Overview

The key to the Jewish future is Jewish camp. We know from research—and nearly two decades’ experience—that this is where young people find Jewish role models and create enduring Jewish friendships. It’s where they forge a vital, lifelong connection to their essential Jewishness.  Suddenly, all those Shabbat song sessions and campfire stories take on new importance—and urgency. So we’re devoted to helping Jewish camps and summer programs thrive. We gather data, build new programs, and provide operational support and help recruit campers. We’ve elevated camp management into a true profession. And we work to elevate Jewish camp on the cultural and philanthropic agenda. In short, our mission is to help Jewish camps achieve their mission: to create transformative experiences—and the Jewish future.

Our Strategic Imperatives:

We Build Leaders: We help camp professionals and other camp talent develop the skills to lead their camps to exceptional outcomes operationally and educationally. And identify the next generation of
leadership.  We Amplify Jewishness: We develop and support programs that deepen campers’ and counselors’ connection to their Jewish roots and culture.  We Expand the Field: We continuously expand the number and variety of summer experiences to attract more—and more diverse—participants.

Position Summary:

The Director of Jewish Education provides Jewish educational insight, direction, and coaching for the breadth of FJC’s programs, including camp leadership training programs, the Specialty Camp Incubator, individual camps and camping movements as needed, and internal staff development. The Director of Jewish Education is expected to ensure inclusive, religiously pluralistic and high quality learning experiences in all of FJC’s program offerings and bring a profound commitment, openness, and curiosity to the expression of Jewish life.

As part of the strategic leadership team at the FJC, the Director of Jewish Education will help lead the agency and develop new initiatives to ensure that FJC is executing its mission. FJC is a collaborative work environment, and the Director of Jewish Education is expected to work across the agency to ensure Jewish educational learning is integrated throughout all of FJC’s efforts. Further, the Director of Jewish Education will work externally with non-camp constituencies throughout the Jewish community to meet these imperatives. This position reports to the Vice President of Program and Innovation.

General Responsibilities

  • Work collaboratively with all departments within FJC to infuse Jewish perspectives into the programming and activities of each department (including Specialty Camp Incubator, and camp Jewish educational and professional development programs).
  • Provide textual, spiritual, and/or experiential learning opportunities and support to camps and FJC staff members, as needed.
  • Consult with individual camps to align religious and cultural Jewish values in their program and develop training modules
  • Provide support regarding educational theory, practice, and research for the field Write thought pieces and blogs for the field
  • Help curate and develop educational resources for FJC’s Knowledge
    Center, to be shared with the field
  • Be responsible for accommodating the diverse religious needs (including prayer) at all FJC functions
  • If applicable, be available to FJC staff and camp community in need of pastoral guidance or consultation on matters of Jewish observance.
  • Other responsibilities as assigned
Work Remotely: no
Qualifications:

The ideal candidate for this position will bring a deep passion for building welcoming, vibrant and deeply enriching communities that give voice to the diversity of expression of Jewish life. This person will be a creative Jewish educator who is at home in Jewish content, ranging from traditional Jewish texts to contemporary Jewish wisdom and culture. This person will be highly motivated entrepreneur and self-starter who works well independently and as part of a team, in a fast-paced environment where prioritizing, multi-tasking, organization and attention to detail are essential. Like most great camp professionals this person will take their work, but not themselves very seriously. A great Director of Jewish Education will have an accessible and authentic personality and will model his/her curiosity for learning and is a passionate and compelling teacher.

  • Familiarity and experience with various modalities of learning, identity development, leadership training, and curriculum development
  • Knowledge of current trends in Jewish education
  • Jewish camp experience
  • Graduate Study in relevant field and 10+ years of work experience
  • Fluency in Hebrew preferred
  • Significant experience in creation and delivery of excellent informal and experiential Jewish educational programming
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Willing to travel approximately 20% of the time
  • Enjoy working hard a plus - sense of humor a must!

Physical Demands & Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

  • The employee must occasionally lift and /or move up to 10 pounds.
  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, walk, stand, talk and hear.
  • There are no special vision requirements.
  • This position works in an open environment with moderate noise level
Benefits:

Please send salary requirements.

Send resumes and cover letter to:

Please send cover letter and resume, along with salary requirements, to hr@jewishcamp.org.