Nursery Manager

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, LLC.; Greater London; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary up to £59,529

Childcare discount 100%

Bonus up to £6,000

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave

Pension

Wellbeing benefits

Career development access

Careers coach access

Job summary

Bright Horizons Columbus Courtyard Day Nursery & Pre School in Canary Wharf (London) is seeking an inspiring and experienced Nursery Manager to lead our welcoming nursery. You will oversee daily operations, drive the EYFS education, and lead a passionate team in a busy setting.

You will act as Designated Safeguarding Lead, ensure safeguarding policies, and partner with the support office to recruit, nurture, and develop high-performing staff while delivering strong commercial results.

Qualifications

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification.
• Experience in an Early Years leadership role (Nursery Manager/Deputy Manager/Assistant Manager).
• Experience leading regulatory inspections resulting in Good or Outstanding.
• Experience building high-performance teams with regulatory compliance and service excellence.
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and child protection understanding.
• Ability to balance commercial and service quality in a regulated setting.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver outstanding care and education.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead and manage safeguarding policies.
• Partner with support office to recruit, nurture, and develop high-performing colleagues.
• Identify and implement commercial plans to deliver growth.
• Optimize nursery performance, revenue, and cost efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

Safeguarding

Team development

Decision making

Education

Early Years Level 3

Job description

Nursery – Bright Horizons Columbus Courtyard Day Nursery & Pre School Salary – Up to £59,529 per annum (dependent on qualification/s and experience) Location – Canary Wharf, E14 4DA We are looking for an inspiring and experienced Nursery Manager to lead our welcoming, well-established nursery. The Nursery was last OFSTED inspected in April 2026 being recognised as a strong standard across all areas. Our nursery is in close proximity to both Canary Wharf and West Ferry DLR stations, as well as Canary Wharf tube

Our nursery features five bright rooms tailored to each age group, supporting development from babies through to pre-school. Babies benefit from activities like tummy time, toddlers enjoy a stimulating environment focused on friendships and wellbeing, and pre-schoolers are encouraged to become independent learners. We offer an enriching EYFS-led curriculum, alongside indoor garden rooms for gross motor development and a sensory room for co-regulation. Families stay connected via our app with daily updates. Children also enjoy extra activities including Boogie Mites, Cooking Club, and Theatrebugs sessions in drama, music, and dance.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a confident leader who is passionate about early years education and wants to make a real difference in a thriving setting.

Our Benefits

• Up to £59,529 per annum per annum
• Childcare discount of 100% for first child
• Competitive bonus of up to £6,000, awarded in line with Ofsted inspection outcomes
• 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

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

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 in mind, 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. 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”. This is a chance for 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 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.

By creating this account you acknowledge that Bright Horizons will collect, store and process any of your personal data provided in respect of your application and employment in accordance with our Employee Privacy Notice. https://www.brighthorizons.co.uk/statutory-information/privacy-notice-employees.