Early Years Quality Manager

Position: Early Year Quality Manager

Salary Banding: Negotiable (dependent on qualification/s and experience)

Hours:Full time / Permanent / Mon-Fri / 40 hours

Location:South West

Benefits:Relocations Packages available, Flexible Working: Compressed Hours Scheme, Wellness and Medical Scheme, Shared Annual Company Profits. £500 Welcome Bonus

This is an exciting opportunity to continue your career with a family of day nurseries located across the South, who offer a wide range of activities and learning experience to develop young minds, from messy play and cooking to problem-solving, storytelling, creative play and trips out. We pride ourselves on employee care and career development; as such we offer in house training, flexible working hours, a family friendly policy, Pension & Staff welfare scheme!

Here at Tops Day Nurseries we have an outstanding reputation in delivering the best quality childcare across the South, operating nurseries and play clubs across Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Devon.

We believe in making an awesome environment for children and grown-ups to learn, develop, play, and have fun and in happy parents who can do what they need to do, whatever that is, whenever it is, while their children are in the best place with awesome stuff! We make a difference to people’s lives.

We believe in “reducing, reusing and recycling” and respect for each other, our resources and our world. Together, we can create a sustainable culture in which our children can thrive.

Within this role, you will be responsible for line-managing our Nursery Managers across our Central settings to include Corfe Mullen, Gillingham, Wareham, Wimborne and Yeovil. The role will include supporting the nursery managers across your region to deliver childcare in accordance with The Children Act 2004/6, ensuring they are delivering the Statutory Framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage effectively.

At Tops, we operate flexible working for all of our colleagues, to support and personal or family commitments. Included in our flexible working arrangements, colleagues have the option to compress their hours, where you have the chance to keep your current contracted hours but to work them over shorter periods to allow an additional day off to spend with family and friends or just have a day-off for yourself. All flexible working request will be considered in line with our flexible working policy.

You will also be involved in the settings Learning and Development and Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements. The key responsibility will be to support your settings to achieve “Good” or preferably “Outstanding” at Inspection, actioning outcomes of these inspections swiftly and effectively.

About the You

We are looking for someone who has excellent management and leadership skills, who is able to manage their time effectively and have exceptional organisational skills.

Must be able to work on your own initiative and prioritise workload effectively. You will have strong stakeholder management, and be confident in communicating with all levels of management within the business, such as Directors, specialist Managers and the Managing Director.

You will be an Early Years Professional, with previous experience of running a nursery at an outstanding level, so knowledge of Ofsted Inspections is essential. You will hold a degree and a Leadership & Management qualification. To be successful in this role you will possess exceptional organisational and time-management skills. When the need arises you will step in and manage new settings that join the business.

In this role it is imperative that you hold a valid driver’s licence and have your own form of transport, as you will need to travel to several of our nurseries.

A clear and valid DBS is paramount and overseas applicants will need a clear and valid certificate of good conduct. Please note we will conduct a suitability check prior to interview.

Your Responsibilities and Duties will involve:

• Use own initiative, sharing good practice, learning and enthusiasm to inspire, teach, coach and mentor managers to develop themselves, and their staff to their best potential and ensuring succession within the nursery. Ensure occupancy is maximised within each setting.
• Planning for emergency situations, supporting any nursery in crisis or potential crisis on a priority basis
• Support the manager as needed with investigating any complaints, take further actions as appropriate if needed
• Ensure each site produces a quarterly newsletter in good time to meet the required deadline
• Ensure that all policies and procedures are used effectively and feedback to operations team when changes are required and drive implementation
• Ensure that the planning systems are fully implemented within the settings and that staff receive high quality training for any areas needing development
• Ensure that strong partnerships with parents are maintained in the settings and that managers use innovative ways to engage parents and promote our services
• Ensure that interagency working and multi setting communications (including the 2 yr. check) are robust and enable us to provide a consistent service for children and families
• In liaison with Human Resource support managers to deal with grievances or disciplinary matters in accordance with company policy, procedures and legal advice
• Ensure that the Managers understand the effect of their sites sickness, turnover, and agency/bank fees in line with the company’s requirements acceptable levels. Ensuring any concerns from these stats are actioned
• Audit personnel files, to ensure that the sites are presenting the files in line with company procedure
• Audit inductions to ensure that new employees are receiving the correct thorough induction
• Training plan is in place per site to ensure the training offered to employees is in line with the needs of the business
• Monitor the day-to-day financial operations within the nursery and meet occupancy and financial objectives. Have an understanding and manage the two, three and four year old funding.
• Review and monitor occupancy levels to ensure they are maintained to maximum capacity
• Monitor the budget and expenditure in the nursery and ensure that agreed budgets are not exceeded. Be fully conversant with the childcare business with regards to maximising gross margins per room and age group. Monitor all staff costs closely to ensure they do not exceed budgetary provisions.
• Manage the aged debt
• Ensure that accident trends & RIDDORS are recorded and are reported in time
• Maintain your own Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure that you are abreast of sector and leadership/management developments and good practice
• All staff have a duty to safeguard children. You should be alert to any issues or concern with regards to the welfare of a child.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all colleagues and applications. Individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender, reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.