Early Years Support Manager

Happy Days Nurseries Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mental health support

Generous annual leave

People's Pension

Job summary

Happy Days Nurseries Limited is seeking an experienced Support Manager to lead a cluster of nurseries, ensuring outstanding Early Years practice, safeguarding, and strong leadership while driving growth.

You will provide temporary management cover, mentor new managers, focus on occupancy, admissions, and cost control, and work closely with central teams to deliver excellent outcomes for children and families.

Qualifications

• Level 3 Early Years qualification and hands-on day care operations.
• Proven budgeting experience and delivering financial targets.
• Experience leading staff across a nursery group.
• Ability to analyse data to support commercial decisions.
• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel between settings.

Responsibilities

• Provide temporary management cover for nurseries across multiple locations.
• Oversee EYFS compliance, safeguarding, welfare requirements and Ofsted readiness.
• Lead on staff induction, development plans, and performance management.
• Drive occupancy, admissions, and revenue growth.
• Monitor costs and optimise staffing efficiencies.
• Collaborate with central departments to support business objectives.
• Travel between settings as required.

Skills

Staff leadership

P&L management

Budgeting

Data analysis

Communication

Travel readiness

Digital literacy

Problem solving

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification

Tools

IT applications

Job description

Lead great nurseries. Develop exceptional people. Make a difference to children and families.

The role of the Support Manager is to drive excellence across allocated and regional settings by balancing high-quality Early Years education and safeguarding standards with robust leadership, operational efficiency, and commercial growth. This role provides temporary management cover, targeted regional support, and mentorship to nurture high-performing, sustainable nurseries

Location: We are recruiting for an Early Yearssupport manager in these locations Bristol, West London, Surrey andSwindon

Salary: £45,000 per annum

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

About Happy Days

Happy Days is growing, and we're recruiting an experienced Support manager to lead a cluster of Happy Days Nurseries, bringing together outstanding Early Years practice, strong leadership and commercial performance.

What You'll Be Doing

To act as nominated Support Manager, providing temporary management cover for nurseries in both short and long-term assignments:

• Early Years Practice & Quality Assurance
• Ensure designated settings strictly comply with all EYFS, Welfare Requirements, Ofsted, Health and Safety, and other statutory legislation.
• Champion Ofsted readiness and preparation across settings, ensuring high standards of teaching, learning, and safeguarding.
• Ensure company policies, procedures, and the SHINE Values are consistently embedded and delivered.
• Act as a mentor for new nursery managers, guiding and supporting them through their company induction.
• Lead on staff retention, talent mapping, and succession planning to build resilient teams.
• Support managers in reviewing staff needs relative to occupancy levels, ensuring settings are safely and efficiently staffed for growth.
• Oversee staff induction, probation, and ongoing development plans, ensuring training compliance.
• Lead on employee relations, including investigations, disciplinary, and grievance meetings where required.
• Support or manage parent concerns and complaints sensitively and effectively.
• Commercial & Business Operations
• Drive sales, marketing activities, and admissions to maximize occupancy and revenue growth.
• Support cost management, including monitoring controllable spending and optimizing staffing efficiencies.
• Assist managers and settings in managing and recovering debt.
• Collaborate cohesively with all central departments (e.g., Finance, HR, Marketing) to support business objectives.
• Support the Early Years Manager with strategic, ad-hoc regional projects

What we’re looking for

• Early Years Knowledge: Level 3 Early Years qualification with a thorough, hands-on understanding of day-to-day private day care operations.
• Proven experience managing budgets, controlling costs, and delivering against financial targets and business metrics.
• Experience within a nursery group, with a track record of leading, developing, and inspiring staff teams.
• Ability to analyse data/information to make sound commercial decisions, plan workloads, and delegate effectively.
• Strong knowledge of Health and Safety and equal opportunities legislation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong conflict-resolution capabilities.
• Digital Literacy: Proficiency in using a range of IT applications and programs.
• Flexibility: Willingness to travel across settings and participate in evening/weekend commitments such as open days and parents' evenings.

You’ll bring

• Proven experience leading managers and multiple locations or geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong commercial acumen, including P&L management, occupancy growth, budgeting and cost control.
• A successful track record of coaching and developing managers to improve quality and performance.
• Confidence managing performance, employee relations and difficult conversations.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building and decision-making skills.
• A proactive, accountable approach and the confidence to work independently.
• A full, clean UK driving licence and flexibility to travel between settings.

What We Offer

At Happy Days Nurseries, you’ll have the opportunity to genuinely influence how our nurseries perform and grow.

Working alongside a supportive operational team, you’ll have the autonomy to make decisions, develop exceptional leaders and drive continuous improvement, while never losing sight of what matters most: creating fantastic experiences and outcomes for children and families.

Learning and Development

• Support with accounting CPD requirements.
• Opportunities to grow your career.

Health and Wellbeing

• Mental health and wellbeing support.
• Generous annual leave from day one.
• People's Pension.

Closing Date: 13th October 2026

Inclusion and Safeguarding Happy Days is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. If you need any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Happy Days Nurseries is committed to safeguarding children. All offers of employment are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks, including verification of your right to work in the UK.