Senior Nursery Manager Cardiff

Senior Nursery Manager

Salary - up to 47000 with a lucrative bonus scheme

Responsible to: Head of Region
Responsible for: 2 Nursery sites in Cardiff region
Key Role: Leadership of Quality Compliance People & Operational Performance Across Multiple Nurseries

Job Purpose

The Senior Nursery Manager provides strategic and operational leadership across a group of nurseries ensuring consistently high-quality care education and safeguarding. They coach Nursery Managers to deliver excellent outcomes maintain operational consistency and drive continuous improvementactively demonstrating and embedding the company values of Accountable Reliable Caring and Honest (ARCH) in all areas of leadership.

Main Areas of Responsibility

Quality Leadership

• Create and communicate a clear vision for high-quality provision aligned with organisational values.

• Lead quality assurance cycles (audits observations moderations).

• Ensure action plans are measurable timebound and linked to improved child outcomes.

• Strengthen safeguarding culture across all settings with high DSL standards.

Operational Excellence

• Ensure operational consistency across all settings implementing policies and systems with reliability and accountability.

• Oversee staffing structures workforce planning deployment and ratios.

• Ensure all nurseries are Ofsted/CIW-ready with strong evidence of impact.

People

• Coach and mentor Nursery Managers modelling caring and honest feedback.

• Oversea performance management succession planning and team development.

• Support with complex HR cases including conduct capability and wellbeing.

• Promote staff engagement retention and wellbeing practices.

Financial Awareness (supporting Head of Region)

• Support Nursery Managers to understand budgets wage control and occupancy performance.

• Review weekly KPIs with managers (occupancy staffing % debt training compliance).

• Identify opportunities for efficiencies or commercial improvements.

External Partnerships

• Build effective relationships with LAs SEND services external agencies and parents.

• Support nurseries through Ofsted/CIW inspections and follow-up improvement plans.

Knowledge Skills & Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 years experience as a Nursery Manager with strong quality outcomes.

• Solid understanding of EYFS safeguarding Ofsted and compliance.

• Experience coaching or mentoring other leaders.

• Strong communication influence and leadership.

Desirable

• Experience overseeing multiple settings or acting as a regional quality lead.

Qualifications

• Level 5 Early Years or Leadership qualification (Level 6 desirable).

• DSL trained.

• Safer Recruitment.

• Paediatric First Aid.

• IOSH Managing Safely (desirable).