Pilot Lead

About Parents & Co

Parents & Co is bringing the village back — creating local places where families can find community, classes and childcare/creche, all within primary schools already at the heart of their neighbourhoods.

We work with carefully chosen schools to create welcoming spaces where young children can play, learn and grow; parents can meet other local families; and the early years can feel a little more supported and shared.

Together,Parents & Co and Springfield Primary School in Hackney, are launching a pilot, and we're looking for someone brilliant to lead the pilot.

The role

As Pilot Lead – Springfield, you'll be responsible for bringing Parents & Co to life locally.

This is a hands-on role. You'll build relationships with local families, develop our community, launch and oversee our classes and childcare offer, manage the people delivering them, and work closely with Springfield Primary School to make Parents & Co feel like a genuine part of the school and neighbourhood.

In the early stages, that might mean welcoming a new parent to the WhatsApp group in the morning, supporting a Village Leader running a session later that day, meeting the school team to plan use of a space, and speaking to local families about what they want from childcare.

You'll have considerable ownership of the Springfield pilot, while working closely with the Parents & Co central team to test, learn and shape a model that can eventually be replicated in other neighbourhoods.

What you'll be responsible for

• Build the Springfield village. Become a familiar and trusted face for local families; grow an active local parent community; welcome new families personally; manage local WhatsApp/community communications; create opportunities for parents to meet and build relationships; and make sure families feel that Parents & Co genuinely belongs to them.
• Bring our classes to life. Launch and oversee a small programme of Parents & Co classes and clubs for young children and their parents. You'll help identify what local families want, coordinate Village Leaders and external practitioners, support session delivery and continually improve the programme based on attendance and parent feedback.
• Help launch our childcare/creche offer. Work with the central team and Early Years Practitioners to establish Parents & Co creche hours at Springfield. You'll help generate local interest, organise tours and conversations with prospective parents, support practitioners and make sure the experience families encounter reflects the quality and philosophy of Parents & Co.
• Build a brilliant partnership with Springfield. Develop a relationship with the school. You'll coordinate spaces, sessions and practical arrangements; build relationships with relevant school staff; identify opportunities to draw on the school's expertise and resources; and make sure Parents & Co is a thoughtful, respectful and valuable partner.
• Learn as we go. This is a pilot, so we don't expect everything to be figured out on day one. You'll keep track of attendance, enquiries, community growth, childcare/creche interest and family feedback; spot what's working and what isn't; test improvements quickly; and share learning that helps us build the next Parents & Co village.

What success looks like

By the end of the pilot, we want Springfield to feel like a real local village: families know about it, parents are forming relationships with one another, classes are well attended, there is a growing pipeline of families interested in the school,, and Parents & Co has become a trusted part of the Springfield school community.

We'll agree specific targets with you, but we'd expect you to build an engaged local parent community of around 30–50 families, successfully establish approximately three regular clubs/classes, build meaningful interest in the creche.

Just as importantly, we want to hear parents saying: “I've found my village.”

Who we're looking for

We're much more interested in the person than a particular career path.

You might have worked in early years, community building, education, family services, hospitality, events, start-ups or another hands-on environment where you've had to bring people together and make things happen.

You'll probably thrive in this role if:

• you're naturally warm and brilliant with people;
• comfortable walking into a room where you don't know anyone and starting conversations;
• highly organised without needing lots of structure around you;
• willing to roll your sleeves up and solve practical problems;
• confident working independently;
• excited by the messiness and possibility of building something new.

Experience working with parents, young children, schools or community organisations would be particularly valuable.

Above all, we're looking for someone who understands what we're trying to build: not simply a collection of services, but a village around families.

Safeguarding

Parents & Co works directly with young children and families, so safeguarding sits at the heart of everything we do.

Appointment will be subject to the appropriate safer-recruitment and pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced DBS check, references and right-to-work checks. Depending on the responsibilities ultimately included within the role, additional early-years or safeguarding requirements may apply.

A little about Springfield

Springfield Primary School will be the base for our Hackney pilot. Rather than simply hiring space, our aim is to build Parents & Co in partnership with the school — drawing on the environment, people and community already around it while creating something specifically for families in the early years.

The Pilot Lead will be the person who makes that partnership work on the ground.

Pay: £30,000.00-£35,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person