Deputy Manager

Raphael Nursery; Greater London; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent pay based on experience

Birthday day off

Sick pay policy

Well-being support

Career progression support

Fully funded training

Free hot lunches

Pension scheme

Childcare discount for longstanding员工

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Raphael Nursery in London is seeking a dedicated Deputy Manager to support the Nursery Manager in leading the team to deliver outstanding care and education for all children. The role focuses on employee engagement, staff development, safeguarding, and ensuring high standards of quality and regulatory compliance across the nursery.

The client emphasises a loving culture, Montessori-inspired curriculum, and opportunities for progression, with benefits including funded training and generous staff

Qualifications

• Level 3 or above Early Years qualification is required.
• Experience in an Early Years leadership role (e.g., Deputy Manager or similar).
• Experience with regulatory inspections and achieving Good/Outstanding outcomes is preferable.

Responsibilities

• Support the Nursery Manager in leading the team to deliver high-quality care and education.
• Drive employee engagement and staff development.
• Ensure operations meet statutory and company requirements and safeguarding standards.
• Deputise for the Nursery Manager during absences and manage staffing and safeguarding.
• Support safeguarding policy implementation and may act as DDSL/DSL where appropriate.
• Collaborate with parents, carers and office teams to recruit, develop and retain staff, and to drive occupancy and quality.

Skills

Leadership

Staff development

Safeguarding knowledge

Communication with parents

Decision making

Education

Level 3+ Early Years qualification

Job description

We are seeking a dedicated and compassionate Deputy Manager to join our team. The ideal candidate will support the Nursery Manager in leading the team to deliver outstanding care and education for all children within the setting. The candidate will play a key role in driving employee engagement, supporting staff development, and maintaining high standards of quality, compliance, and safeguarding across the nursery.

We are a group of Bilingual French Nurseries in London. We are a family-owned setting with two nurseries currently. In 2021 & 2024, we received the Top 20 London nurseries award. This is a testimony of the quality of our teaching and learning environment for our children.

We provide a loving culture and creative exploration through the eyes of the child. By building Montessori methods and linguistic arts, we have developed our unique curriculum. As a result, we prepare a child to excel in their foundation years and then move through life with a strong ability to achieve excellence. We are currently looking for a Level 3 or above early years qualified Deputy Manager in the team who is passionate about childcare and who can play a key role at this exciting stage of our growing nurseries.

• Excellent rates of pay (based on experience and qualification)
• Birthday off
• Sick pay policy
• Support for well-being
• Support for career progression
• Support for higher level qualifications and fully funded training
• Free wholesome, hot lunches available
• Pension Scheme
• 70% fee reduction for our longstanding employees to take their children in the nursery if space available (minimum 1year of employment with us)
• Employee assistance programme

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the Nursery Manager in leading the team to deliver outstanding care and education for all children within the setting.
• Play a key role in driving employee engagement, supporting staff development, and maintaining high standards of quality, compliance, and safeguarding across the nursery.
• Working closely with the Nursery Manager, you will assist with the day-to-day operation of the nursery, ensuring the nursery operates effectively, safely, and in line with statutory and company requirements.
• Deputise for the Nursery Manager during their absence, taking responsibility for the overall management of the nursery, including safeguarding, staffing, and operational decisions.
• Support the implementation of safeguarding policies and procedures and may act as a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) or Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), where appropriate.
• Work in partnership with colleagues, parents and carers, and support office teams to recruit, develop, and retain high-performing staff while contributing to occupancy growth, quality improvement, and the delivery of exceptional childcare and education.
• Support the Nursery Manager in monitoring nursery performance, maintaining staffing ratios, promoting cost efficiency, and identifying opportunities to enhance both the quality of provision and the commercial success of the nursery.

Requirements:

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification
• Experience within an Early Years leadership role (ideally as a Nursery Deputy Manager, Assistant Manager or similar)
• Experience of participating with a regulatory inspection would be preferable but not necessary, leading to a ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ outcome
• Experience of developing high performance teams, with effective regulatory compliance, quality improvement, delivery of high-quality pedagogy, innovation and service excellence
• Confident decision maker, with ability to support change and understanding of complex relationship between commercial and service excellence within a regulated setting
• Strong knowledge and understanding of Safeguarding, Child Protection, and the wider legislative requirements for working with children
• Strong knowledge in Safer Recruitment
• Ability to develop trust and strong working partnerships with both colleagues and parents/ carers

If you are enthusiastic about shaping the early years of a child’s life and contributing

to a nurturing environment, we would love to hear from you!