Nursery Manager

JR United Kingdom; Exeter; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading nursery is seeking a passionate Nursery Manager to lead their vibrant setting on a 12-month fixed-term maternity cover. The successful candidate will ensure outstanding care and education for children while managing a high-performing team. This role requires a strong leader with in-depth knowledge of Early Years education and regulatory requirements, and the ability to foster strong relationships with families and staff.

Benefits

Childcare discount of 100% for first child

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Pension

24/7 virtual GP appointments

Access to a professional development programme

Qualifications

• Experience in Early Years leadership roles such as Nursery Manager or similar.
• Knowledge of safeguarding and child protection legislation.
• Proven track record in achieving regulatory compliance and quality improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver care and education to children.
• Manage daily operations and safeguarding policies.
• Drive employee engagement and performance through inspirational leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Safeguarding

Decision Making

Team Development

Regulatory Compliance

Education

Full and relevant Level 3 Early Years qualification

Job description

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Nursery – Bright Horizons Tooting Looking Glass Day Nursery and Pre-School

Salary – From £43,743 per annum FTE

Contract - Fixed Term Mat Cover | 12 months | Full Time

Location – SW17 6AD

Are you a passionate and experienced Nursery Manager ready to lead a vibrant and nurturing early years setting? We’re looking for a dedicated professional to join our Tooting Looking Glass nursery on a 12-month fixed-term maternity cover contract.

Located just a 10-minute walk from Tooting Bec station and a short drive from Tooting town centre, our spacious 156-place nursery offers six well-resourced rooms and a beautiful garden area. It’s a warm, welcoming environment where children thrive and staff feel supported and inspired.

• From £43,743 per annum FTE
• Childcare discount of 100% 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

The Role

As a Nursery Manager, you will lead a team to deliver outstanding care and education to all the children in your setting, and through inspirational leadership drive employee engagement, retention and performance. You will act as Designated Safeguarding Lead, holding overall responsibility for the day to day running of the nursery, and management of safeguarding policies. You will work in partnership with support office teams to recruit, nurture, and continuously develop high performing colleagues, as well as identify and implement commercial plans and strategies to deliver FTE growth. You will optimise nursery performance, revenue generation, and cost efficiency in line with staff ratio requirements.

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 Nursery Manager, Deputy Manager, Assistant Manager or similar)
• Experience of participating with a regulatory inspection, 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
• Ability to develop trust and strong working partnerships with both colleagues and parents/ carers

We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all ages and backgrounds to apply. We will consider reasonable adjustments required by applicants. Please note, due to our sector all roles are subject to an Enhanced DBS.

If you want to make a difference, with a company who has been voted Great Place to Work every year since 2006, apply today!

We look forward to receiving your application!

If you experience any problems, please email [emailprotected] and I will be happy to help.