Nursery Manager in Bolton

Nursery Manager — Garngibboch Nature Nursery

Condorrat, Cumbernauld | Full-time | Salary: £35,000–£40,000 DOE | New setting — ground-floor opportunity

Garngibboch Nature Nursery is a new boutique nursery opening on a beautiful rural property just outside Cumbernauld. Our days are built around the outdoors — growing vegetables and flowers, caring for animals, and exploring the seasons — rather than worksheets or screens. We're currently progressing our Care Inspectorate registration and are looking for an experienced, qualified Nursery Manager to help us get the doors open and run an exceptional, calm, outdoor-focused setting for 20–24 children.

This is a rare chance to shape a nursery from the ground up — from finalising policies and registration, through recruiting your own team, to welcoming the first families. You'll have real influence over how the nursery runs, not just a ready-made structure to slot into.

What you'll be doing:

• Leading day-to-day operations once registered, including staffing, ratios, and rotas
• Working alongside the owner through the final stages of Care Inspectorate registration
• Recruiting, inducting, and leading a small team of practitioners
• Embedding our nature-led curriculum — gardening, animal care, and daily outdoor learning
• Building relationships with parents, handling enquiries, tours, and admissions
• Maintaining compliance with Health and Social Care Standards and Care Inspectorate requirements
• Managing budgets, records, and quality assurance/self-evaluation

What we're looking for — essential:

• SVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) in Social Services Children & Young People, plus a relevant SCQF Level 9 qualification (e.g. BA Childhood Practice) — or working towards this
• A recognised leadership and management qualification (e.g. SVQ Social Services & Healthcare Leadership and Management, SCQF Level 10), or willingness to work towards it
• Eligible for, or already holding, SSSC registration as a manager/lead practitioner
• Willingness to join the PVG Scheme (required before starting)
• Previous experience as a nursery manager, deputy manager, or senior practitioner
• Strong knowledge of ratios, Health and Social Care Standards, and day-to-day nursery compliance

Highly desirable:

• Experience helping register or launch a new nursery/day care service
• Genuine enthusiasm for nature-based, outdoor early learning — gardens, animals, and hands-on exploration
• Comfortable working hands-on in a small, founder-led business, helping shape policies, systems, and the setting itself before opening

Why join us:

• Shape a nursery from day one — your input will genuinely define how it runs
• Beautiful rural setting with private grounds, gardens, and woodland access
• Small, boutique group sizes (20–24 children) rather than a high-volume setting
• Direct, hands-on relationship with the owner — fast decisions, no corporate layers
• How to apply: Please apply directly through LinkedIn — you'll be asked a few quick screening questions as part of the application. We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis and looking to appoint ahead of our Care Inspectorate Stage 2 visit.