A nursery manager job description has to do two jobs at once. It has to describe a role that is genuinely about people and compliance in equal measure, and it has to attract someone who could stay where they are. Most of the ones we see fail at the second.
Below is a full job description you can adapt, the person specification that goes with it, and the parts that most settings leave out. If you are a practitioner reading this to work out whether you are ready for the step up, the section near the end is for you.
What a nursery manager actually does
The role splits roughly into four. Different settings weight them differently, and the weighting is the single most useful thing to be honest about in an advert.
- People. Recruiting, inducting, supervising and retaining the team. In practice this is most of the job and the part that determines whether the rest works.
- Compliance. Meeting the EYFS statutory framework, keeping ratios lawful, safeguarding, records, and being inspection-ready rather than inspection-panicked.
- Quality of provision. Curriculum, the learning environment, and what children actually experience day to day.
- Commercial. Occupancy, fees, funded hours, budgets and parent retention. Often the part a promoted practitioner has least preparation for.
Nursery manager job description template
Job title: Nursery Manager
Reports to: Owner, Area Manager or Operations Director
Responsible for: Deputy Manager, Room Leaders, Practitioners, Kitchen and Ancillary staff
Purpose of the role
To lead the day-to-day running of the setting, ensuring every child receives high quality care and education in a safe environment, that the setting meets its statutory obligations, and that the staff team is supported, developed and retained.
Key responsibilities
Leadership and people
- Lead, motivate and develop the staff team, including induction, supervision, appraisal and ongoing professional development.
- Manage recruitment for the setting, including safer recruitment practice, and maintain the single central record.
- Deploy staff to maintain statutory ratios and qualification requirements at all times, including during absence and holidays.
- Hold regular supervision meetings and address performance and conduct issues promptly.
Safeguarding and compliance
- Act as, or ensure the setting has, a Designated Safeguarding Lead, and ensure all staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities.
- Ensure the setting meets the requirements of the EYFS statutory framework and that policies are current and followed in practice.
- Maintain accurate records including attendance, accidents, incidents, medication and complaints.
- Maintain inspection readiness and lead the setting through inspection.
Quality of provision
- Oversee curriculum planning and the quality of the learning environment across all rooms.
- Monitor the observation, assessment and planning cycle and the progress of individual children.
- Ensure effective support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, working with the SENCO and external agencies.
- Lead on transitions, both between rooms and on to school.
Partnership with families
- Build and maintain relationships with parents and carers, including settling in, progress discussions and complaints.
- Act as the point of escalation for parental concerns.
Commercial and operational
- Manage occupancy and waiting lists, and conduct show-rounds for prospective families.
- Administer funded entitlement claims and fee collection.
- Work within an agreed budget, including staffing costs and resources.
- Oversee health and safety, risk assessments and premises issues.
Person specification
Essential
- A full and relevant Level 3 qualification in early years or childcare as a minimum.
- Substantial experience in an early years setting, including experience of leading a team or a room.
- Current paediatric first aid certificate, or willingness to obtain one.
- Designated Safeguarding Lead training, or willingness to complete it.
- Working knowledge of the EYFS statutory framework and of inspection requirements.
- An enhanced DBS check.
Desirable
- Level 5 qualification in early years leadership or management.
- Previous experience as a nursery manager or deputy manager.
- Experience of budget management and occupancy.
- SENCO experience.
Four things most job descriptions leave out
These are the questions good candidates ask at interview. Answering them in the advert gets you better applicants.
- Setting size and age range. Managing a 40-place setting and a 120-place setting across three floors are different jobs. Say which.
- Whether the manager is supernumerary. This is the single most important detail and it is almost always missing. A manager counted in ratio cannot do the job described above, and experienced candidates know it.
- What support exists. Is there a deputy? An administrator? An area manager? A manager with no deputy in a large setting is doing two roles.
- Why the post is open. Growth, retirement and a departure after six months tell a candidate very different things. Silence is read as the third.
Are you ready to step up from room leader?
The jump from room leader to manager is bigger than the jump from practitioner to room leader, and the part people underestimate is rarely the children.
As a room leader you are responsible for practice in one room, with a manager above you absorbing the compliance and the commercial pressure. As a manager you are the person the inspector speaks to, the person who signs off the ratios, the person a parent asks for when they are angry, and the person who has to fill a shift at seven in the morning when someone calls in sick. The childcare knowledge you already have. What you usually need to build is confidence with difficult conversations, enough financial literacy to read an occupancy report, and a tolerance for being accountable for things other people did.
The practitioners who make the transition well tend to have deputised regularly before applying, have run supervisions rather than just received them, and have been involved in an inspection rather than hearing about it afterwards. If none of those apply yet, a deputy manager post is usually the better next move.
Recruiting a nursery manager?
We recruit nursery managers, deputy managers and room leaders across London on permanent and long-term contracts — screened and compliance-checked before they reach you.
Frequently asked questions
What qualifications does a nursery manager need?
At minimum a full and relevant Level 3 early years qualification. Many settings prefer or require a Level 5 in leadership and management. A current paediatric first aid certificate and an enhanced DBS check are standard, and Designated Safeguarding Lead training is expected.
What is the difference between a nursery manager and a deputy manager?
The deputy supports the manager and covers in their absence, usually with more time on the floor and less accountability for budget, occupancy and inspection. The manager carries final responsibility for compliance and for the setting as a business.
Does a nursery manager count in the staff ratios?
It depends on the setting. Some managers are supernumerary, meaning they sit outside the ratio and can lead; others are counted in ratio, which in practice limits how much leadership is possible. It is one of the most important things to establish before accepting a role.
Is a nursery manager the same as the registered person?
Not necessarily. The registered person is who the provision is registered to, which is often the owner or the company. The manager runs the setting day to day and is usually the named individual responsible for it.
How long does it take to become a nursery manager?
There is no fixed route. Most managers have several years of practitioner experience followed by a period as room leader and often deputy manager. Moving through those stages typically takes somewhere between five and ten years, though it varies widely with setting size and opportunity.
Recruiting a nursery manager in London?
Quint Education recruits nursery managers, deputy managers and room leaders across London. Every candidate we put forward is DBS checked, referenced and interviewed by a consultant who has worked in the sector, so we can tell you why someone suits your setting rather than just that they are available. See permanent nursery recruitment in London, or how our agency works.
Looking for the role rather than the person? Browse current nursery and early years vacancies.