Regional Manager – Early Childhood Education
Position: Regional Manager
Employment Type: Full-Time
Reports To: Director / Ownership
Industry: Early Childhood Education
Position Overview
The Regional Manager provides operational and leadership oversight to multiple early childhood education centres. This position is responsible for ensuring each location operates at a consistently high standard in the areas of staff leadership, curriculum delivery, licensing compliance, health and safety, enrollment, and overall quality of care.
The Regional Manager works closely with centre leadership teams to train, mentor, develop, and hold staff accountable, while creating a positive, professional, and solutions-focused culture.
A key responsibility of this role is ensuring that enrollment is maintained at optimal levels across all assigned centres, with proactive attention to vacancies, upcoming transitions, inquiries, tours, registrations, and family retention.
The Regional Manager will also assist with the setup and opening of new facilities, helping ensure new locations are operationally ready, appropriately staffed, compliant, safe, and prepared to deliver the company's expected standards from opening day.
This is a hands-on, highly independent position requiring a self-starter who can identify priorities, take initiative, solve problems, and follow through without continuous direction. Regular local travel between existing and new facilities is required.
Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership, Training & Staff Development
- Provide leadership, coaching, mentorship, and ongoing support to centre management teams.
- Train and develop centre Managers/Principals and other leadership staff.
- Identify staff development needs and implement coaching, training, and performance improvement plans.
- Conduct regular centre visits, observations, and leadership meetings.
- Support management teams in building positive, professional, and accountable workplace cultures.
- Ensure company expectations, policies, and standards are clearly communicated and consistently followed.
- Recognize strong performance while addressing performance concerns promptly and professionally.
- Support succession planning and identify employees with leadership potential.
Recruitment & Human Resources
- Participate in and oversee recruitment for management and key staff positions.
- Conduct interviews and make or support hiring decisions.
- Ensure new managers and key employees receive appropriate onboarding and training.
- Monitor staffing requirements across assigned locations.
- Manage employee performance concerns, disciplinary processes, and performance improvement plans.
- Conduct or support employee terminations when necessary.
- Ensure employee matters are handled professionally, consistently, confidentially, and in accordance with company policies and applicable employment standards.
Enrollment & Centre Growth
- Ensure enrollment is maintained at optimal levels across all assigned centres.
- Establish and monitor enrollment targets for each location.
- Regularly review current enrollment, available spaces, upcoming withdrawals, classroom transitions, and future enrollment projections.
- Ensure centre management teams are actively managing inquiries, tours, registrations, waitlists, and follow-ups.
- Monitor conversion of inquiries and tours into registrations and identify areas requiring improvement.
- Ensure prospective families receive timely, professional, and consistent communication.
- Develop strategies with centre management to address vacancies and under-enrolled classrooms.
- Monitor family retention and identify trends that may negatively impact enrollment.
- Ensure upcoming vacancies are identified early so spaces can be filled proactively.
- Hold centre leadership accountable for achieving established enrollment targets.
- Work collaboratively with senior management on enrollment initiatives, marketing opportunities, community outreach, and centre growth.
- Ensure enrollment growth is achieved while maintaining appropriate staffing ratios, licensing requirements, and program quality.
New Facility Setup & Openings
- Assist with the setup, preparation, and opening of new early childhood education facilities.
- Work with senior management and other departments to ensure new centres are operationally ready for opening.
- Assist with classroom setup, furniture and equipment placement, educational materials, supplies, and overall facility organization.
- Support recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and training of new facility leadership and staff.
- Assist with establishing operational procedures and ensuring company policies and standards are implemented from the outset.
- Support licensing preparation and ensure required documentation, safety requirements, classroom environments, and operational standards are ready for inspection.
- Assist with enrollment preparation, tours, family communication, and opening-day readiness.
- Identify outstanding operational requirements and follow through to ensure they are completed within established timelines.
- Provide additional on-site support during the initial opening period to help establish strong operational practices and company culture.
- Conduct post-opening reviews and assist the new leadership team in addressing operational or compliance issues.
Curriculum & Program Quality
- Monitor the quality and consistency of curriculum implementation across all assigned centres.
- Conduct classroom observations and review curriculum documentation.
- Ensure educators and management teams understand and consistently implement company curriculum standards.
- Identify gaps in curriculum delivery and develop corrective action and training plans.
- Work with centre leadership to continuously improve classroom environments, teaching practices, programming, and the overall educational experience.
- Ensure each centre maintains the company's expectations for quality, professionalism, and child-centred learning.
Licensing & Regulatory Compliance
- Ensure assigned centres operate in compliance with all applicable child care licensing regulations and requirements.
- Maintain a strong working knowledge of current licensing requirements and company policies.
- Conduct regular internal compliance reviews.
- Ensure required documentation, staff certifications, ratios, records, policies, and procedures are maintained.
