Maker Education Fabricator: Prototyping and Experience Design (NYC, Part-Time)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Maker Education Fabricator: Prototyping and Experience Design

Company: NORY

Location: New York, United States

Job Type: CONTRACTOR

Category: STEM Education / Maker Education

Date Posted: June 01, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Level (2-5 years implied)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and fabricate hands-on STEM projects for young learners (ages 3-12), focusing on robotics, engineering, and woodworking.

• Develop immersive, interdisciplinary learning experiences that integrate STEM with storytelling and thematic worlds.

• Train and empower teachers across NORY campuses to effectively deliver designed educational experiences and utilize fabrication tools.

• Leverage deep understanding of child development to tailor physical projects to specific age groups and interests.

• Collaborate with a passionate team dedicated to making STEM education magical, impactful, and memorable for children.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is not a traditional Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, or GTM role. It is in the STEM Education sector, focusing on curriculum development, fabrication, and hands-on learning design. The "operations" aspect lies in the systematic design and deployment of educational programs and the operational efficiency of teacher training and project implementation across multiple locations. Therefore, the response will be tailored to this specific context, focusing on the operational aspects of educational program delivery and curriculum development, rather than corporate revenue/sales operations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Design and fabricate engaging, age-appropriate STEM camp projects, including robotics, engineering challenges, and woodworking creations, tailored for children aged 3–12.

• Integrate multiple learning domains (STEM, arts, storytelling) into unified, interdisciplinary project designs to foster holistic development.

• Conceptualize and build immersive thematic worlds and learning environments that enhance the educational experience, drawing inspiration from engaging entertainment like theme park rides.

• Develop clear, concise, and compelling multi-channel communication materials, particularly video-based content, to enable teachers across all NORY campuses to consistently execute the designed vision.

• Apply a thorough understanding of child psychology and developmental stages (ages 3–12) to ensure all physical projects are perfectly aligned with children's interests, abilities, and learning needs.

• Train, coach, and mentor NORY teachers, equipping them with the skills and confidence to safely and effectively use the tools, machinery, and fabricated projects developed for the camps.

• Continuously iterate on project designs and fabrication methods based on user feedback, teacher input, and observed camper engagement to optimize educational impact and operational efficiency.

• Contribute to the creation of a vibrant hub of visionary educators by sharing best practices and innovative approaches in maker education and experience design.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary responsibilities highlight a strong emphasis on curriculum design, content creation, and operational deployment through teacher training, all critical for scaling educational programs effectively. This aligns with operational principles of standardization, quality control, and efficient resource utilization within the education sector.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Education, Engineering, Industrial Design, Fine Arts, or a related field is preferred.

• Equivalent practical experience demonstrating mastery in relevant fabrication and educational design areas will also be strongly considered. Experience:

• 2-5 years of experience in hands-on maker education, curriculum development, or experience design, with a focus on youth programs.

• Proven track record in designing and fabricating physical projects using a variety of materials and tools.

• Experience in developing and delivering training or educational content to adult learners (teachers). Required Skills:

• Prototyping & Fabrication: Demonstrated ability to design, build, and test physical prototypes using materials like wood, plastic, and metal.

• Electronics & Microcontrollers: Proficiency in designing and implementing circuits, integrating motors, sensors, and utilizing platforms such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and Micro:bits.

• Digital Fabrication: Hands-on experience with technologies like 3D printing and laser cutting for project creation.

• Educational Design: Ability to integrate learning objectives into engaging, hands-on activities tailored for specific age groups (3-12).

• Storytelling & Thematic Development: Skill in creating narratives and immersive environments that enhance learning and engagement.

• Communication & Training: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a strong ability to train and coach others, particularly through video content.

• Child Development Understanding: Deep knowledge of developmental psychology for children aged 3–12.

Preferred Skills:

• Coding Languages: Familiarity with visual programming languages like Scratch and/or scripting languages like Python for educational applications.

• Woodworking Expertise: Advanced skills in woodworking techniques and safety protocols.

• Mechatronics: Understanding of the integration of mechanical and electronic systems.

• Design Thinking Methodology: Experience applying design thinking principles to problem-solving and innovation.

• Curriculum Development Frameworks: Knowledge of established frameworks for creating educational curricula.

• Experience with Advanced Fabrication Tools: Familiarity with CNC machines or other industrial fabrication equipment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Experience Level: 2-5 years implied" is derived from the detailed responsibilities and the need for a portfolio showcasing established skills. The "Mid-Level" designation reflects the expectation of independent project development and the capacity to train others, beyond entry-level tasks.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing a range of fabricated maker projects, demonstrating proficiency across various disciplines.

