High Salary: Senior Early Years Educator

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Senior Early Years Educator

The closing date is 22 October 2025

Full Time (Mon to Fri working a 9 day fortnight pattern)

The Candidate must have a min Level 3 NVQ in Childcare & Education AND have high levels of knowledge and Experience with the EYFS

Do you have experience of working in an Early Years setting? Do you have excellent knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum? Are you a supportive team member who would be able to lead a small group?

The Sussex House Nursery, Royal Sussex County Hospital Brighton is looking for a qualified and very experienced Senior Early Years practitioner to lead a small team in our 2-3 year playroom.

We are a registered 67 place NHS workplace nursery caring and educating babies to preschool from 6 mths to 5 years of NHS employees.

We are looking for someone who is professional, supportive, motivated, flexible, and passionate about the care and learning of children under the age of 5 years.

Being adaptable, with strong teamwork attributes is important for this role.

Excellent NHS Pension

Excellent Annual leave

Main duties of the job

As Senior Early Years Educator your role is to oversee the day to day running of the playroom, ensuring the educational and welfare requirements are met by the staff within the room.

We are looking for a highly competent candidate who with the support of play room colleagues will create a safe, caring and stimulating environment for children under the age of 5 years. To encourage the children/'s development and understanding through play and other learning experiences.

As the Lead in the playroom a good understanding of the delivering the Early Years Curriculum (EYFS) and working with Ofsted outcomes is vital.

The candidate must have prior experience of building and maintaining strong parent partnership working. They must show flexibility and adaptability as each day can be very different but equally enjoyable and imaginative. Being able to retain information, and use initiative and delegate duties is a must for this post.

About us

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We/'re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We/'re here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in ourWellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.

As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.

We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.

Job responsibilities

To abide by and adhere to the Nursery mission statement Our Nursery puts your child first, we require the following in a candidate:

- To role model Best Practice To be up to date in current thinking and practice and ensure the room is delivering the best possible curriculum for the children.
- To meet with the Nursery Manager / Deputy Manager on a regular basis to discuss performance development, playroom, and individual needs.
- To be responsible for a Key Group of children. To support their all-round development in the following areas: Physical, Intellectual, Language, emotional, social skills, and cultural needs.
- To encourage all areas of the childrens development with the appropriate learning opportunities and play opportunities.
- To be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day practise within the playroom.
- Supporting staff, students, and volunteers with the daily routine of the nursery
- To engage work with other Health, Education and Safeguarding professionals.
- Ability to conduct 1:1 supervision with newly appointed junior staff, students, and volunteers.
- Support students on placement to ensure they cover the relevant learning criteria.
- To devise playroom action plans and contribute to the wider department planned actions.
- To be confident to support the team of the daily routine in the absence of the Nursery Manager and/or Deputy Manager
- To support Shared Care learning with other settings.

Person Specification

Knowledge

- Childcare Qualification NVQ /NNEB/CACHE/ City & Guilds/ BTEC Min Level 3
- Knowledge of milestone development of children under 5 years
- Knowledge of Safeguarding Young Children
- Knowledge of Planning and Implementing a early years curriculum (EYFS)
- Knowledge of Ofsted Inspection Outcomes
- Knowledge of Early Childhood Illnesses / Allergies / care Needs
- Level 4 Qualification in Early Years
- Full Paediatric First Aid Certificate
- SEND Related Training

Experience and Skills

- Substantial post qualifying experience of childcare
- Substantial experience of being a Key Carer
- Substantial experience of working in a team
- Substantial experience of partnership working (parents / professionals)
- To implement activities which are appropriate for the development and interests of the individual and group.
- To conduct 1:1 supervision with newly appointed junior staff, students, and volunteers.
- Experience of other Health, Education and Safeguarding concerns
- Experience of conducting Parents Evenings / School Visits
- To hold good I.T. Skills i.e. Word Doc

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

- Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role)
- Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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