About The Role

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 17th September 2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): W/C 28th September 2026

Reference: 2287

About Us

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 [email hidden] so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Education Operations Lead to play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering high-quality education, early years, childcare and enrichment services across Waltham Forest.

Reporting to the Education Operations Manager, you will lead on a diverse portfolio of operational, performance and commissioning responsibilities that support the Council's statutory duties relating to childcare sufficiency, free early education entitlement, and enrichment opportunities for children and young people. You will work collaboratively with schools, childcare providers, internal services and external partners to ensure high-quality provision, strong business performance and positive outcomes for families.

The role involves overseeing grant-funded programmes, monitoring provider compliance, developing business processes, analysing performance data, and driving service improvement. You will also provide expert advice and support to providers, helping to ensure they remain sustainable, compliant and responsive to the needs of local communities.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic and operational leader who enjoys working across partnerships, using data to inform decision-making, managing complex projects and translating policy into effective service delivery. You will play a key role in ensuring children and families have access to high-quality childcare, early education and enrichment opportunities that support learning, development and wellbeing.

If you are passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people, have strong operational management experience, and thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you

>> Click here to download the Role Profile

Key Responsibilities

Lead the delivery and operational management of education business operations, performance and support services across the Education Service.
Support the Council's statutory duties for childcare sufficiency, free early education entitlement and childcare provision.
Develop and maintain effective relationships with schools, early years providers, childcare providers and key partners.
Commission, monitor and quality assure childcare, early years and enrichment providers to ensure compliance with statutory and contractual requirement.
Lead the delivery of grant-funded programmes relating to early education, childcare and enrichment activities for children and young people.
Analyse performance, financial and service data to inform strategic planning, service improvement and statutory reporting.
Provide expert advice, guidance and training to providers and schools to support sustainability, compliance and quality improvement.
Develop and implement policies, procedures and business processes that improve service effectiveness and value for money.
Lead projects, change initiatives and digital service improvements to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
Monitor risks, ensure effective governance arrangements and maintain compliance with relevant legislation, funding requirements and data protection regulations.
Prepare reports, briefings and recommendations for senior leaders, stakeholders and partners.
Support and deputise for the Education Operations Manager when required

Qualifications and Requirements

Experience of operationally managing a service/team which contributed to delivering a Council’s statutory requirements relating to 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 operationally managing a service/team delivering grant funded programmes related to early education and childcare and out of school/enrichment activities for school age children
Experience of operationally managing a team/service 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 providing a range of information advice and training to Early Years, Childcare providers and Schools regarding running sustainable businesses which comply with statutory requirements.
Experience of developing and implementing financial and business strategies/plans that are based on thorough analysis of needs and risks.
Expert knowledge and understanding of Ofsted/DfE requirements, systems, policy, practices, procedures, and legislation regarding early years and childcare.
Excellent customer service skills, with experience of resolving customer queries.
Significant experience of working with and forming positive, trusting relationships with commissioned providers (especially Ofsted registered childcare providers and schools).
Experience of consultation, engagement and participation work with parents/carers, schools and childcare providers
Experience of providing a range of business operations/support services across an internal service/team.
A good understanding of the issues that can affect parents/carers, schools and childcare providers and how best to address them.
Experience of developing team members by effectively delegating tasks and projects
Experience of translating strategic vision into practical achievable plans · Experience of defining service delivery expectations and setting clear expectations for the team
Experience of harnessing the strengths of the team to positive advantage · Experience of effectively managing projects/programmes of work including change projects and grant funded initiatives
Experience of using data and information to benchmark good/best performance and practice to assess performance of team/service
Experience of developing policies and procedures to improve service outcomes/impact
Experience of producing a range of advice, information, data and statistical analysis, reports and presentations to internal and external Heads of Service and Senior Managers
IT skills, including Microsoft Office suite
Experience use of large complex management and client information systems and finance systems (particularly Oracle)

Terms and conditions

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;
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.

How to Apply

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.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Temilade Adeniji at [email hidden]
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at [email hidden] .