Nursery Deputy Manager

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

Benefits offered by this job

75% childcare discount for first child

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave plus bank hols +

Paid Christmas closure

Pension

Wellbeing bonuses and 24/7 virtual GP

Early access to wages

Professional development programme + a

Job summary

Bright Horizons Great Cornard Day Nursery and Preschool is seeking a Deputy Manager to lead a team in delivering high-quality early years care and education. The role involves safeguarding leadership, managing day-to-day nursery operations, and supporting staff development.

The nursery offers a supportive environment with a focus on partnership with families, local authorities, and colleagues, while driving occupancy, retention, and budget management in a Good Ofsted setting.

Qualifications

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, support, and inspire a team to deliver exceptional care and education.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead, overseeing day to day running of the nursery and safeguarding and child protection policies.
• 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).
• Support the commercial success of the nursery through retention, occupancy growth, and maintaining budgets.

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification

Job description

Position

Nursery – Bright Horizons Great Cornard Day Nursery and Preschool

Salary – From £32,513.00 per annum

Location – Sudbury

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 Great Cornard nursery, rated "Good" by Ofsted. The nursery is a purpose-built nursery with spacious rooms and filled with natural light, featuring a large outdoor area. Conveniently located in Great Cornard, it offers excellent transport links from the surrounding areas.

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* (Subject to T&Cs)
• 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

• Lead, mentor, support, and inspire a team to deliver exceptional care and education.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead, overseeing day to day running of the nursery and management of safeguarding and child protection policies.
• 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).
• Support the commercial success of the nursery through retention, occupancy growth, and maintaining budgets.

Mandatory Must Provide

• 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.

Inclusion & Background

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

Please note, due to our sector all roles are subject to an Enhanced DBS.

INDLEH Bright Horizons is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. 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.

We pride ourselves as a Great Place to Work for 20 years.

At Bright Horizons, our culture is built on our commitment to Keeping Everyone Safe and providing world-class care and education, delivered by a world-class workforce.

We believe our people’s potential is endless and with this intention, we aspire to create an environment where our colleagues can thrive and accomplish the things they thought impossible.

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 support one another in the work that we do each day. They are at the HEART of our organisation’s ethos and culture as well as providing 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 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”. This enables everyone to share their 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 how we show care and appreciation. 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.

By creating this account you acknowledge that Bright Horizons will collect, store and process any of your personal data in respect of your application and employment in accordance with its Employee Privacy Notice.

https://www.brighthorizons.co.uk/statutory-information/privacy-notice-employees.