Nursery Manager (Maternity cover)

Bright Horizons Early Education & Preschool; Bodmin; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount

Bonus potential

Enhanced parental leave

Annual leave 25 days

Job summary

Bright Horizons Kew Day Nursery and Preschool is seeking a Nursery Manager for the Kew site. The role leads a team to deliver outstanding care and education, ensuring safeguarding oversight and day-to-day management of the nursery.

You will partner with support offices to recruit and develop high-performing staff while driving commercial plans and safeguarding compliance in a Good/Outstanding setting.

Qualifications

• Leadership experience in an Early Years setting.
• Experience participating in regulatory inspections with good outcomes.
• Sound safeguarding knowledge and child protection understanding.
• Strong focus on high-quality pedagogy and service excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver outstanding care and education.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead and manage day-to-day operations.
• Work with support offices to recruit, develop and retain staff.
• Implement commercial plans to support nursery growth and profitability.

Skills

Leadership experience

Regulatory compliance

Safeguarding knowledge

Child development

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification

Job description

Nursery – Bright Horizons Kew Day Nursery and Preschool

Salary – Up to £59,529.60 per annum (dependant on qualification/s and experience)

Contract – Fixed Term maternity cover from Sept 2026 for approx 12 months

Location – Richmond, London, TW9

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 Kew Nursery.

Bright Horizons Kew Nursery is situated on the site of a primary school. We're less than a 10 minute walk from Kew Gardens station on the District line and also have free parking just a short walk away.

Our 66-place nursery is proudly Ofsted rated ‘Good’ and consists of bright, colourful rooms tailored for each age group. Our nursery also features a fantastic outdoor space for the children to explore, fully equipped with a sandpit and climbing frame!

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

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.

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.