Operations Support Lead

Busy Bees; Canberra; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Busy Bees is seeking an experienced Operations Support Lead to help integrate services across ACT and NSW. You will partner with State Managers and Centre Directors to strengthen readiness, safeguard children and ensure a smooth transition into the Busy Bees operating model.

This fixed-term, full-time role requires travel to services and reports to the State Manager. You’ll coach leaders, identify risks, and deliver clear insights through reports on safeguarding outcomes and transition progress.

Qualifications

• Experience in operational leadership, quality assurance, compliance, safeguarding or performance improvement.
• Strong understanding of operational governance, risk management and continuous improvement.
• Experience coaching leaders and influencing outcomes without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Partner with State Managers, Area Directors and Centre Directors to support transition into the Busy Bees operating model.
• Conduct readiness and assurance visits to assess safeguarding, compliance and transition progress.
• Coach and support leaders to strengthen practice, consistency and sustainable improvement.
• Identify, monitor and escalate operational, workforce and transition risks with improvement plans.
• Prepare reports and insights on safeguarding outcomes, readiness, compliance and progress.

Skills

Operational leadership

Quality assurance

Governance & risk

Coaching leaders

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Busy Bees is a leading global, early learning provider, offering high-quality education in nurturing, purpose-built centres where educators are supported to grow, lead and make a real difference in children's lives, with over 130 centres across Australia and around 3,000 employees.

Bee Safe: Child safety is at the heart of everything we do and is embedded in our people, places and processes. Help us give every child the Best Start in Life.

We're seeking an experienced Operations Support Lead to support the successful integration of services into the Busy Bees network across ACT and NSW. Reporting to the State Manager, you'll play a critical role in delivering the State transition plan by partnering with operational leaders to strengthen operational readiness, safeguard children, support teams and families through change, and ensure services transition safely and successfully.

This role is based across ACT / NSW on a fixed-term, full-time (4-month) basis and requires regular travel to services.

Busy Bees is a leading global, early learning provider, offering high-quality education in nurturing, purpose-built centres where educators are supported to grow, lead and make a real difference in children's lives, with over 130 centres across Australia and around 3,000 employees.

Bee Safe: Child safety is at the heart of everything we do and is embedded in our people, places and processes. Help us give every child the Best Start in Life.

We're seeking an experienced Operations Support Lead to support the successful integration of services into the Busy Bees network across ACT and NSW. Reporting to the State Manager, you'll play a critical role in delivering the State transition plan by partnering with operational leaders to strengthen operational readiness, safeguard children, support teams and families through change, and ensure services transition safely and successfully.

This role is based across ACT / NSW on a fixed-term, full-time (4-month) basis and requires regular travel to services.

What you’ll do

• Partner with State Managers, Area Directors and Centre Directors to support the successful transition of services into the Busy Bees operating model.
• Conduct structured readiness and assurance visits to assess operational performance, safeguarding, compliance and transition progress.
• Coach and support operational leaders to strengthen practice consistency, operational excellence and sustainable improvement.
• Identify, monitor and escalation operational, workforce and transition risks while supporting practical improvement plans.
• Prepare clear reports and insights that provide visibility of safeguarding outcomes, operational readiness, compliance and transition progress.

What you’ll bring

• A genuine commitment to child safety and wellbeing & alignment to our Busy Bees values.
• Experience in operational leadership, quality assurance, compliance, safeguarding or performance improvement.
• Strong understanding of operational governance, risk management and continuous improvement.
• Experience coaching leaders and influencing outcomes without direct authority.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, communication and reporting skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively across ACT and NSW throughout the contract.

Why Busy Bees?

Because we offer the B.E.E.S. advantage:

Better pay. Everyday balance. Education for growth. Support you can rely on.

We live by our values of Care, Quality, Service, and Value to make a real impact on child safety and quality.

• Play a key role in one of Busy Bees' most significant transition programs, partnering with operational leaders to strengthen safeguarding, compliance and operational excellence.
• Global & national opportunities; connect with leaders across Australia and apply for our Global Talent Exchange Program (UK, Canada and Asia).
• Stability with heart; a global organisation with a local feel, where child safety, wellbeing and quality are never compromised.
• Supportive leaders & inclusive teams; hands-on leadership, strong tenure and a culture built on trust, respect and collaboration.

Employment is conditional on satisfactory, rigorous pre-employment checks (including WWCC, ID, Qualifications, Gecko Training, Work Rights & References) and child safety training, reflecting our strong commitment to safeguarding, equity, diversity and inclusion.

We are proud to be a child safe organisation, putting child safety at the heart of everything we do through our Triple Layer Child Safety Framework: trusted, trained and caring people, safe, supervised and supportive environments, and clear, consistent and transparent processes.