Nursery Manager

Job title: Nursery Manager

Position: Permanent

Start: Early 2027

Responsible to: Regional Nursery Manager and Poppins Day Nursery Director

Responsible for: Poppins Day Nursery Wychbold

Salary: £40,000 per annum

Working hours: 42.5 hours per week (occasionally more as and when the nursery requires) between the hours of 7.30am-6pm, Monday-Friday (52 weeks per year)

About Poppins

Poppins Day Nursery Wychbold is a brand new setting that has been created to allow us to bring everything that people know and love about Poppins to the Droitwich area. The building and layout have been thoughtfully designed and created to support children’s natural urge to explore and encourage children to challenge emerging ideas and concepts, and the rooms have been beautifully equipped to a high standard. The Nursery Manager role at Poppins Day Nursery Wychbold is an exciting and rare opportunity for a passionate childcare professional who is energised by the opportunity to build a team from scratch, embed their best practice into the setting and to really make a difference. You will be fully supported to excel in your role at Poppins by the experienced and caring management team, with support from a Regional Manager and a Nursery Administration Manager.

We are a small homely setting, privately operated as a family business and not part of a chain. Often described as warm and welcoming by those who visit or know the setting, we put care at the forefront of everything we do for our children, our team and our families. We follow a child led approach to learning and offer a home from home environment for children to explore and develop into confident little learners.

Poppins Day Nursery is an accredited employer with the Living Wage Foundation paying above National Living Wage across all roles. We are incredibly passionate about supporting your continuous professional development and career progression and offer a range of coaching support, resources, and training (both in house and external) to our team all of which is paid for by Poppins.

Your paid holiday entitlement increases with service and we carry out an annual pay and benefits review. We believe in taking opportunities to celebrate and that you’re never too old for a party hat and balloons, so if your birthday happens to fall on one of your working days you will be gifted this day as holiday. We also don't have a staff uniform! Other job benefits to working at Poppins include free parking, company pension, annual flu jab, staff referral scheme and two paid Inset days each year for enhanced training, group reflection and focussed planning time.

The Role

The Nursery Manager is a passionate and experienced qualified childcare professional, who is responsible for the day to day running of the nursery. They will provide safe, high quality care for all early year’s children attending the setting. The Nursery Manager will lead and inspire the team to provide inclusive play and learning opportunities for all children attending the nursery and to maintain a safe, stimulating, and enjoyable environment. The Nursery Manager will have extensive knowledge of the EYFS, be organised, and have strong communication, leadership and interpersonal skills.

An enhanced DBS check and three satisfactory references are required by Poppins Day Nursery before any appointment can be confirmed. Enrolment to the update service with a yearly subscription is required to be applied for and maintained by the practitioner.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The Nursery Manager will go about their duties with honesty and integrity and ensure the nursery needs are always met and take precedence. The Nursery Manager will be passionate about the ethos and vision of Poppins and ensure this is always adhered to.

• To plan and deliver effective management of the nursery adhering to Poppins’ Ethos, values and vision and be passionate about instilling this within the team.
• Undertake responsibility of leading and supervising the day to day running for the nursery
• To ensure Poppins complies with all relevant legislation including local authority and OFSTED requirements.
• Create, review and update nursery policy and procedures to ensure provision is of the highest quality, striving to keep our highest rating of OFSTED 'outstanding.’
• To ensure the nursery target occupancy levels are met - in conjunction with the proprietor
• responsibility for the recruitment, following the safer recruitments processes of all nursery and housekeeping staff
• To ensure staff adhere to nursery policies, objectives and code of conduct
• To ensure first and foremost, safeguarding children and staff is our utmost priority
• To promote and maintain Poppins reputation for providing outstanding practice.
• To manage and continuously improve the delivery of the curriculum - The Early Years Foundation Stage and child-led learning.

Essential Requirements

• A full and relevant Level 3 qualification or above as defined by the Children’s Workforce Development Council
• At least 2 years experience of working in an early years setting with at least 1 years experience in a leading and/or managing role.
• Must hold, or work towards completion in two years, a level 2 maths qualification (such as GCSE grade 4/C or functional skills level 2)
• Two satisfactory relevant references
• Satisfactory enhanced disclosure check, including the child barring list, and enrolment to the update service.
• The relevant skills and experience to be responsible for the management of a children’s nursery working within the nursery ethos, implementation, and legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
• To apply please email with a cover letter and CV (applicants without a cover letter will not be considered.) We look forward to hearing from you.

This job description is not an exhaustive list of duties and the post holder will be required to undertake any other reasonable duties discussed and directed by the Nursery Director.

Pay: Up to £40,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person