• Projects should include examples of:

  • Electronics Integration: Functional circuits, motor control, sensor applications.
  • Digital & Physical Fabrication: Examples of projects created using 3D printing, laser cutting, and woodworking.
  • Microcontroller Projects: Demonstrations of projects using Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or Micro:bits.
  • Coding Applications: Examples of projects involving Scratch, Python, or similar coding tools for interactive elements.

• For each project, provide brief explanatory notes detailing:

  • The underlying educational purpose and learning objectives.

  • Key design choices and rationale.

  • The potential educational impact and target age group.

  • Any challenges encountered during development and how they were overcome. Process Documentation:

• Ability to document fabrication processes and project instructions clearly and concisely, suitable for teacher training and implementation.

• Documentation should include:

  • Step-by-step build instructions.

  • Safety guidelines for tools and materials.

  • Troubleshooting guides for common issues.

  • Suggestions for adapting projects for different learning levels or themes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirement is central to this role, acting as the primary mechanism for evaluating a candidate's technical and creative abilities. This is analogous to operations roles requiring a "process portfolio" or "project portfolio" to demonstrate experience in process optimization, system implementation, and ROI.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $20.00 – $35.00 per hour

Pay Frequency: Bi-weekly

Benefits:

• Not applicable (Part-Time/Seasonal role) Working Hours:

• This is a part-time position. The specific weekly hours will vary based on project needs and camp schedules. It's implied that the role requires flexibility to meet project deadlines and camp operational demands.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is explicitly provided in the job description. The "Not applicable (Part-Time/Seasonal)" benefits note is also directly stated. The working hours are described as part-time, suggesting a flexible schedule that aligns with project timelines and operational needs rather than a standard 40-hour work week. For a full-time equivalent, a 40-hour week would be a reasonable assumption for budget planning, but the role is explicitly part-time.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: STEM Education / EdTech

Company Size: NORY is the largest STEM camp provider in NYC, serving over 4,000 campers annually. This indicates a growing, established organization with significant operational reach and impact.

Founded: The founding date is not specified, but the company's scale suggests a mature organization with established operational processes and a clear mission.

Team Structure:

• The role implies working within a curriculum development and educational programming team, likely reporting to a program manager or lead educator.

• Collaboration with other "Maker Education Fabricators" and curriculum designers is expected.

• A significant aspect of the role involves cross-functional collaboration with teachers across all NORY campuses to ensure consistent program delivery and implementation. Methodology:

• Data-Informed Approach: NORY emphasizes using data for strategic choices and assessments, aligning with an operations mindset focused on metrics and impact.

• Root-Cause Solving: The company values identifying and solving problems at their core, a critical operational skill for process improvement and efficiency.

• Purpose-Driven Innovation: The focus is on creating magical, impactful, and memorable learning experiences, driving the operational goal of delivering high-quality educational outcomes.

Company Website: https://www.nory.co/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is heavily emphasized through its "Ways of Being." This section synthesizes the provided information and infers the operational implications of these values for employees in a maker education role.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a "Maker Education Fabricator," implying a mid-level specialist role. It requires a blend of technical fabrication skills, pedagogical understanding, and the ability to operationalize educational content through others (teachers). It's a hands-on development role with a significant training/deployment component.

Reporting Structure:

• The role likely reports to a Lead Educator, Curriculum Manager, or Program Director.

• Direct interaction with teachers across multiple campuses is a key part of the operational deployment strategy. Operations Impact:

• The impact is measured by the quality and engagement of STEM learning experiences for thousands of campers annually.

• Success involves the effective adoption and delivery of designed projects by hundreds of teachers, demonstrating scalable operational influence.

• The role directly contributes to NORY's mission of fostering entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and leadership in children. Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in cutting-edge fabrication technologies (3D printing, laser cutting, microcontrollers) and interdisciplinary curriculum design.

• Leadership Potential: Opportunity to lead training sessions, develop new project modules, and potentially mentor junior fabricators or educators as NORY expands.

• Impact Expansion: Influence the educational journey of a growing number of children and teachers across multiple cities.

• Industry Exposure: Contribute to a leading organization in the STEM education sector, gaining insights into educational program scaling and innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: This analysis interprets the role's position within the organization and its potential for professional development, framing it through the lens of operational impact and career progression within the education sector.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is on-site, implying a workshop or studio environment equipped for fabrication, prototyping, and potentially education. It may also involve travel to different campus locations for teacher training.

