Daycare Group Operations Manager

Group Operations Manager — Kiddiwinkles, Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland

Kiddiwinkles is a multi-site early years group in Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland — 22 years operating, Reggio Emilia and Forest School pedagogy, and home to Heartstrong, our own published emotional resilience programme. We’ve just completed a major renovation at our flagship Dungannon site and we’re growing occupancy across all four settings.

We’re looking for someone to own that growth.

The role:

• Drive occupancy strategy and execution across all sites
• Build consistent systems and standards group-wide
• Lead and hold accountable a team of site managers
• Report directly to the founder — this is a real seat at the table, not a layer of admin between you and decisions

What you’ll need:

• Proven experience at group or multi-site operations level, ideally in childcare or a comparable regulated sector
• A track record of actually growing occupancy or revenue across locations, not just maintaining it
• Confident people leadership — comfortable holding managers to standard without losing culture

The package:

• Competitive base salary + performance bonus tied to occupancy growth
• Relocation package available — and worth knowing: Northern Ireland’s cost of living means a package here goes considerably further than the same number in a major GB city
• A genuine opportunity to shape operations in a group with real pedagogical distinctiveness and a growth story already in motion