Head of Operations

Job summary

Loction: Remote - with travel to all nurseries and offices with our Group
Salary: c£70,000 per annum plus Car Allowance
Hours: 40 hours per week

Are you ready to lead a team of exceptional childcare and nursery teams?

At Happy Days Nurseries, we don’t just care for children — we nurture futures. As we grow, we’re looking for a strategic, and people-first Head of Operations to help us scale with purpose and quality.  This is your chance to lead an exceptional team in one of the UK’s most respected nursery groups.

What You’ll Be Doing

You will lead multi-site teams to deliver exceptional early years care and education, driving operational performance, compliance, and continuous improvement across all settings. By building a culture of trust, development, and wellbeing, you’ll empower teams to thrive while partnering with senior leaders to deliver strategic growth and innovation. Success in this role means owning KPIs that matter — from occupancy and engagement to retention and quality — ensuring every nursery operates at the highest standards.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven leadership in childcare, education, or multi-site operations
• A deep understanding of EYFS, Ofsted, and safeguarding standards
• A passion for people, performance, and purpose
• Commercial acumen and a track record of delivering results
• A collaborative, values-led approach that fits our ethos

What does success look like?

• Highly engaged and motivated workforce
• High occupancy rates
• 100% compliance in audits and inspections
• Budget control and operational efficiency
• Solid succession planning across all sites with career development clear for all

We're building a workplace where our colleagues thrive

We offer a range of meaningful benefits designed to support your wellbeing, professional growth, and work-life balance. Our benefits aren’t just perks—they’re part of a culture that puts people first and we continue to build our range of benefits designed to support health, wellbeing and the odd treat here and there…these include:

• Option to join an EV Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Funded Blue Light Card Membership
• Life Assurance
• In addition to 25 days (plus Bank Holidays) Annual Leave, up to an additional four gifted days off during Christmas closedown
• Extensive Health and Wellbeing services through the SPARK APP

Ready to make your mark?

Apply today and help us build a future where every child shines — and every team member thrives. Our selection process for this role will be:

Closing Date: 4th January 2026

Sift outcomes: By 12th January 2026

First Stage Teams Interview: 22nd, 23rd, 26th or 28th January 2026

Selection Centre - Final Stage - Bristol: 11th February 2026