Nursery Manager

We are looking for a full time qualified Nursery Manager to join our Bright Horizons Harpenden Central Day Nursery and Preschool, situated in Harpenden town centre, with excellent public transport links and parking close by., Did you know, Bright Horizons Foundation for Children charity has been established since 2005 supporting the lives of thousands of children and families in crisis, across almost 100 locations? Each Bright Horizons colleague is entitled to a paid volunteer day every year!

What you'll be doing

• Lead our nursery teams to deliver outstanding care to all the children in your setting


• Through your inspirational leadership drive employee engagement, retention, and performance in the nursery


• Work in partnership with Recruitment and HR to ensure your nursery is fully recruited, encouraging a diverse workforce


• Role model and mentor your nursery team to ensure the highest quality early childhood practice and experience for all children, including children with special education needs and/or disabilities


• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead at the nursery, holding overall responsibility for the day to day running of the nursery and management of safeguarding and child protection policies


• Work in partnership with HR to identify succession plans for the nursery team and nurture, create and continuously develop a pipeline of high performing colleagues, building the strongest talent pool in the sector


• Work with the Regional Director, Finance and Marketing teams to identify and implement commercial plans and strategies to deliver FTE growth within the nursery


• Commercial delivery of the nursery performance, optimising revenue generation and cost efficiency in line with staff ratio requirements, to deliver and exceed the annual budgeted EBITDA


• Engage with the Local Authority to understand the local offer, to support practice in all areas of the nursery
  
  Full and Relevant Level 3 or above Early Years qualification (essential)


• 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 the understanding of the complex relationship between business/commerce 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 build trust and strong working relationships with colleagues, parents and external partners


Bright Horizons are committed to creating inclusive environments where everyone has a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to contribute and thrive in meaningful and impactful ways. We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all 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.


• £2,000 bonus when your team achieves Outstanding Ofsted (or 5/6 combined Care Inspectorate rating)


• Discounted childcare of 100% for first child (T&C Apply)


• 33 days holiday per year, with the option to buy additional days


• Smart Health access, including 24/7 access to Virtual GP appointments, fitness programmes and mental health support


• Financial support through early access to wages, low interest debt consolidation loans and a wide variety of discounts across high street brands, travel, utilities and days out


• Development programme access for every stage of your career, tailored to your individual journey, with opportunities across our network of nurseries


• Access to our Future Leaders programme, preparing you to step into a Room Leader position


• Employee Appreciation throughout the year including our annual Awards of Excellence gala's


• Happy to Talk Flexible Working


Why Bright Horizons?

We are driven by our HEART values (Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Teamwork). If your values align, you'd be a great fit to join one of our 300 nurseries across the UK. We've also been voted Great Place to Work every year since 2006 - as well achieving Great Place for Wellbeing and Great Place for Women.