Methilhill Community Children’s Initiative (MCCI) is a registered charity dedicated to providing outdoor clubs, activities and experiences to our local children, young people and their families.

Job Purpose

We are looking for a skilled and creative Early Years Manager who can inspire and lead their team to deliver outstanding early years education and care.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for you to join a brand-new team at the setting. We are looking for someone who is motivated and dedicated to build good relationships with both parents and their children but also create a home from home feel for all who attend the nursery. We want to make a mark in the local community and help the MCCI team become well established within it.

Main Duties

Early Years Manager will:

• Inspire and lead your team to deliver high quality early years education and care
• Manage the day to day operation of the setting, ensuring all regulatory requirements and policies and procedures are adhered too.
• Build relationships with parents and the wider community
• Manage the financial sustainability of the setting
• Remain abreast of current developments in childcare and education policies and practices. Monitor and assess the quality of provision ensuring that policies and procedures, best practice and standards are maintained.
• Operate the highest standards of hygiene in the outdoor nursery.
• Facilitate Care Inspectorate inspections and to implement any recommendations.
• Assist with the recruitment process, identify training needs, develop a training plan and evaluate training undertaken by staff.
• Lead the preparation and delivery of planning meetings and parents meetings and other events.
• Be responsible for the management of day-to-day financial operations within the nursery by meeting financial targets and managing the occupancy ensuring maximum capacity.
• Manage a staff team effectively. Agree and set nursery goals and monitor the achievement of progress against targets.
• Ensure that all staff are aware of their areas of responsibility and to be able to clearly demonstrate an awareness of own areas of responsibility and how these are being met.
• Undertake appropriate responsibilities with other staff when working in the services i.e. paper work, planning, SSSC registration, CPD.
• Ensure Nursery Development Plan, learning journals and paperwork are kept up to date and all staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities through regular staff meetings.
• Participate in training, team meetings, keep paperwork up to date e.g. children’s files, work plans, CPD etc. (along with other staff).
• Take part in regular meetings with the Corporate manager, informing of nursery developments, implementation of standards, policies and procedures, areas of concern, and planned timetable of work. To ensure that the nursery is fully resourced with essential items to allow for full implementation of Health & Safety legislation.
• Work within the margins of confidentially respecting information pertaining to children, parents and staff.
• Plan and provide refreshments for the children but also be aware of any special dietary requirements.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties appropriate to the post and in line with the needs of the Outdoor Nursery.

Requirements:

Successful applicants will need:

• A minimum Level 3 Early Years Education and Childcare Qualification or equivalent
• Proven post-qualification experience in working in early education and childcare
• Sound IT skills and ability to use Microsoft Office programmes, nursery management software, social media platforms and online portals effectively
• The ability to multi-task and establish rapport with staff, families and external agencies.

What we offer:

MCCI prides itself on being a supportive workplace and offers significant benefits for our team members including:

• Excellent training opportunities
• 50% discount on childcare places
• A workplace pension scheme
• 5.6 weeks holiday entitlement

Methilhill Community Children’s Initiative (MCCI) is a community group and registered charity dedicated to providing clubs, activities and experiences to our local children, young people and their families.

The group’s ethos is of nurturing confident children and responsible citizen’s within our community.

Person specification

An opportunity has arisen for a fun, dynamic and interactive youth worker who can engage positively with children. In doing so developing their confidence, knowledge and experiences.

The learning garden is a place for arts and crafts, growing, upcycling, cooking, team games and outdoor education is key. You will be required to plan and organise fun and engaging activities that promote outdoor activities. An interest in the environment, sports, crafts, growing or cooking would be advantageous to the role.

About the role

• Your role will be to support and deliver appropriate face to face activities for young people aged 5-12yrs
• Work effectively as part of a team
• Your role will be essential to building the confidence of young people in developing their social development, safeguarding and early intervention to prevent escalation of young people’s needs.
• Previous experience of working with young people would be an advantage.

Essential Requirements

• Ability to engage with young people delivering fun activities
• Deliver planned and organised sessions
• Strong commitment to young people
• Minimum level of health and fitness as this post may involve regular physical activity in all weather conditions
• Able to use MS Office and competent in Maths and English
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• This post is subject to an enhanced PVG check

What you can expect

• MCCI will give you the opportunity to advance your skills Flexible working
• Pension package with Nest
• Competitive salary
• Committed management team giving continuous support
• High performance is recognised and rewarded
• Training courses in a variety of topics

Reporting to: Management

Purpose of the Position

To work alongside the Management and staff team to lead on finance tasks, administration, office, and facilities support and IT.

Finance duties

• Obtaining, filing, and processing supplier invoices
• Entering and processing invoices, expenses and other payments into the finance system (Sage) for payment.
• Allocate payments and receipts to specific records on the finance system
• Complete monthly checks and reconciliations of key accounts to ensure the completeness and accuracy of all transactions on the finance system.
• Liaise with suppliers to resolve technical or financial problems such as unpaid invoices or disputed services.
• Manage any physical petty cash transactions where appropriate and use of payment card.
• Support Management to produce timely and accurate management accounts to the board of trustees and for annual accounts.
• Support the Chief Executive with financial information for grant applications and reports to funders and produce monthly management information on restricted expenditure. Ensuring records on grants applications are maintained and updated.
• Develop current accounting processes
• Act as a systems administrator for finance and banking system.

Office management & administration

• Support the organisation with the day-to-day office/centre management, ensuring it is a welcoming, secure, and safe environment for staff and visitors including families the charity supports.
• Support Management and board with the facilitation and administration of Board Meetings (6 times a year) including taking notes at those meetings.
• Support Management with grant applications where appropriate, collating information and relevant documents as necessary.
• Maintain and develop office administration systems to ensure the smooth running of the charity and filing of management information.

Person Specification

Experience, Knowledge & Skills Essential

• Qualified Bookkeeper or other formal qualifications in financial management.
• Excellent financial skills and awareness. Experience of working with Sage or similar accounting system, high levels of numeracy and close attention to detail are essential.
• Ability to prioritise effectively to meet competing demands, through excellent organisation, time management and relationship management skills.
• Ability to form and maintain good working relationships with colleagues inside the organisation and others outside.
• High computer literacy and adaptability, with experience of using Office based systems and SharePoint, Sage and Excel particularly with the production of documents and financial reporting.
• Experience of having set up and maintained effective administrations systems within an office.
• Ability to thrive in a small organisation, where flexibility is key as we evolve in response to the needs of families.

Desirable

• Understanding of the challenges that face families living with significant hardship due to poverty.
• Previous experience of working in a charity setting.
• Understanding of the financial context for charities, particularly grant and other funding & the link between funding and service delivery.

Accountable To: Chief Executive Officer