Assistant Centre Manager - Lucknow

Assistant Centre Manager | Lucknow

Brand-new 88-place centre opening November 2026

Ready for your next step in early childhood leadership?

This is your opportunity to help build a centre from the beginning , not simply step into someone else’s established way of doing things.

As Assistant Centre Manager at Journey Early Learning Lucknow, you’ll join the founding Centre Leadership Team and work alongside your Centre Manager to help establish the team, culture, systems and family experience of our brand-new centre.

You’ll have genuine leadership responsibility from day one, the opportunity to broaden your operational capability, and experienced people around you as you grow.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive remuneration + applicable ECEC Worker Retention Payment
• Journey Childcare Discount, subject to eligibility and applicable terms
• Paid Birthday Leave
• Dedicated professional development through Journey Academy
• Genuine leadership development and career progression opportunities
• The opportunity to join the founding Centre Leadership Team
• A dedicated Centre Quality Manager partnering with the centre
• Direct support from specialists across Journey’s broader Support Office ecosystem
• The opportunity to build experience across people leadership, operations, compliance, families, quality and commercial performance
• A role designed to build the capability you’ll need for your next leadership step

Step up. Help build it. Grow into what’s next.

Journey Early Learning Lucknow is a brand-new 88-place, five-room centre opening in November 2026.

As Assistant Centre Manager, you won’t just be helping run the day.

You’ll help establish how the centre operates.

Working closely with your Centre Manager and the broader Centre Leadership Team, you’ll have the opportunity to influence how we welcome families, build our team, establish strong operating rhythms and create the culture our new centre becomes known for.

And when required, you’ll be ready to step into broader centre leadership responsibilities.

It’s an opportunity to build real management experience while having support around you.

Lead alongside. Step up when it matters.

Your role will span the day-to-day operation of the centre and the longer-term work of building a high-performing service.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Support the Centre Manager across the overall operation of the centre
• Help establish strong daily operating rhythms from opening
• Support rostering, staffing, resources and centre operations
• Lead, guide and support educators across the service
• Contribute to the recruitment and onboarding of the founding team
• Coach and mentor team members as they build capability
• Support performance conversations and professional development
• Build strong relationships with children, families and the local community
• Support compliance with the National Quality Framework, National Quality Standard and regulatory requirements
• Contribute to quality improvement, audits and continuous improvement
• Support centre budgets, financial processes and responsible resource management
• Help establish accurate records, documentation and compliance systems
• Support family engagement, community connections and centre growth
• Step into Centre Manager responsibilities when required

Leadership with an ecosystem around you.

Taking the next step in leadership shouldn’t mean having to work everything out on your own.

At Lucknow, you’ll work alongside your Centre Manager, Educational Leader and Early Childhood Teacher as part of the Centre Leadership Team.

You’ll also be connected to Journey’s broader ecosystem of specialist support, including:

• Centre Quality
• National Safeguarding
• Pedagogical Strategy
• Capability and Culture
• Finance and Payroll
• Marketing and Experience
• Journey Academy and Learning Development
• IT Support

Your Centre Quality Manager will be a key partner to the centre, providing another experienced layer of support as the leadership team establishes the new service.

The focus is partnership — giving our centre leaders access to specialist expertise while they remain accountable for leading their centre.

Already leading — or ready to take the next step?

You may already be an Assistant Centre Manager or 2IC looking for a role with greater scope.

Or you might be an experienced Lead Educator, Educational Leader or senior early childhood professional who has built strong people and operational capability and is ready to move into centre leadership.

We’re interested in people who can demonstrate leadership potential, not simply people who already have the title.

What you’ll bring

You will ideally have:

• A Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care, or an ACECQA-approved equivalent qualification appropriate to the role
• A genuine commitment to child safety and safeguarding
• Experience leading, coaching or supporting other educators
• Strong knowledge of the National Quality Framework and National Quality Standard
• An understanding of quality improvement and Assessment and Rating
• Confidence balancing people, operational and compliance priorities
• Strong organisation and problem-solving capability
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills
• Confidence working with children, families and teams
• The judgement to work autonomously while knowing when to seek support
• Curiosity, openness to feedback and a desire to continue developing as a leader

You’ll also need to meet Journey’s pre-employment requirements, including the relevant Working with Children Check, National Child Safety Certification (Foundation and Advanced), and First Aid, CPR, Asthma and Anaphylaxis requirements for the position.

Considering a move to East Gippsland?

You don’t need to already live in Lucknow or Bairnsdale to start a conversation with us.

We welcome experienced early childhood professionals from Melbourne, wider Victoria and interstate who may be looking for their next leadership opportunity and open to making a move.

If the role feels right but the location requires some planning, we’d still encourage you to talk with us about what may be possible.

Why Journey?

There are plenty of roles where you can be someone’s second-in-charge.

This is an opportunity to become part of a founding leadership team.

You’ll help establish a brand-new centre, build capability across a new team and develop experience across the full operation of an early learning service.

And you’ll do it within an established organisation where your centre has access to a Centre Quality Manager, specialist Support Office partners, Journey Academy and broader career opportunities.

For someone who wants to keep growing their leadership career, that combination matters.

A new centre. Real leadership scope. Your next step starts here.

Ready to step up?

If you’re ready for broader leadership responsibility and want the opportunity to help build a centre from day one, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply now to join the founding Centre Leadership Team at Journey Early Learning Lucknow.

Child safety at Journey

Journey Early Learning is committed to being a Child Safe Organisation and to creating environments where every child is safe, supported, respected and heard.

As a Victorian Early Childhood Employer, we expect all employees and leaders to actively uphold the Victorian Child Safe Standards, applicable child protection obligations and Journey’s safeguarding requirements.

As an Assistant Centre Manager, you’ll play an important role in modelling a child-safe culture, supporting educators to understand their responsibilities, maintaining professional boundaries and ensuring concerns relating to children’s safety and wellbeing are recognised and escalated appropriately.

Journey’s See, Act, Tell Safeguarding Framework supports our teams to recognise concerns, respond appropriately and speak up when something does not feel right.

All appointments are subject to Journey’s pre-employment screening and child-safety requirements, including the relevant Working with Children Check and any other checks, qualifications or clearances required for the role.

Journey Early Learning is a Child Safe Organisation and is committed to the safety, wellbeing and protection of all children in our care.