Nursery Manager

Bright Horizons; Poole; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount

Bonus up to £6,000

Enhanced parental leave

25 days leave + bank holidays

Pension

Wellbeing benefits

Career development

Job summary

Bright Horizons Poole Montessori Day Nursery and Pre School is seeking a Nursery Manager to lead a team delivering high-quality care and education. You will act as the Designated Safeguarding Lead and collaborate with support offices to recruit, nurture, and develop staff while implementing commercial plans to grow FTE and optimise costs.

The role requires a Level 3+ Early Years qualification and proven leadership in a regulated setting, with a focus on safeguarding, team development, and

Qualifications

• Level 3+ Early Years qualification (or higher) is required.
• Experience in an Early Years leadership role.
• Experience with regulatory inspections leading to Good/Outstanding outcomes.
• Proven ability to develop high-performing teams and ensure quality pedagogy.
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and ability to build trusted relationships with children and families.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver outstanding care and education in the nursery.
• Serve as Designated Safeguarding Lead and oversee safeguarding policies.
• Partner with support office teams to recruit, nurture and continuously develop high-performing colleagues.
• Identify and implement commercial plans to deliver FTE growth and optimise revenue and costs in line with staffing ratios.
• Ensure nursery performance aligns with regulatory requirements and service excellence.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

People management

Safeguarding

Commercial awareness

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification or higher

Job description

Nursery - Bright Horizons Poole Montessori Day Nursery and Pre School

Salary - Starting from £40,993 to £53,634 per annum (dependant on qualification/s and experience)

Welcome bonus of £1000 T&C's apply

Location - Poole, Dorset

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 Poole Montessori nursery.

• 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.