Job Title:  Early Childhood Specialist

Contract Type:  Full Time / 40 Hours per week / Field based

Salary: From £45k per annum plus £4k car allowance (If required)

* Regional travel required around South West London to include: Chiswick, Hounslow, Kew, Twickenham, Richmond areas *

Closing Date: 30th October 2026 - Please apply with an up to date CV to be considered for this opportunity

Purpose of Role

The Early Childhood Specialist (Quality Specialist) is a regional leadership role within Bright Horizons UK, providing hands-on pedagogical guidance and quality assurance across nurseries. The role involves regular nursery visits, close collaboration with Regional Directors, Nursery Managers, and central teams, and direct coaching, mentoring, and training of practitioners to ensure high-quality care, education, and safety.

The Specialist drives best practice in teaching and learning, leads pedagogical change, supports regulatory compliance, and helps secure Good or Outstanding inspection outcomes. Working closely with the Pedagogical Research & Development (PR&D) team, the role supports the implementation of the Bright Horizons curriculum, Quality Improvement Framework (QIF), and Nurture Approaches, including SEND/ASN and Thrive, to ensure continuous improvement and service excellence across nursery settings.

What We Can Offer You

• Our benefits include but are not limited to.

• Flexible working and holiday entitlements

• Discounted childcare in one of our nurseries

• Fantastic range of discounts on high street retailers, grocery stores, cinema tickets, holidays and more

• Wide range of wellbeing resources, supporting our teams for the ups and downs of daily life

Why Bright Horizons?

We’ve been voted Great Place to Work for the last 20 consecutive years, as well as being awarded the newly created Great Place for Wellbeing and Great Place for Women 2022.

Our support functions enable our nurseries to deliver the best possible care and education to over 10,000 children across the UK. Through this support, our nurseries can deliver excellence – with 98% of our 300+ portfolio being rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

We’re on a mission to change the future for children, families, and the people we work with, and are committed to progressive working values like flexibility, work-life balance, and wellbeing.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

• Provide pedagogical and organisational leadership to nursery managers and teams, promoting a strong HEART culture, values, and behaviours to drive quality improvement, pedagogical excellence, and service excellence across the region

• Support the implementation of the Quality Improvement Strategy and action plans, ensuring alignment with company strategic objectives across all nursery settings

• Implement and develop the Bright Horizons UK Nurture Approach, including the Nurture Model, SEND/ASN excellence, Thrive, and Bright Beginnings Curriculum across the region

• Drive continuous improvement and secure excellence in early childhood pedagogy, training, and nursery support, contributing to high operational standards, strong nursery management, and regulatory compliance

• Deliver and manage regional initiatives, projects, and pedagogical innovations in collaboration with PR&D and Operations teams, ensuring consistency and cohesion

• Act as an advocate for children, championing a Children First approach to physical and emotional wellbeing, safeguarding, child protection, SEND/ASN, and regulatory compliance, working with external agencies where required

• Provide high-quality advice, coaching, and mentoring to nursery managers and teams in pedagogy, safety, and compliance, fostering a culture of continuous improvement

• Collaborate with Operations and HR to support succession planning for nursery managers

Responsibilities

• Provide excellent pedagogical and nursery management advice and hands-on support to nursery practitioners across the region, working collaboratively with ECSs, Regional Directors, PR&D, Operations, Safeguarding, HR, Health & Safety, Local Authorities, and regulatory bodies to ensure cohesion and consistency across UK early childhood provision

• Ensure high-quality evidence informs reporting of Early Childhood (EC) quality measures, using agreed systems and tools to drive improvement, support effective monitoring, and demonstrate measurable impact, leading to improved inspection outcomes

• Develop capability, confidence, and efficiency within regional nursery teams to secure the highest quality pedagogy, through innovative guidance, manager support, and contribution to professional development, training delivery, and career pathways, fostering expertise, motivation, and innovation

• Support HR, People Development (PD), and Operations teams to ensure high-quality recruitment of nursery managers and the delivery of effective induction programmes for new talent

