Nursery Manager (Maternity cover)

Bright Horizons; England; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading childcare provider in the UK is seeking a Nursery Manager to lead a team in delivering high standards of care and education. Responsibilities include managing safeguarding policies, developing staff, and optimizing nursery performance. The ideal candidate will have a Level 3 Early Years qualification and experience in leadership roles. This position offers various benefits including childcare discounts and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

100% childcare discount for first child

Enhanced parental leave

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Pension

24/7 virtual GP appointments

Access to professional development programme

Qualifications

• Experience in Early Years leadership roles like Nursery Manager or similar.
• Participation in regulatory inspections leading to positive outcomes.
• Strong understanding of nursery operations and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver high standards of care and education.
• Manage safeguarding policies and nursery operations.
• Develop high-performing colleagues through effective recruitment.

Skills

Leadership

Safeguarding

Decision Making

Team Development

Child Protection Knowledge

Education

Level 3 Early Years qualification or above

Job description

Overview

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.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to deliver high standards of care and education for all children in the setting.
• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead and manage safeguarding policies and day-to-day nursery operations.
• Collaborate with support office teams to recruit, nurture, and develop high performing colleagues.
• Identify and implement commercial plans and strategies to deliver full-time equivalent (FTE) growth.
• Optimise nursery performance, revenue generation, and cost efficiency in line with staff ratio requirements.

Qualifications and Experience

• 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.

Benefits

• 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