Office Location(s): New York City, United States. Specific campus locations within NYC would be relevant for teacher training and project deployment.

Workspace Context:

• Hands-On Environment: Access to tools, machinery (3D printers, laser cutters, woodworking equipment), and materials for prototyping and fabrication.

• Collaborative Space: Opportunities to work with fellow educators, designers, and potentially teachers in a dynamic, creative setting.

• Impactful Setting: The work directly contributes to a fun, engaging, and educational environment for children.

Work Schedule:

• Part-time and seasonal, indicating flexibility but also a need to align with camp schedules and project development timelines. This requires a proactive approach to time management and task prioritization, crucial for operational roles.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "on-site" requirement and the nature of the work suggest a studio or workshop setting, which is standard for fabrication roles. The operational aspect relates to managing time and resources effectively within a flexible, part-time structure.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Application Submission: Submit portfolio, resume, and a cover note to peter@nory.co.

• Portfolio Review: The primary evaluation will be based on the submitted maker project portfolio. This is where candidates demonstrate their fabrication skills, design thinking, and understanding of educational potential.

• Initial Screening: Likely a review of resumes and cover notes to assess alignment with core requirements and company values.

• Interview(s): May include discussions about:

  • Design philosophy and creative process.
  • Experience with specific tools and technologies.
  • Approaches to child development and engagement.
  • Teacher training methodologies and communication strategies.
  • Alignment with NORY's "Ways of Being" (company culture).

• Potential Practical Assessment: A small fabrication challenge or demonstration might be included.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Breadth and Depth: Include projects that highlight a range of skills (electronics, fabrication, coding) and complexity.

• Explain the "Why": Clearly articulate the educational purpose, design choices, and target audience for each project. Use the notes requested in the job description to guide this.

• Highlight Impact: If possible, include evidence of project success, such as photos/videos of children engaging with the projects, or teacher feedback.

• Demonstrate Safety: For projects involving machinery or electronics, implicitly or explicitly show an understanding of safety protocols.

• Quality over Quantity: A few well-documented, impactful projects are often more effective than many incomplete or poorly explained ones.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared to discuss how you would adapt a project for different age groups or learning styles.

• Think about how you would train a teacher with limited technical background on a complex project.

• Consider how you would create a "magical" or "immersive" experience from a simple set of materials.

• Familiarize yourself with NORY's mission and "Ways of Being" to demonstrate cultural fit.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section outlines a typical application process for a creative and technical role, emphasizing the portfolio as the core assessment tool, akin to how operations roles might use case studies or project demonstrations.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Fabrication Equipment: 3D printers, laser cutters, woodworking tools (saws, drills, sanders), general workshop tools.

• Electronics Tools: Soldering irons, multimeters, breadboards, oscilloscopes (potentially).

• Microcontrollers & Platforms: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Micro:bits.

• Software: CAD software for design (e.g., Fusion 360, TinkerCAD), slicing software for 3D printing, laser cutter control software.

• Communication Tools: Video recording and editing software for teacher training materials.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly stated as an "operations" tool, the "Data-Informed" and "Root-Cause Solvers" values suggest an expectation of observing and analyzing project effectiveness and camper engagement. This might involve informal data collection or feedback mechanisms. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to this role in a traditional sense. The "automation" here refers to creating repeatable, effective educational projects that can be scaled.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section details the expected technical proficiencies by listing the types of tools and technologies a candidate would likely encounter or be expected to use in this fabrication and educational design role.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values (NORY's "Ways of Being"):

• Purpose-Driven: Every action should be guided by the "why" – to foster intrinsic motivation in children and contribute to NORY's mission. For this role, it means designing projects with clear educational intent.

• Solution-Oriented: A proactive, can-do attitude is essential. Focus on finding ways to make ambitious educational concepts feasible through clever design and fabrication.

• Data-Informed: Decisions about project design, materials, and teaching methods should be grounded in logic, feedback, and observed outcomes. This implies a continuous improvement mindset.

• Accountable: Take ownership of project designs, fabrication quality, and the effectiveness of teacher training.

• Growth-Minded: Embrace feedback, experiment with new techniques, and be open to evolving designs and methods based on learning and experience.

• Root-Cause Solvers: Address challenges in project design, fabrication, or implementation by identifying and solving the underlying issues, not just superficial fixes.

