Deputy Manager

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, LLC.; Southampton; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount 75%

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave + bank holidays +

Additional leave purchase option

Pension & wellbeing benefits including

Career development and coaching access

Job summary

Bright Horizons Southampton Day Nursery and Preschool is seeking a Deputy Manager to lead a dedicated team in providing high-quality care and education for young children. You will act as the Designated Safeguarding Lead, oversee daily operations, and ensure safeguarding compliance.

You will play a pivotal role in staff development, parent and Local Authority engagement, and driving occupancy and budget performance.

Qualifications

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification.
• Experience in an Early Years leadership role.
• Experience participating in regulatory inspections and achieving a 'Good' or 'Outstanding' rating.
• Confident decision maker with leadership experience.
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and understanding of child protection requirements.
• Ability to build trust and strong partnerships with colleagues and parents.
• Effective communication with children and adults using diverse methods.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and inspire the nursery team to deliver exceptional care and education.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead and oversee safeguarding policies.
• Oversee day-to-day running, and manage safeguarding and child protection procedures.
• Contribute to succession planning, training, and staff development plans.
• Maintain partnerships with parents, colleagues and Local Authority, and support nursery budgeting and occupancy growth.

Skills

Early Years leadership

Regulatory inspections experience

Decision making

Safeguarding knowledge

Partnership building

Communication skills

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification

Job description

Job Details

Deputy Manager – Bright Horizons Southampton Day Nursery and Preschool

Salary – From £32513 per annum (dependent on qualification/s and experience)

Location – Southampton, Hampshire

Are you looking to work for an organisation whose culture is driven by our HEART principles – Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Teamwork? Where you can be yourself, feel supported, and help to make a difference to the next generation? Somewhere you can say: “I did that.”

We’re looking for a Deputy Manager to join our Southampton nursery. At our nursery, we pride ourselves on creating a warm, inclusive, and nurturing environment where children flourish, families feel valued, and colleagues are empowered to be their very best.

Benefits

• Childcare discount of 75% for first child
• Enhanced parental leave
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and paid Christmas closure.
• Ability to also purchase additional leave
• Pension Financial and wellbeing benefits including 24/7 virtual GP appointments, early access to wages, and more.
• Professional development programme access for every stage of your career, including access to a careers coach *Subject to T&Cs

Role

The Role As a Deputy Manager, you will lead, mentor, support, and inspire a team to deliver exception care and education. You will act as Designated Safeguarding Lead, overseeing day to day running of the nursery and management of safeguarding and child protection policies. You will contribute to succession planning, training, and supporting team professional development plans, maintain strong partnerships with colleagues, parents, and other professionals (such as the Local Authority), and support the commercial success of the nursery through retention, occupancy growth, and maintaining budgets.

What we’re looking for

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification
• Experience within an Early Years leadership role (ideally as a Deputy Manager, Assistant Manager, Third in Charge or similar)
• Experience of participating with a regulatory inspection, leading to a ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ outcome
• Confident decision maker, with previous experience providing support and leadership to others
• Strong knowledge and understanding of Safeguarding, Child Protection, and the wider legislative requirements for working with children
• Ability to develop trust and strong working partnerships with both colleagues and parents/ carers
• Ability to use a variety of communication techniques with both children and adults

Equal Opportunity

We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all ages and backgrounds to apply. We will consider reasonable adjustments required by applicants.

Recruitment and Compliance

This post is subject to safer recruitment practice and pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS check, which will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Please note, due to our sector all roles are subject to an Enhanced DBS.

Company Culture

Bright Horizons has been recognised as a Great Place to Work by our employees and the Great Place to Work Institute for the last 13 years. We care passionately about what we do, and our HEART values and principles help us to support one another in the work that we do each day. These are quite literally at the HEART of our organisation’s ethos and culture as it helps us to provide a working environment that supports professionalism, growth and diversity.

We are passionate about our people’s ongoing learning and development. Our learning and leading with HEART framework supports each Bright Horizons colleague on the first steps of their leadership journey, whether that includes our 'World-Class Welcome' induction or our extensive ongoing training programme. Either way we want you to feel valued and invested in!

Celebrating in the accomplishments of our people is an essential part of our culture. We believe in the power of “thank you” and throughout the year, in ways big and small, formal and informal, we show our appreciation for employees at all levels. We have many ways to acknowledge and celebrate our people, including our very popular “employee appreciation month”, which is a chance for everyone to share gratitude to one another, across the whole company. Whether it is a “thank you” placed on our website, a chocolate pizza, team lunch or an ice cream van visit, it is our way of showing each other we care and appreciate everything we do. Each year, we have our annual 'Awards of Excellence' events; whether you are an award winner or cheering on a fellow team member, these formal award occasions are opportunities to come together and celebrate one another.