The Policy and Strategy Development Division is part of the Policy, Research and Surveillance Group in the Health Promotion Board. The Division’s mission is formulating public health policies and strategies, as HPB progresses beyond promotional approaches to employ regulatory and policy levers to modify health behaviours. Areas of focus include obesity control (food and physical activity), substance abuse (tobacco and alcohol), as well as emerging areas of public health concerns.

This position offers the right candidate the opportunity to define and develop evidence-based national policies and strategies in preventive health, to achieve a supportive and sustainable environment for healthy lifestyle behaviours. This is an exciting opportunity to solve some of the most critical issues facing preventive health in Singapore today. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to engage senior stakeholders from across the government and businesses, and influence decision making on public health policies. The successful candidate will also work closely with industry and academic experts, as part of the consultation and strategy development process.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

• Review and analyse public health findings and market data from a wide range of sources, and develop evidence-based policies and strategies that address public health gaps in the general and targeted populations. 

• Translate technical knowledge in food /nutrition to guidelines and standards, develop position statements when necessary, review guidelines to address public health issues in diet/nutrition.

• Review and update nutrition guidelines where needed

• Prepare documents, positions to support discussions on nutrition-related matters to represent HPB at these platforms

• Consult actively with government agencies, companies and experts, to address key stake holders and their concerns, with the objective of achieving successful and sustainable policy and strategy implementation.

• Collaborate with regulatory agencies and the industry to operationalize solutions and enforce measures.

• Monitor and evaluate policies and strategies to assess impact and review approaches.

• Foster strategic alliances, both local and international, to support policy advocacy and lead conversations on emerging public health issues.

Requirements

Candidates should have:
•    Qualifications in nutrition sciences, dietetics, or any other relevant disciplines
•    At least 4-5 years of experience in developmental and planning roles, preferably with public policy experience.
•    Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills to identify, define and propose policy solutions for national preventive health problems.
•    Strong analytical abilities to synthesize information, build strong narrative, and distil ideas and concepts into concrete plans.
•    Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills to maintain strong stakeholder partnerships, as well as technical domain knowledge.
•    Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills.
•    Strong ability to work effectively in an environment that is highly matrixed, fluid and fast-paced. 

Established in 2001, the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) vision is to build a nation of healthy people. We aim to empower residents in Singapore to attain optimal health, increase the quality and years of healthy life, and prevent illnesses, disability and premature death. To achieve this, HPB drives national health promotion and disease prevention programmes, spearheads health education initiatives and creates a supportive environment in Singapore where healthy lifestyle options are available and accessible for healthy living every day.