Nursery Manager

Bright Horizons Family Solutions; Hedge End; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount

Bonus up to £6,000 per year

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Pension

Wellbeing benefits & 24/7 virtual GP

Job summary

Bright Horizons Hedge End day Nursery and Pre School in Hedge End, near Southampton, is seeking a Nursery Manager to lead a team delivering outstanding care and education. You will act as Designated Safeguarding Lead and partner with head office to recruit, nurture and develop colleagues, while driving growth and ensuring safe, high-quality service.

The role involves safeguarding, regulatory compliance, staff development, and delivering commercial plans to optimise nursery performance within

Qualifications

• Full and relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification.
• Experience in an Early Years leadership role (Nursery Manager or equivalent).
• Experience participating in regulatory inspections achieving a Good/Outstanding.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver high-quality care and education.
• Designated safeguarding lead with responsibility for day-to-day nursery operations.
• Partner with support offices to recruit, develop, and retain staff, and drive commercial plans.
• Optimize performance, revenue generation, and cost efficiency while meeting staff ratios.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Regulatory compliance

Safeguarding knowledge

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification

Job description

Nursery – Bright Horizons Hedge End day Nursery and Pre School

Salary – Starting from £40,993 per annum (dependant on qualification/s and experience)

Location – Hedge End, Southampton

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 Nursery Manager to join our Hedge End nursery.

Our Benefits

• 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

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.

Proud to be a Great Place to Work for 20 years.