Head of the Sixth Form jobs

Director of Early Years - Educating Excellence Group

Location: United Kingdom (travel across nursery settings required)

Salary - £45,000–£60,000 per annum (depending on experience)

Job Type - Full-time | Permanent | Executive Leadership Position

About Educating Excellence

Educating Excellence is a growing education group committed to delivering exceptional educational experiences across schools, nurseries, tuition centres, online learning and international education.

We are seeking an exceptional Director of Early Years to join our Executive Leadership Team and provide strategic leadership across our entire Early Years portfolio.

This is a senior executive position responsible for shaping the future direction of the Early Years division, developing outstanding leaders, driving quality improvement and supporting the continued growth of our nursery provision.

The successful candidate will work closely with the CEO, Executive Team and nursery leaders to ensure every setting reflects the Educating Excellence vision, values and commitment to excellence.

The Role

As Director of Early Years, you will provide strategic oversight of all Early Years settings across the Group.

You will be responsible for educational quality, safeguarding, operational performance, leadership development, inspection readiness, growth and long-term strategic planning.

You will lead and support a team of Early Years Area Managers and nursery leaders, ensuring every setting delivers exceptional outcomes for children, families and colleagues.

Key ResponsibilitiesExecutive Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team.
• Lead the strategic direction of the Early Years division.
• Contribute to whole-group decision-making and organisational development.
• Develop and implement the Early Years strategy.
• Represent Early Years at executive meetings, conferences and external events.
• Ensure the division aligns with the wider Educating Excellence vision.

Educational Leadership

• Establish and maintain outstanding educational standards across all nurseries.
• Ensure consistent implementation of the EYFS framework.
• Promote evidence-informed teaching and learning.
• Monitor child development outcomes.
• Drive innovation and continuous improvement.

Leadership and Talent Development

• Recruit, develop and retain exceptional leaders.
• Provide leadership coaching and mentoring.
• Create succession plans across all settings.
• Identify and develop future leaders.
• Promote staff wellbeing and professional growth.

Quality Assurance and Compliance

• Develop and implement the Group quality assurance framework.
• Monitor educational quality across all settings.
• Conduct strategic reviews and audits.
• Ensure compliance with Group policies and statutory requirements.
• Share best practices across the organisation.

Inspection and Regulatory Leadership

• Ensure every nursery remains inspection-ready.
• Oversee inspection preparation across all settings.
• Lead post-inspection improvement planning.
• Monitor compliance with Ofsted requirements and statutory frameworks.

Safeguarding

• Provide strategic leadership for safeguarding across the Early Years division.
• Ensure safeguarding remains central to all decision-making.
• Monitor safeguarding compliance.
• Support investigations where appropriate.
• Ensure safer recruitment practices are consistently implemented.

Operational and Financial Leadership

• Monitor occupancy, capacity and nursery performance.
• Work closely with the Finance Team to review budgets and financial performance.
• Support the sustainable growth of the nursery portfolio.
• Monitor key performance indicators.
• Ensure operational consistency across all settings.

Parent and Community Engagement

• Strengthen relationships with families and local communities.
• Develop partnerships with local authorities and external agencies.
• Support marketing and business development initiatives.
• Represent Educating Excellence across professional networks.

Wider Executive Responsibilities

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, you may also contribute to:

• New nursery developments and acquisitions.
• International education consultancy projects.
• School improvement initiatives.
• Leadership training programmes.
• Curriculum development.
• Educational conferences and speaking engagements.
• Cross-functional improvement projects.
• Business growth and strategic planning.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Educational quality and child outcomes.
• Inspection outcomes.
• Occupancy and financial sustainability.
• Staff retention and engagement.
• Leadership development.
• Safeguarding compliance.
• Parent satisfaction.
• Delivery of strategic objectives.
• Implementation of Group standards.

Essential Qualifications

• A recognised Level 3 Early Years qualification.
• A leadership or management qualification.
• Designated Safeguarding Lead training.
• Evidence of continued professional development.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience leading an Early Years setting.
• Senior leadership experience within Early Years.
• Experience managing multiple settings or large Early Years operations.
• Experience preparing settings for inspection.
• Experience developing leaders and managing high-performing teams.
• Strong safeguarding and compliance experience.

Knowledge and SkillsEssential Knowledge

• EYFS Framework.
• Ofsted inspection framework.
• Safeguarding legislation.
• SEND.
• Health and Safety.
• Safer Recruitment.
• Quality assurance processes.

Essential Skills

• Strategic leadership.
• Executive decision-making.
• Coaching and mentoring.
• Financial and operational management.
• Data analysis.
• Communication and presentation.
• Relationship management.
• Change management.

Leadership Behaviours

Every executive leader at Educating Excellence demonstrates:

• Integrity.
• Accountability.
• Professionalism.
• Innovation.
• Compassion.
• Collaboration.
• Courage.
• Resilience.
• Ambition.
• A commitment to continuous learning.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 12 months, you will:

• Develop and implement a clear strategic vision for the Early Years division.
• Strengthen leadership across all nursery settings.
• Improve educational quality and operational performance.
• Ensure all settings remain inspection-ready.
• Strengthen safeguarding practices.
• Develop a sustainable leadership pipeline.
• Contribute to the continued growth of the Educating Excellence Group.

Why Join Educating Excellence?

At Educating Excellence, leadership is about more than managing settings. It is about transforming education, developing exceptional leaders and creating opportunities for children, families and communities to thrive.

We offer:

• A salary of £45,000–£60,000 per annum.
• A senior executive leadership position.
• Executive mentoring and professional development.
• Opportunities to contribute to national and international education projects.
• Career progression within a growing education group.
• The opportunity to shape the future of Early Years education.

Join us and help shape the next chapter of Early Years education at Educating Excellence.

Pay: £45,000.00-£60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Free parking
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person