950

Job Profile

CUPE 2950 Salaried - Sr Program Asst-Gen (Gr9)

Job Title

Education, Outreach and Engagement Programming Assistant

Department

Program Support | Botanical Garden and Centre for Horticulture

Compensation Range

$4,959.00 - $5,532.00 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date

September 11, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

Ongoing

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

JOB SUMMARY

This position provides education, engagement and administrative support to the Associate Director, Sustainability and Community Programs, and assists with designing, developing, coordinating and delivering nature-based programming at UBC Botanical Garden. The position is full-time Monday-Friday FTE, with occasional weekend and evening work required.

ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS

UBC Botanical Garden is an operational unit within the Faculty of Science. The Mission of the Garden is that our foundational work in documented plant collections, innovative horticulture and engaging education invites curiosity and learning. We connect communities with science through research, exceptional visitor experiences and academic service. We conserve biodiversity, demonstrate sustainable practices and provide spaces to encourage health and wellbeing. Our Vision is that the Garden’s living plant collections, landscapes and people inspire communities, ideas and actions for a resilient, biodiverse world.

The Education and Engagement Programming Assistant in the Sustainability and Community Programs department supports a diversity of programs and interacts with audiences both on and off campus including working with UBC Botanical Garden students, staff, volunteers, visitors and community partners. Reporting directly to the Associate Director (AD), Sustainability and Community Programs, this position works cooperatively as a member of the Garden team and assists with the administration and coordination of Garden programming, outreach, events and meetings.

WORK PERFORMED

Program Administration and Coordination

• Coordinates in-person and online meetings, workshops, lectures, short courses, events, and tours related to sustainability and community programming in consultation with other staff.
• Responds to routine verbal and written enquiries from students, staff, volunteers and visitors regarding sustainability and community programming at the Garden, including educational program offerings for adults, children, K to 12 students, specialist groups, and cultural communities, including First Nations communities.
• Liaises and supports scheduling/registration of programs and acts as a primary contact for group bookings and education and outreach clients.
• Maintains and is responsible for a database of all bookings, tours and events related to sustainability and community programming.
• Collaborates with community partners on educational programs both on and off-site.
• Supports SCP staff and students to ensure that educational and outreach set-up needs of educational programs, meetings and events are met (including table and chair set up, educational displays, prep for food service, printing nametags).
• Supports Garden staff outside of the SCP Team with event preparation, registration, coordination, organization, and data collection.
• Assists with planning and recruiting instructors/lecturers/tour guides and student volunteers for education and outreach delivery.
• Liaises with course instructors/lecturers/speakers to assess learning materials, resources and equipment needs.
• Creates and maintains online promotions, communications and registration for educational programming.
• Supports staff, volunteers and students at the Garden by developing and maintaining handbooks, training schedules and materials, coordinating onsite/online training and sharing of resources.
• Creates and reviews volunteer and student feedback surveys and assists with data collections and report writing for tracking volunteer and public engagement.
• Performs financial duties such as budgeting, invoicing, including reconciling and following up on outstanding payments.
• Supports the AD SCP in tracking, organizing, and managing the SCP budget.
• Administers diverse workflows and provides on-going development and improvement of information management that supports education, outreach and engagement.

Staff, Student and Volunteer Supervision and Support

• Supports SCP Team full-time staff and students with their projects, tasks, and workflows.
• Provides positive mentorship and creates strategies for engaging and developing relations for volunteers and students.
• Assists with workflows for recruitment, training, and organizing volunteers and students.
• Coordinates with Garden Staff and Friends of the Garden (FOGs) to attract, recruit and retain volunteers and students. Matching students and volunteers to opportunities available at the Garden.
• Supports grant writing to secure funding for students, volunteers and educational programming
• Tracks, maintains and contributes to the audience engagement databases (including tracking hours, skills and interests of students and volunteers).
• Supports orientation and onboarding materials for students and volunteers.
• Supports SCP Team members to develop and deliver strategies for recognizing volunteers and students.
• Provides constructive feedback and mentorship to SCP staff, students and volunteers.

Program Development and Curriculum

• Collaborates with staff and students to develop science-based curriculum for onsite and online programming, this includes tours, workshops, teambuilding, and educational tools.
• Assists by supporting the SCP Team to collaboratively researching and designing engaging and inclusive educational curriculum using different methods of engagement.
• Supports SCP staff and students in updating learning materials and educational resources ensuring that they are organized, accurate, in good repair, and current.
• Supports SCP staff in revising and adapting delivery models for different audiences and ensures that information is conveyed in a professional and thoughtful manner.
• Revises and develops garden guide training manuals for students, staff and volunteers.
• Supports the design of nature-based educational classes, workshops, tours and other training programs in collaboration with Garden staff and instructors.
• Supports funding proposals and grant writing to secure funding for educational programming and student employment opportunities.

Program Delivery

• In collaboration with the AD Sustainability & Community Programs, along with other Garden team members, contributes to content ideas, brainstorming, designing and delivering tours, workshops and other nature-based educational experiences for children, youth and adults.
• Communicates science and nature-based environmental education topics to diverse audiences through informative and engaging experiences. Including the delivery of original & pre-programmed in-person and online education (tours, workshops, webinars, outreach, events) for children, youth and community audiences.

Marketing and Communications

• Collaborates with staff and students to draft educational event descriptions and develop promotional material for programs.
• Creates products in Shopify for workshops, events, and education program invoicing. Monitors and tracks purchases, registration, and ticket sales for the SCP team.
• In collaboration with the AD SCP and Garden Marketing Manager, maintains and updates, when necessary, the SCP sections of the Garden’s website (WordPress), online registration forms, and client tracking and booking processes. Supports the Marketing and Communication team by reaching out to potential educational program clients sharing information and educational resources.
• Supports and develops website content and updates website information (blog posts, text, photos, videos).
• Provides stories and content for the Garden newsletter, articles and other Marketing and Communications channels.
• Works with Marketing and Communications to ensure all materials (handouts, promotional material, etc.) are up-to-date and on brand and align to the Gardens Interpretive Plan.
• Provides other administrative support as needed for marketing and communications for the Sustainability and Community Programs.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Program Reporting

• Prepares and delivers evaluation forms for programs, collates responses into database.
• Reviews program metrics annually and supports collating and reporting of educational program impact.
• Supports short and long-term planning and reporting to assess the impact of educational, outreach and engagement programs to align to the Gardens strategic plan.

Performs other related duties as requested by the Associate Director, Sustainability and Community Programs.

CONSEQUENCE OF ERROR

Error in judgment or information given would result in loss of credibility and service to the visitors, educators and schools that participate in garden events and programs. Inability to budget accurately would result in inaccurate financial assessments. Lack of customer service skills would impact the overall experience of the Garden visitor.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

This position works under the supervision of the Associate Director, Sustainability and Community Programs, UBC Botanical Garden.

SUPERVISION GIVEN

Supervises 2-4 students and/or volunteers at any given time.

QUALIFICATIONS

High School graduation and 1-year post-secondary education.

Knowledge of community development principles, base level ecology knowledge and sustainability education principles.

4 years related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities, and creatively solve problems.

Ability to organize events and meetings.

Ability to design and deliver educational tours.

Ability to respond appropriately to inquiries in person, on phone, and in writing, and make appropriate referrals.

Ability to prioritize and work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.

Effective oral and written communication, interpersonal, analytical, problem solving and organizational skills.

Ability to provide quality service to customers in a courteous, patient manner.

Ability to work effectively independently and in a busy, dynamic team environment.

Ability to create learning opportunities for others and provide student mentorship.
Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and Saturdays