Operations Director (Co-Founder)

• Location: London, UK (Hybrid)
• Salary: Competitive + Bonus / Equity + Free Childcare Benefit
• Start Date: Immediate or by negotiation
• Contract Type: Full Time / Part Time / Consultancy all TBD

About Us

Hatching Dragons is a fast-growing nursery group delivering multilingual, multicultural early years education for globally aspirational families. We operate a premium nursery model that blends exceptional care and pedagogy with global values and cultural fluency—designed for the modern parent navigating an interconnected world.

With three London sites and a highly differentiated brand, we are now laying the operational foundations for scale. Our mission is to transform how early years education is delivered and experienced—and we believe it starts with the quality, consistency, and systemisation of our operations.

The Role

We are hiring an Operations Director—a senior operator who will own the executional roadmap for the current nursery portfolio and future UK site integrations. This is a hands-on, systems-building, culture-shaping role for someone who has led multi-site operational transformations in regulated, brand-led environments. Your first and foremost mission is to professionalise and optimise operations across our existing nurseries to reach 85% group-wide occupancy

These are the commercial benchmarks from which we will launch our wider growth strategy, backed by Private Equity and developed in collaboration with Imperial College Business School (M&A roll-up strategy) and London Business School (B2B workplace nursery proposition). You will report directly to the Founder & CEO, act as their operational counterpart, and ultimately evolve into MD of the UK nursery business line, one of three future divisions:

1. UK Multisite Nursery (B2C) via M&A
2. Corporate Workplace Nurseries (B2B)
3. International Franchises

Your Priorities:

This is an execution-first role. While our growth plans are bold, your initial focus is clear:

• Stabilise and scale the current operations
• Systemise excellence across all sites
• Drive financial performance to PE-ready levels

Once that’s achieved, you will take point on executing the operational elements of our growth roadmap, including acquisition integration and new site launches.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Systemisation & Excellence:

Conduct root-and-branch reviews of all core operational processes using a 3-step analysis:

1. What does success look and feel like for staff, parents, and stakeholders?
2. What does the current process deliver in terms of satisfaction, speed, transparency, and accountability?
3. What systems, training, processes or culture are needed to get us to success?

Design and implement these solutions across all functions with full authority to restructure, replace or rebuild as needed.

Technology & Automation

• Leverage modern tools—Motion AI, Notion AI, HubSpot, BambooHR, Deputy, and others—to automate and accelerate workflows.
• Integrate and connect back-office systems to enhance visibility, consistency, and operational speed.
• Build a digital operations stack that delivers real-time oversight and accountability across every site.

Functional Oversight Across 9 Pillars

You will redesign and oversee the following areas of business operations:

1. Systems & IT (process automations, infrastructure)
2. Recruitment (pipelines, onboarding, assessments)
3. HR & Staffing (deployment, training, payroll, performance management, culture)
4. Teaching & Learning (to ensure operational support enhances pedagogical delivery)
5. Customer Service (quality assurance, parent communication, SLAs)
6. Sales (conversion process, tours, CRM)
7. Marketing (alignment with brand experience)
8. Property & Facilities (H&S, compliance, maintenance)
9. Legal & Compliance (EYFS, safeguarding, policy)

Execution of Growth Strategy (Phase 2)

Once the current portfolio hits operational maturity:

• Lead onboarding and operational integration of newly acquired or launched nurseries.
• Execute the rollout of our workplace nursery (B2B) service model where aligned with your domain.
• Build out systems and teams that allow the UK nursery division to scale from 3 to 20+ sites, preparing it for PE investment and sustainable growth.

About You

You’re a builder. An operator. A culture-setter. You’re not afraid to get your boots on the ground and immerse yourself in the people, processes, and systems that need to work in harmony to deliver excellence. You’ve seen what a mature operation looks like and know how to lead a young brand to that place with speed, care, and ambition.

You Bring:

• Proven leadership in multi-site operations in a regulated, customer-focused industry (pet services / care / dental / fertility / hospitality / retail), preferably in a P/E backed roll up strategy
• A track record of process engineering, cost optimisation, and cultural transformation.
• High digital literacy and hands-on experience in implementing automation, workflow, and project management tools to reduce cost and improve speed and quality.
• A stakeholder-first mindset: your goal is experience, not just process.
• A long-term ambition to become CEO of a high-growth, brand-led service business.

We Offer

• Free childcare at our London nurseries
• Equity and/or performance bonuses
• A co-founder track leadership role with autonomy and influence
• Direct collaboration with the CEO and exposure to Imperial College and London Business School growth projects
• Opportunity to lead one of three future business divisions in a globally ambitious group
• A culture of purpose, diversity, global outlook, and deep operational quality