Manager

Bridgend County Borough Council; Bridgend; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Bridgend County Borough Council is seeking a Manager for Maintained Early Years Provision on a fixed-term basis to lead ten maintained settings across the authority. The role focuses on strategic leadership, quality improvement, safeguarding and collaboration with key partners to support children and families.

The successful candidate will develop and implement a programme of development, strengthen leadership at all levels, and ensure high standards of practice across the service, with a Welsh

Qualifications

• Leadership experience in a multi-site early years provision.
• Strong strategic and change management skills.
• Welsh language ability or willingness to learn Welsh is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and management of ten maintained early years settings.
• Lead a defined development and improvement programme for the service.
• Collaborate closely with the Early Years and Childcare Manager, Flying Start Team Leaders, ALN and Safeguarding Lead, and Early Years Education and Care Advisor.
• Drive workforce development, professional learning, and succession planning to strengthen leadership capacity.

Job description

Manager - Maintained Early Years Provision (Fixed Term) - Internal Only

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Job details

Contractual hours 37

Basis Term time

Job category/type Early Years and Childcare

Date posted 01/10/2026

Job reference 19181

37 hours per week

Term Time

Fixed Term until 31st March 2028

Secondment opportunities are welcomed for this vacancy.

An exciting development opportunity has arisen for an experienced colleague to undertake a fixed-term secondment as Maintained Early Years Manager, providing overall leadership to our ten maintained early years settings during an important period of development.

Our maintained operations have recently increased in size, and, alongside this growth, the wider early years landscape continues to evolve. We want to ensure our provision is not only effectively managed day to day, but that we continue to develop strong leadership, consistently high-quality practice and the capacity to respond positively to future opportunities and change.

The successful applicant will take overall responsibility for the effective leadership and management of the maintained settings, working closely with the Early Years and Childcare Manager, our Flying Start Team Leaders, ALN and Safeguarding Lead and Early Years Education and Care Advisor.

Alongside the day-to-day leadership of the service, a key purpose will be to lead a defined programme of development and improvement.

This academic year, we particularly want to:

• - Further strengthen leadership at all levels, including developing the leadership role of Senior Childcare Workers within individual settings;
• - Support the continued development and implementation of the Framework for Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care (ECPLC);
• - Strengthen quality assurance, self-evaluation and continuous improvement across the ten settings;
• - Promote greater consistency in practice, expectations and ways of working while recognising the individual context of each setting;
• - Further develop approaches to workforce development, professional learning and succession planning;
• - Ensure that our leadership arrangements make the best use of the skills and expertise across the service; and
• - Help prepare the maintained provision for its next phase of development, ensuring that it has the leadership capacity, systems and ways of working needed to respond to the evolving early childhood education and childcare landscape.

We are looking for someone who can provide confident and supportive leadership while also seeing the bigger picture: someone who can build strong relationships, develop others, influence change and translate ideas into practical and sustainable improvements.

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to lead a large, multi-site early years service, manage and develop senior colleagues, influence service developments and play an important role in shaping the next phase of our maintained early years provision.

The ability to greet customers through the medium of Welsh is a requirement for this post.

Protecting children, young people or adults at risk is a core responsibility of all council employees.

An Enhanced with Childrens Barred list criminal records check by the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) is a requirement for this post.

A valid driving licence is requirement for this post.