• Provide expert guidance and advice on EC regulation and inspection readiness, in collaboration with the PR&D team, to secure consistent compliance, positive learning environments, and first-class experiences for children

• Take responsibility for personal and professional development, engaging in continuous learning through training activities, Bright Horizons Knowledge Community meetings, and research forums, informed by national and international best practice in early childhood pedagogy

Essential Experience

• Highly experienced Early Childhood Specialist with a proven background in medium to large education providers and/or Local Authorities, delivering high-quality early childhood provision and securing Good or better regulatory inspection outcomes across multi-site organisations

• Demonstrable track record of driving quality improvement through effective monitoring systems and impact measurement, working in close partnership with Operations and Nursery Management teams

• Confident decision-maker with the ability to lead change, inspire innovation, and balance business and commercial priorities with pedagogical excellence within large nursery organisations

• Proven experience in developing high-performing practitioners and leading nursery teams, with success in regulatory compliance, quality improvement, innovation, and pedagogical excellence

• Significant experience (minimum 3 years) in the Early Childhood sector, with strong knowledge of legislative frameworks, safeguarding and child protection, operational challenges, and national and international best practice

• Strong capability in producing clear, concise pedagogical reports, using IT systems and quality monitoring tools to analyse data, measure the impact of EC initiatives, and drive continuous improvement across nurseries

Experience Desirable

• Previous experience of working as an Ofsted/Care Inspectorate inspector of EC or education settings

• Previous experience of working in Local Authority in an Early Childhood context, with experience of quality improvement, supporting early childhood pedagogy in settings and delivery of relevant training and development activities across a wide geographical area

• Previous experience of managing a nursery, with evidence of improving the quality and inspection outcomes over time, coaching and mentoring others to drive pedagogical excellence and compliance.

• Experience of engagement with practitioner networks, to promote a shared community of practice that extends over a geographical region and contributes effectively to quality improvement in early childhood settings.

• Experience of teaching and designing training in Early Childhood related subjects for practitioners at all levels.

• Expert knowledge and understanding of all regulatory requirements and inspection processes in the UK.

• Deep understanding of, and ability to disseminate the Bright Horizons Nurture Approach and Nurture Model training programme (internal candidates only)

Qualifications

• Minimum level three qualification in Early Childhood Education (Essential)

• Relevant first degree in Early Childhood related subject (Desirable)

• Post Graduate professional qualification – Qualified Teacher Status, Early Years Teacher Status or Early Years

• Professional Status (Desirable)

• Thrive Licensed Practitioner status (Desirable)

• Evidence of continuous professional development and awareness of current pedagogical national initiatives (Essential) - Leadership and Management accredited qualification (Desirable)

• Adult/Further/Higher Education teaching certificate and/or experience – Early Childhood Studies or relevant subject (Desirable)

• Full, clean driving licence (where regional geography requires)

Personal Attributes

• Excellent influencer, change-maker, and effective communicator (oral and in writing)

• Highly motivated and driven professional, achieving positive impact and meeting deadlines

• Ability to build trust and develop cohesive teams – strong empathy, clear expectations and fair-minded

• High energy and thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment - calm approach and ‘can-do’ attitude

• Encourages colleagues to realise their potential and empowers high performers

• Able to use data and numerical detail effectively to inform strategy, measure impact and drive quality

• Ability to travel within the UK; flexibility to work at home or from a regional office as required, with overnight stays as necessary

Bright Horizons is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. This post is subject to safer recruitment practice and pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS check, which will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.

We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all ages and backgrounds to apply. We will consider reasonable adjustments required by applicants.

Proud to be a Great Place to Work for 20 years. Apply today!

We look forward to receiving your application.

#INDECS

Bright Horizons is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. This post is subject to safer recruitment practice and pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS check, which will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.

We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all ages and backgrounds to apply. We will consider reasonable adjustments required by applicants.

Proud to be a Great Place to Work for 20 years. Apply today!

We look forward to receiving your application!