Area Manager

Busy Bees is a values-led early learning organisation with a strong focus on quality, safety and sustainable growth. Our centres are deeply embedded in their local communities and supported by experienced operational and education teams who are committed to giving every child the Best Start in Life.

Bee Safe
Child safety sits at the heart of everything we do and is embedded in our people, processes and decision-making.

About the Role

We’re seeking an experienced, commercially minded Area Director to lead and support a portfolio of early learning centres across the Newcastle and Hunter region.

This is a senior leadership role with real autonomy and influence, responsible for driving outcomes across quality, compliance, people and performance while building strong, capable Centre Director teams.

What You’ll Do

• Lead, coach and support Centre Directors to deliver high-quality, compliant and financially sustainable services

• Drive operational excellence across occupancy, workforce stability, budgets and key performance metrics

• Embed strong compliance, governance and child safety practices aligned with regulatory requirements

• Partner closely with Education, People & Culture and central support teams to uplift capability and culture

• Build strong community and stakeholder relationships to support enrolments, reputation and growth

About You

• A genuine commitment to child safety, wellbeing and quality outcomes

• Proven experience leading multi-site operations in early learning, education, health or a regulated service environment

• Strong commercial and analytical capability, including budgets, forecasting and occupancy management

• The ability to coach leaders, manage performance and build engaged, high-performing teams

• Excellent stakeholder management skills with a calm, confident leadership presence

Why Join Busy Bees?

• A senior leadership role with real influence and autonomy

• A values-aligned organisation that prioritises quality, safety and people

• A supportive executive and peer leadership network

• The opportunity to shape centre performance and leadership capability across a growing region

• Competitive remuneration and flexibility aligned to senior leadership expectations

Our Commitment to Child Safety

Employment is conditional on satisfactory pre-employment checks, including Working With Children Check, qualification verification, work rights, identity verification and professional references.

Busy Bees is proud to be a child-safe organisation, with clear, consistent and transparent processes that place children at the centre of everything we do.

Why Work for Busy Bees?
If you’re passionate about early learning, Busy Bees is the place to be. Although we are part of a global organisation, our company was founded by three families looking for better, more enriching childcare. Three decades later, we still keep the same values at heart.

We know that we couldn’t do what we do without the important people in our teams. We invest in our people and work with them to build career pathways that inspire.