Specialist I, Biotechnology Curriculum Development (Hourly)

Austin Community College•Round Rock, TX

About The Position

The Specialist I, Biotechnology Curriculum Development provides temporary assistance as needed to strengthen Austin Community College’s biotechnology education pipeline. The position supports high school partnerships, curriculum development and alignment, teacher professional development, early STEM engagement, student recruitment, institutional and external collaboration, and program assessment. The specialist works with ACC’s Biotechnology Department Chair, Dual Credit Program Director, InnoVATEBio Director, high school educators and administrators, industry partners, and other educational organizations. The role supports connections between high school biotechnology instruction, ACC programs and credit pathways, and workforce expectations. It also contributes to ACC’s goals for student success, workforce development, dual credit expansion, community engagement, and regional partnerships.

Requirements

Be a faculty member (adjunct or full-time) in the ACC Biotechnology Department.
Knowledge of biotechnology education, laboratory practices, and STEM curriculum development.
Ability to coordinate partnerships across high schools, colleges, and external organizations.
Ability to develop instructional materials and support curriculum alignment across educational levels.
Strong communication, organizational, interpersonal, and project coordination skills.
Ability to organize workshops, meetings, outreach activities, and professional development events.
Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, teachers, administrators, students, and industry representatives.
Familiarity with hands-on, inquiry-based, project-based, and research-informed teaching approaches.
Ability to identify affordable and practical laboratory activities suitable for high school educational settings.
Ability to maintain accurate program records, assess activities, and prepare clear reports.

Nice To Haves

Academic background or professional experience in biotechnology, biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, or a related field.
Experience in biotechnology laboratory instruction, curriculum development, or laboratory-based education.
Experience working with high schools, dual credit programs, articulated credit programs, or college-to-career pathways.
Experience coordinating professional development or hands-on laboratory workshops for educators.
Experience collaborating with biotechnology industry partners or workforce development organizations.
Familiarity with laboratory safety, standard operating procedures, and competency-based instruction.

Responsibilities

Maintain communication with participating and prospective high schools and keep an updated directory of schools, contacts, courses, teachers, and program status.
Build relationships with high school principals, counselors, biotechnology instructors, STEM coordinators, and district administrators; conduct outreach and support program implementation and scheduling.
Coordinate with the ACC Dual Credit Program Director on course planning, requirements, and implementation timelines; organize partner meetings, including the Articulated Credit Fall Meeting.
Identify barriers to participation and recommend strategies to improve recruitment, access, persistence, and program effectiveness.
Collaborate with ACC faculty, high school teachers, and industry partners to develop and improve biotechnology curricula and align high school courses with ACC programs, credit requirements, and workforce expectations.
Help develop and adapt instructional materials, laboratory exercises, course outlines, laboratory manuals, standard operating procedures, and competency-based learning activities.
Incorporate hands-on biotechnology techniques and current industry practices, and promote inquiry-based, project-based, and research-informed teaching approaches.
Identify affordable, accessible laboratory activities suitable for high schools and work with partners on curriculum innovation, microcredentials, and career-connected learning.
Plan and coordinate summer biotechnology training workshops for high school teachers with Bio-Rad, InnoVATEBio, ACC faculty, and other partners.
Provide or coordinate hands-on teacher training in laboratory techniques, equipment use, safety, aseptic technique, molecular biology, and other relevant methods; help teachers adapt training into classroom-ready activities and materials.
Identify professional development opportunities and support ongoing collaboration between high school teachers and ACC faculty; evaluate training activities and recommend improvements.
Collaborate with ninth-grade teachers and administrators to develop introductory STEM and biotechnology activities, and conduct outreach on biotechnology applications, laboratory skills, scientific discovery, and careers.
Promote ACC biotechnology programs, dual credit and articulated credit pathways, workshops, and STEM events; help students understand course sequences and pathways to college and employment.
Attend ACC and external education, workforce, and professional development events; represent or support the ACC Biotechnology Department.
Work with the InnoVATEBio Director and ACC Biotechnology Department Chair to develop and implement programs for high school teachers and students.
Maintain partnerships with biotechnology companies, educational organizations, universities, community colleges, and other stakeholders; identify external resources, grants, equipment, training, and collaborative opportunities.
Communicate program needs, opportunities, progress, and challenges to ACC leadership and partners.
Track participating schools, trained teachers, courses, student participation, credit pathways, and outreach; maintain records of meetings, professional development, curriculum development, and implementation.
Collect stakeholder feedback, prepare periodic activity summaries and recommendations, and support continuous improvement using participation data, feedback, and workforce needs.