Chief Operating Officer / Integrator

London Source: WhatJobs

£120,000–£180,000

There’s a very good reason why the most popular TED Talk ever created is Sir Ken Robinson’s “ Do schools kill creativity? ”. Because in many cases it’s true, and that’s a huge concern for parents who naturally want to give their children the best start in life.

Sir Ken adds in his superb book “The Element – How Finding your Passion Changes Everything”:

“Education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardise education, but to personalise it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.”

This need for a more child-centred approach to education that prioritises independence, hands-on learning, and self-directed activity, has rapidly expanded the popularity of Montessori education, which is designed to enable social capability and independent thinking, and has grown from one school in 1907 to more than 20,000 worldwide today.

This group of Montessori pre-school nurseries is fulfilling that need and expanding rapidly to new locations in and around London.

The Company

The Founder was an accounting professional in the city, alongside being mother to two young children.She wanted the best start for her children, but struggled to find early years childcare that offered more than a “holding pen” approach.She initially learned the Montessori approach to practice at home, then became qualified in the Montessori educational method.

In 2006, seeing a clear gap in the market, she put everything she had into opening her first Montessori Nursery in North London.

That first location was soon oversubscribed.Now the group operates four sites, with 80+ staff and revenue at £4m+.

With strong demand and their reputation for exceptional care and quality of education, the Founder is ambitious to further expand operations.Next in the growth plan, is the acquisition of more sites to be integrated as Montessori nurseries, with four more nursery acquisitions at due diligence stage and more in consideration.

The vision is to be serving 1000+ children across 10 or more schools.

Core Values underpinning the team’s success:

We Care – care for children and their development is at their heart
We Love – I could see the children feel truly loved
We Serve – the children, their parents and their community
We Build – building for success in life

These values are evident throughout - every staff member has them printed on their t‑shirt!

What does the company need from its first COO/Integrator hire?

The team are qualified experts in delivering Montessori education and the required Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework.They do this exceptionally well.You don’t need to bring more educational expertise (though I’m sure you’ll learn that once on board), it’s about enabling a great team to consistently do their best work as the business expands.

It’s a respected, growing and profitable business, that also has an awareness of “what we don’t know” when it comes to scaling and running the company.Part of the solution to this has been the implementation of EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System™ over the past six years (if you’re not familiar with this, I’d recommend reading ‘Traction’ by Gino Wickman).

Part of the EOS model is the key role of the ‘Integrator’ as right hand to a visionary Founder (this partnership is outlined in the book ‘Rocket Fuel’, also by Gino Wickman).

That’s the person we are searching for now – an ‘Integrator’ as Chief Operating Officer, to lead and manage all areas of the business with care for the children and quality of education first in mind, supporting all aspects of new site acquisition, working alongside the Founder-CEO to act as an analytical ‘filter’ for strategy and plans, plus allowing her to focus on further expansion opportunities.Then communicating and working closely with managers and operational teams to ensure effective execution of agreed plans.

Brief overview of this Integrator role:

Ensure the consistently high-quality provision of services, with support for all people involved, and fully aligned with Ofsted standards.
Lead, manage and hold colleagues accountable for achieving agreed‑upon commitments. Ensure the leadership team is healthy, functional and cohesive.
Build and execute the business plan, achieving or exceeding planned P&L objectives.
Maintain close oversight of financial performance, including budgeting and financial planning.
Remove barriers and obstacles that impede progress, ensuring smooth day‑to‑day operations.
Spearhead special projects, for example, due diligence and integration of new site acquisitions, site refurbishments, technological upgrades, to position for future growth.
Ensure the business fulfils its regulatory obligations to the highest standards. Act as senior liaison for parents and external bodies such as Ofsted and local authorities, to foster strong relationships.
Take overall responsibility for facilities (owned or leased).
Foster growth and utilisation by coordinating sales and marketing efforts to attract new children/parents and retain existing ones.
Resolve issues proactively – seeing real problems, being comfortable with conflict, calling out the problems, and solving them in a practical and healthy manner.
Integrate all major operating functions of the business.Ensure everyone is rowing together in the same direction.Model the way, always working toward the greater good of the business.
Ensure that everyone is truly following and adhering to company and functional core standards, processes and operating system with consistency.
Maintain a relentless obsession with values alignment, focus, simplicity and clarity.
Effectively collaborate with the Founder and stay on the same page.Recognise the Founder’s unique contributions and ideas, and be ready to filter and translate those ideas into the functional plans for the company.
Confirm that all key messages are properly and consistently shared across the organisation, to ensure that everyone is in the know.Verify that a high level of effective communication exists throughout the organisation.

What kind of person might see this as a good fit?

A Leader of People and Champion of Efficiency. Care and educational quality are part of the DNA in this business, so getting that right is crucial.This is a ‘people’ business more than a ‘product’ business - we need you to help lead, enable and develop a great team.
Care & Quality first. You know that if you do the right thing for the children, the rewards will follow and the team can be proud of their work.
Resilient and committed. No two days are the same here, and challenges come from all angles (is there a more precious charge than people’s children?).We need a committed problem solver.
A ‘we’ thinker, rather than an ‘I’ thinker, high on empathy and low on ego. This company and this role are ‘hands on’ with focus on enabling teams and creating efficient processes and systems to support them.Definitely not for lovers of ivory towers or anyone who feels the need to protect their ego by hiding from awkward truths. You prefer to talk openly, plan solutions then execute as a team.When mistakes happen, you learn, fix it and move on, not hide from it.
Alert and proactive, with commercial initiative and resourcefulness. You think ahead – analysing, prioritising and planning carefully to achieve measured progress on business and team goals.You stay informed and organised, so when issues occur you can act quickly and calmly, because at heart you are a problem solver and part of your professional mantra is “be prepared”.
Fast and efficient. You maintain clear focus on the business goals, moving forward systematically and smoothly.Your systems and processes are enabling – not red tape getting in the way of great care.You don’t ‘flap’ easily, so your team feel confident being proactive and forward thinking.
Open and communicative. You are not afraid to ask questions or have them asked of you.You are a ‘team player’ and you are adept at coaching, enabling, and supporting those around you to play to their strengths and achieve their best work.
You see the nitty gritty as well as the big picture .The role will have overall responsibility for all people, processes and systems, plus you will also play a key role in strategic thinking and decision‑making.You may think of yourself as ‘the voice of reason’, but we’d like your big ideas too please.
You think BIG . You’re ambitious for the company and significant growth is well within your comfort zone, so you are confident encouraging the team towards ambitious goals.