Director Early Childhood Education

Only About Children; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Only About Children is seeking a senior leader to shape the strategic direction of Education, Health and Inclusion across the organisation. You will lead EHI teams, translate research into practical practice and partner with campuses to drive quality outcomes for over 9,000 children and families.

Reporting to the COO, the Director will be a senior subject matter expert on learning, development, wellbeing and inclusion, with a track record of enterprise-wide strategy and capability uplift in a

Qualifications

• Senior leader with experience across education, health or inclusion.
• Ability to translate evidence into practical, scalable solutions.
• Experience shaping strategy across multi-site organisations.

Responsibilities

• Lead Education, Health and Inclusion strategy across the organisation.
• Shape educational direction through philosophy, curriculum and frameworks.
• Translate strategy into campus practice with operations teams.
• Develop professional learning and coaching to raise capability.
• Advance child health, wellbeing and inclusion initiatives.
• Drive quality and continuous improvement with regulatory alignment.
• Collaborate with families, experience and marketing teams.

Skills

Senior leadership

Strategy execution

Stakeholder engagement

Education Health Inclusion

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Early childhood education degree

Working with Children Check

Job description

Only About Children – St Leonards Park NSW

Only About Children is seeking an accomplished and influential leader to shape the strategic direction of Education, Health and Inclusion across our organisation.

Supporting more than 9,000 children, this role offers the opportunity to influence educational practice and outcomes at scale. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Director will lead OAC's Education, Health and Inclusion teams and serve as our senior subject matter expert across children's learning, development, wellbeing and inclusion.

Combining deep sector expertise with enterprise leadership, you will translate contemporary research, evidence and organisational insights into practical approaches that strengthen outcomes across our campuses.

The opportunity

As Director, Early Childhood Education, you will:

• Lead OAC's Education, Health and Inclusion strategy, bringing these disciplines together to deliver safe, inclusive and high-quality outcomes, with children's rights, safety, wellbeing and voice central to decision-making and practice.
• Shape OAC's educational direction through the ongoing development of our educational philosophy, curriculum and pedagogical frameworks, informed by contemporary research and emerging sector practice.
• Translate strategy into consistent campus practice, partnering with Campus Operations to develop practical, scalable approaches that strengthen educational quality and can be effectively embedded by campus leaders and teams.
• Build organisational capability through professional learning, coaching, evidence-informed resources and targeted initiatives that strengthen educator and leadership practice.
• Advance children's health, wellbeing and inclusion by developing frameworks and supports that help campuses respond effectively to the diverse needs of children and families.
• Drive quality and continuous improvement, working with Quality Assurance and Safeguarding to identify trends, strengthen alignment with the National Quality Framework and support campus readiness for Assessment and Rating.
• Strengthen OAC's proposition to families by partnering with Family Experience and Marketing to communicate the value and impact of our approach to education, health and inclusion.
• Lead high-performing specialist teams, fostering collaboration, accountability, professional curiosity and continuous learning across the Education, Health and Inclusion functions.

About you

You are a credible senior leader who can move confidently between strategy and implementation. You translate complex evidence and regulatory requirements into practical solutions and build trusted partnerships across executive, operational and specialist teams.

You will bring:

• Significant senior leadership experience in early childhood education, health, inclusion or child and family services, including leading specialist teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide strategy and improvement, embedding sustainable change and capability uplift across a complex, multi-site organisation.
• Deep expertise in contemporary early childhood practice, including child development, pedagogy, wellbeing, inclusion and equitable outcomes.
• Strong regulatory knowledge, including the National Quality Framework, Approved Learning Frameworks and Child Safe Standards, with the ability to translate evidence and data into practical, scalable solutions.
• A relevant tertiary qualification in Early Childhood Education, Education, Health, Allied Health, Inclusion or a related discipline, and a current Working with Children Check. Postgraduate qualifications will be highly regarded.

Why join Only About Children?

This is a rare opportunity to shape educational practice at scale, lead highly capable specialist teams and play a central role in improving outcomes for more than 9,000 children and their families.

If you are motivated to influence sector-leading practice, champion children's rights and create sustainable organisational impact, we would welcome your application.

Our commitment to child safety

At Only About Children, the safety, wellbeing and best interests of children are our primary consideration. We have zero tolerance for child abuse and are committed to a child-safe environment where children's rights are respected and children are safeguarded from harm.

The successful candidate will demonstrate an ongoing commitment to OAC's child-safe culture and HEART Principles of Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect and Teamwork.