**INTERNAL APPLICATIONS ONLY**
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Salary: PO8 £59,511 - £62,766
Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: 29/06/2026
Proposed Interview Date(s): 09/07/2026
Reference: 2177
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
We are looking for an experienced and strategic leader to join us as an Education Enrichment & Childcare Operations Manager. In this role, you will lead the delivery and development of high-quality early education, childcare and enrichment services, ensuring the Council meets its statutory responsibilities and supports positive outcomes for children, young people and families.
You will be responsible for ensuring there are sufficient, sustainable and high-quality childcare places across the borough for children aged 0–14 (or up to 18 for those with disabilities). This includes working closely with schools, childcare providers and partners to develop provision, commission services and support providers to deliver inclusive, financially viable and high-quality services.
The role will lead on commissioning, contract management and quality assurance of providers delivering early education, wraparound childcare and enrichment activities. You will oversee funding agreements, monitor performance and compliance, and drive continuous improvement across the sector. You will also lead the delivery of grant-funded programmes, ensuring funding is maximised and delivers measurable impact.
A key element of the role is using data and intelligence to inform service planning and improve participation in early learning, childcare and post‑16 education. You will oversee statutory reporting, sufficiency assessments and performance management, ensuring services are responsive to local needs and aligned with national requirements..
As a senior leader, you will manage a skilled team, oversee budgets and resources, and provide expert advice to senior leaders, elected members and partners. You will build strong relationships, influence stakeholders and drive innovation to continuously improve services and outcomes for residents.
>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the strategic planning, development and delivery of early education, childcare and enrichment services, ensuring compliance with statutory duties and Council priorities
- Ensure sufficient, high-quality childcare and early education places are available across the borough, including wraparound and holiday provision for children aged 0–14 (or up to 18 for children with disabilities
- Work collaboratively with schools, childcare providers and partners to develop, sustain and improve provision, supporting quality, inclusion and financial sustainability.
- Lead the commissioning, procurement and contract management of childcare, early education and enrichment providers, ensuring services deliver value for money and meet required standards.
- Oversee funding agreements and ensure robust monitoring, compliance and quality assurance processes are in place, taking appropriate action where standards are not met.
- Manage and deliver grant-funded programmes, ensuring funding is maximised and projects achieve agreed outcomes and impact.
- Drive participation in early learning, childcare and post-16 education by monitoring data, analysing trends and implementing targeted interventions to improve outcomes.
- Lead on the production of childcare sufficiency assessments, statutory returns and performance reporting, ensuring accuracy and timely submission.
- Use data and insight to inform service planning, identify improvement opportunities and support strategic decision-making.
- Develop and implement effective communication strategies to ensure families and stakeholders have access to clear, accessible and up-to-date information.
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with internal teams, schools, providers and external stakeholders, influencing and negotiating to achieve positive outcomes.
- Lead, motivate and develop a high-performing team, ensuring effective workforce planning, performance management and continuous professional development.
- Manage budgets and resources effectively, ensuring financial accountability and value for money across service delivery.
- Provide expert advice and strategic guidance to senior leaders, elected members and partners on complex operational, legislative and policy matters.
- Ensure services are delivered in line with safeguarding, equality, health and safety, and data protection requirements.
Qualifications and Requirements:
To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:
- Experience of successfully undertaking a leadership/management role which lead on delivering a Council’s statutory requirements relating to securing free early education and childcare places to children under 5 who are eligible for a place, as well as childcare for children aged 0 to 14 or up to 18 for disabled children, by creating and retaining high quality places by working with potential providers and existing providers, commissioning high quality providers and delivering information advice and training which empowered providers to remain financially sustainable and provide quality places that comply with business related statutory requirements.
- Experience of successfully undertaking a leadership/management role which lead on delivering grant funded programmes related to early education and childcare and out of school/enrichment activities for school age children
- Experience of successfully undertaking a leadership/management role which lead on delivering a Council’s statutory requirements relating to encouraging, monitoring and reporting on participation in early learning and childcare and post 16 education services by children and young people
- Experience of successfully undertaking a leadership/management role which lead on delivering a Council’s statutory requirements relating to meeting the Councils statutory requirements with regards to communication with internal and external stake holders
- Experience of successfully developing and implementing an effective communication strategy in relation to internal and external stake holders • Experience of providing a range of information advice and training to Early Years, Childcare providers and Schools regarding running sustainable businesses which comply with statutory requirements.
- Significant experience in developing and implementing strategic plans and evaluating their impact, seeking continuous improvement and associated challenges
- Knowledge of project and performance management and a track record of delivering projects using data informed decision making.
- Experience of translating organisational vision into department/team priorities and service plans
- Ability to demonstrate effective involvement of stakeholders in service development and delivery, harnessing the benefits of partnership working by persuading, convincing and negotiating.
- Experience of monitoring service performance against national service, council performance targets and other service providers • Experience of using complex, multi-source data to identify areas for improvement and gain efficiencies
- Experience of identifying innovative solutions that transform the flexibility, responsiveness and quality of the service
- Experience of commissioning and contract monitoring services
- Experience of using digital opportunities to identify areas where ICT could be used more effectively to improve service delivery and provide required outcomes
- Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret and utilise data and experience of collation and analysis of complex information in order to produce accurate information, performance and financial data and reports at a high level.
- Awareness of local, regional, and national educational issues and legislation, including wider local government issues and the political context in which it operates.
- Experience of using an understanding of political agenda to create effective solutions and drive improvements
- Effective ICT skills
The below terms and conditions apply to this role:
- Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
- Satisfactory declaration of interest;
- This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
- Satisfactory DBS check;
- Continued professional body registration;
- Suitable driver’s license; (Desirable)
- As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Fern Edwards, Head of Operations & Payments at fern.edwards@walthamforest.gov.uk
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.
Fraud Awareness Notice:
The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).
We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.
If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.
If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk
