Childcare Director in South Shields

What if your next job meant more than just work, what if it meant shaping futures, every day? Kids Planet is a proud family-run business, we do things with heart and we’re passionate about giving every child the best possible start. No two settings are the same, but all of them are built around our shared values: care, curiosity, and a genuine love for early years.

Kids Planet is committed to delivering the highest standard of nursery care and early years education across our growing group of settings. As the organisation continues to experience sustained expansion, we are investing in our leadership structure to support long-term operational success. We are pleased to introduce an opportunity to join our senior leadership team as a Childcare Director. This position represents a highly strategic and influential leadership role, central to supporting and shaping the continued expansion of Kids Planet. We are seeking an experienced senior professional, ideally based in the South of England, to oversee the development of newly acquired settings and the progression of our established nurseries. Our strategic focus is to strengthen regional leadership capacity as we grow, ensuring consistency, operational excellence, and scalable processes across all regions.

Why Kids Planet Day Nurseries?

• Great Place to Work Certified 2025/26
• Ranked #1 UK Best Workplaces for Women 2025
• Crowned NMT’s Large Nursery Group of the Year, for the second year running
• 80% Childcare Discount – T&Cs apply

Role Purpose And Key Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Operations Director, responsibilities will include:
• Serving as the Regional Safeguarding Lead for designated regions.
• Driving the continuous development of settings to ensure an exceptional standard of care, education, and operational delivery.
• Providing strategic leadership across expanding regions to achieve organisational objectives and ensure consistency of practice.
• Monitoring occupancy performance to ensure settings operate at optimal capacity while maintaining full regulatory compliance.
• Overseeing payroll and associated administrative processes.
• Managing budgets, expenditure, and procurement activities.
• Leading strategic projects aligned with organisational growth plans and approved at Board level.
• Supporting the integration of newly acquired settings and ensuring strong alignment with Kids Planet systems and standards.

This is a full-time, permanent role that requires flexibility. Each Childcare Director leads a team of Area Managers, with each typically responsible for up to ten settings. The role incorporates a blended working approach, including site visits, remote working, and time spent at our Head Office in Lymm, Cheshire.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Visiting settings across your regions to provide leadership, operational oversight, and targeted support.
• Conducting quality assurance to maintain consistency and high standards across all sites.
• Leading the operational integration of new acquisitions and working with relevant departments to support transition activities.
• Delivering project work focused on organisational development, growth, and quality improvement.
• Understanding and implementation of performance reports linked to key objectives, KPIs, and regional priorities.
• Participating in regular strategic meetings with the Operations Director, COO and CEO.

Skills And Experience Required

• Proven senior operational leadership experience, ideally as an Area Manager, Operations Manager, or Operations Director.
• Early Years background with a minimum relevant Level 3 qualification.
• Strong stakeholder management and the ability to influence and collaborate effectively.
• A collaborative leadership approach, supporting both the Operational Childcare Team and the wider leadership community.
• Flexibility to work across a wide geographical area in line with organisational growth.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and lead concurrent strategic projects.
• Extensive safeguarding knowledge and experience.
• Full, clean driving licence and access to a vehicle.

We are unable to offer any kind of visa sponsorship for this role. Please note, if you are successful in this role, background checks including online searches may be completed. This is keeping in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education policies.