- Support centres during licensing inspections and follow up on any identified deficiencies.
- Develop and monitor corrective action plans where compliance concerns are identified.
- Escalate significant licensing or regulatory concerns to senior management immediately.
Health, Safety & Risk Management
- Ensure high standards of health and safety are maintained across all centres.
- Conduct regular safety inspections and follow up on identified concerns.
- Monitor emergency preparedness, first aid requirements, emergency supplies, sanitation practices, playground safety, and facility conditions.
- Review significant incidents and ensure appropriate documentation and follow-up are completed.
- Ensure management teams understand their responsibilities related to child supervision, health, safety, and emergency procedures.
- Proactively identify potential risks and take appropriate action before they become larger concerns.
- Promote a strong culture of safety and accountability.
Operational Oversight & Quality Control
- Conduct regular scheduled and unscheduled visits to assigned centres.
- Evaluate overall centre performance, including leadership, staffing, enrollment, classroom quality, cleanliness, organization, parent experience, licensing compliance, and safety.
- Establish clear action items following centre visits and ensure timely completion.
- Monitor operational standards and ensure consistency across locations.
- Support centre management with challenging operational situations.
- Identify recurring issues and develop sustainable solutions rather than temporary fixes.
- Provide regular updates and reports to senior management regarding centre performance, enrollment, risks, staffing concerns, and priorities.
Parent & Community Relations
- Support centre management in resolving significant or escalated parent concerns.
- Ensure parent concerns are handled professionally, respectfully, and in a timely manner.
- Monitor the overall family experience as an important component of retention and enrollment growth.
- Promote a positive reputation for the organization within the communities it serves.
- Model professional and respectful communication with families, employees, licensing officers, and community partners.
Required Qualifications
- Previous leadership or management experience within early childhood education, child care, education, or a related multi-site environment.
- Strong understanding of child care licensing, health and safety, and regulatory compliance.
- Experience supervising, coaching, mentoring, and developing employees.
- Experience with recruitment, interviewing, performance management, and employee terminations.
- Strong understanding of quality early childhood education and curriculum implementation.
- Experience managing or supporting enrollment, customer service, sales, or business growth is an asset.
- Experience assisting with new centre openings, facility setup, licensing preparation, or expansion is an asset.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Strong organizational and time-management abilities.
- Ability to manage multiple locations, projects, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously.
- Valid driver's licence and reliable transportation are required.
- Ability and willingness to travel regularly throughout the local region is required.
- Flexibility to provide additional on-site support during new facility openings or periods of operational need.
- Early Childhood Educator certification is considered a strong asset.
Key Competencies
The successful Regional Manager must be:
- A self-starter who takes initiative and does not require constant direction.
- Independent and accountable, with the ability to identify what needs to be done and follow through.
- Positive and solutions-focused, particularly when dealing with challenging situations.
- Results-driven with a strong focus on enrollment, quality, compliance, safety, and operational performance.
- A strong leader who can motivate, coach, and develop others.
- Comfortable having difficult conversations and holding employees accountable.
- Highly organized with excellent follow-through.
- Calm and professional when managing conflict or urgent situations.
- Detail-oriented with a strong focus on quality and compliance.
- Willing to be hands-on and assist wherever required, particularly during new centre openings.
- Able to balance supporting employees with maintaining clear expectations and accountability.
- Flexible and able to adapt to the changing needs of multiple centres.
- Approachable and capable of building positive relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
Travel Requirements
This is a multi-site, field-based leadership position. Regular local travel is an essential requirement of the role.
The Regional Manager must be available to travel between assigned centres, attend meetings, support licensing requirements, conduct inspections and observations, and assist with the setup and opening of new facilities. The position requires flexibility to adjust schedules based on operational priorities and the needs of the centres.
Success in This Role
Success will be measured by the Regional Manager's ability to maintain consistently high-performing and optimally enrolled centres, develop strong centre leaders, maintain licensing and safety compliance, ensure curriculum standards are followed, successfully support new facility openings, address performance concerns promptly, and create a positive and accountable culture.
The Regional Manager is expected to understand the operational and financial importance of enrollment and ensure that vacancies are identified early, inquiries are actively followed up, families receive an exceptional experience, and every reasonable opportunity is taken to maintain optimal enrollment.
The ideal candidate does not simply identify problems—they take ownership, develop solutions, implement improvements, and follow through to ensure lasting results.
Pay: $80,000.00-$90,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Discounted or free food
- Extended health care
- Flexible schedule
- On-site parking
Application question(s):
- Have you been in a managerial role previously in a group child care center
- Do you have a minimum of 5 years of experience in working with BC ChildCare Licensing Regulations
Experience:
- managerial: 3 years (required)
Language:
Licence/Certification:
- ECE License in BC (required)
Work Location: In person