• Unifiers: Foster a collaborative and empathetic environment, working effectively with colleagues and supporting teachers to create a cohesive NORY experience.

Collaboration Style:

• Highly collaborative, especially with other educators and teachers.

• Emphasis on clear communication, particularly through visual and video mediums, to ensure consistent program delivery across multiple locations.

• A culture of sharing knowledge and best practices is implied by the growth and expansion of the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section directly translates the company's stated "Ways of Being" into practical expectations for an employee in this role, highlighting how these values inform daily work and collaboration within an educational operations context.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Creativity and Scalability: Designing unique, magical experiences that are also robust, safe, and easily replicable by teachers across multiple sites.

• Age-Appropriate Design: Effectively tailoring complex engineering and design concepts to the cognitive and motor skills of very young children (ages 3-12).

• Teacher Training Effectiveness: Ensuring that teachers, who may have varying levels of technical expertise, can confidently and effectively implement the designed projects.

• Rapid Prototyping Cycles: Working within potentially tight timelines to develop and iterate on projects for upcoming camp sessions.

• Resource Management: Optimizing the use of materials and equipment within budget constraints.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Fabrication Techniques: Gaining hands-on experience with the latest in 3D printing, laser cutting, and potentially other digital fabrication technologies.

• Pedagogical Innovation: Developing expertise in designing inquiry-based and project-based learning experiences for young learners.

• Curriculum Strategy: Contributing to the strategic development of NORY's educational offerings and helping to scale educational impact.

• Leadership in Education: Opportunities to lead training sessions, mentor teachers, and potentially influence curriculum direction.

• Cross-Disciplinary Integration: Deepening skills in blending STEM with arts, storytelling, and other domains to create holistic learning journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section anticipates potential difficulties in the role and frames them as opportunities for skill development and professional growth, a common theme in enhanced job descriptions for ambitious candidates.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex STEM project you designed for young children. What were the key challenges, and how did you ensure it was age-appropriate and engaging?" (Focus on design process, child development understanding, and problem-solving).

• "How would you approach training a group of teachers who have little to no experience with robotics or 3D printing, to confidently lead a project you designed?" (Focus on communication, training methodology, and empathy).

• "Imagine you've designed a new woodworking project for 7-year-olds. What steps would you take to ensure its safety and scalability across 10 different camp locations?" (Focus on operational considerations, safety protocols, and implementation planning). Company & Culture Questions:

• "How do you embody NORY's 'Ways of Being,' specifically 'Purpose-Driven' and 'Solution-Oriented,' in your work?" (Be ready with specific examples from your experience).

• "What does a 'magical' or 'impactful' STEM learning experience look like to you, and how do you design for that?" (Connect your vision to NORY's stated goals).

• "How do you approach receiving feedback on your designs or training methods?" (Demonstrate a growth mindset and willingness to iterate). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling is Key: Don't just show a project; tell the story behind it. What was the inspiration? What problem did it solve? Who was it for?

• Highlight Process: Show your iterative design process – sketches, prototypes, testing phases, and final product.

• Quantify Impact (if possible): If you have data or testimonials about how children or teachers benefited from your projects, include it.

• Demonstrate Technical Proficiency: Clearly explain the electronics, coding, or fabrication techniques used.

• Focus on Educational Value: Always link your technical skills back to the educational outcomes and the target audience.

📝 Enhancement Note: These interview questions are crafted to probe for the specific skills and cultural fit required for a Maker Education Fabricator role, emphasizing practical application and alignment with NORY's operational philosophy.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Maker Education Fabricator position:

• Submit your portfolio, resume, and a cover note explaining your fit to <strong>peter@nory.co</strong>.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects that best demonstrate your skills in robotics, electronics, 3D printing, woodworking, and experience design for young children. Emphasize projects that show integration of STEM concepts with storytelling.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your experience in fabrication, curriculum development, and teacher training. Use keywords from the job description and quantify achievements where possible (e.g., "Designed 5 new robotics projects for summer camps serving 500+ children").

• Interview Preparation: Practice discussing your portfolio projects using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and prepare to answer questions about your approach to child development, teacher training, and problem-solving. Be ready to articulate how your values align with NORY's "Ways of Being."

• Company Research: Thoroughly review NORY's website, Instagram, and LinkedIn to understand their mission, values, and the impact they aim to achieve. Focus on how your fabrication and design skills can directly contribute to their vision of creating "magical, impactful, and memorable" learning experiences.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.