Centre Services Manager / Admin Manager

Centre Services Manager / Admin Manager

First5Years Early Learning | Emerald

Join our team

We’re looking for a passionate, highly organised Centre Services Manager / Admin Manager to join First5Years Emerald.

This is a key role in our centre, supporting our Centre Director and taking ownership of the business administration, family service and organisational systems that help a busy early learning centre run smoothly.

We’re looking for someone who loves creating order, enjoys helping people, notices the things others miss and gets real satisfaction from keeping a team organised and on track.

This is much more than a traditional administration role. You’ll be an important part of the leadership support structure of the centre and a familiar, trusted point of contact for our families and team.

What you’ll be responsible for

Your role will include:

• family accounts, billing, CCS and debtors
• centre bookkeeping and Xero administration
• enrolments, bookings, waitlists and occupancy
• family administration and enquiries
• rostering and staffing administration
• staff records, onboarding and compliance administration
• contractors, maintenance and suppliers
• centre systems, registers and documentation
• medication management plan administration
• Kindy funding and Inclusion Support funding administration
• grants and funding records
• leadership meeting coordination and follow-up
• reporting and governance administration
• Centre Director diary and executive support
• general centre administration and events

You won’t necessarily make every decision, but you will play a key role in making sure things are organised, followed up and brought to completion.

How the Centre Director will work with you

You’ll work closely with the Centre Director every day.

A short daily stand-up will help you both stay aligned on:

• staffing and people
• family support
• accounts and CCS
• maintenance and operational matters
• compliance and upcoming deadlines
• meetings and commitments
• matters requiring a decision
• the key priorities for the day

A significant part of the role is providing Executive PA-style support to the Centre Director.

You’ll help manage the Centre Director’s calendar, organise meetings, track commitments, maintain action lists and make sure important follow-ups don’t disappear into the busyness of the day.

You’ll be comfortable managing upwards — respectfully reminding, prompting and following up when something needs to be completed.

The Centre Director remains responsible for centre leadership, people decisions, educational practice and operational decisions.

Your role is to create the organisation and follow-through around them.

Who we’re looking for

For this role, how you work is just as important as where you’ve worked before.

You’ll likely be someone who is:

• Exceptionally organised — you naturally create structure and keep track of details.
• Proactive — you look ahead rather than waiting to be told what to do.
• Strong on follow-through — you keep going until the job is actually finished.
• Warm and professional — you communicate confidently with families, team members, suppliers and leaders.
• Comfortable with numbers — accounts, invoices, Xero, quotes and financial information don’t intimidate you.
• Systems-minded — you enjoy technology and finding better ways to organise work.
• Calm under pressure — you can handle interruptions without losing sight of your priorities.
• Confident managing upwards — you can respectfully hold others accountable to deadlines and commitments.
• Discreet and trustworthy — you understand the importance of confidentiality.
• A team person — you genuinely enjoy helping others work more efficiently.

We’re looking for someone who combines high standards with genuine warmth.

Do I need childcare experience?

Childcare or early learning administration experience would be valuable, but it isn’t essential.

We’d also love to hear from experienced:

• Executive Assistants
• Office Managers
• Practice Managers
• Business Administrators
• Administration Managers
• Finance or Accounts Administrators
• School or education administrators

If you’re highly organised, capable, great with people and quick to learn new systems, your experience may transfer beautifully into our world.

Hours & flexibility

This is a full-time role.

However, we know that finding the right person matters more than having a rigid timetable, and we are very open to discussing flexible working arrangements for the right fit.

About First5Years

First5Years is a family-owned early learning service with a strong commitment to children, families, our team and the regional communities we are part of. Our values are to be Passionate, Empowering and Inclusive.

We want to create an environment where people feel valued, trusted and empowered to do great work, while holding ourselves to high standards in the way we care, communicate and operate.

Sound like you?

If you read this and thought, “this is how my brain works”, we’d love to hear from you.

And if your background isn’t traditionally in childcare, please don’t let that stop you. For us, the right capability, attitude and fit matter enormously.