The National Research Foundation (NRF) is a department within the Prime Minister's Office, and we set the national direction for research, innovation and enterprise (RIE) by developing policies, plans and strategies; funding strategic initiatives that strengthen our scientific and technological capabilities, grow our RIE talent base, and achieve economic and national impact; and fostering RIE collaboration in Singapore and internationally.
National Research Foundation
Deputy Head/Assistant Head, RIE Talent
Permanent/Contract
Closing on 26 Nov 2025What the role is
What you will be working on
• Shape the overall talent strategy for building a vibrant RIE ecosystem to enhance Singapore’s economic competitiveness and capacity for addressing national imperatives.
• Formulate, implement, evaluate, and review policies and programmes for RIE talent development.
• Bring on board RIE ecosystem stakeholders, taking into consideration their needs and perspectives, including public research institutions, private sector organisations and partner agencies.
• Develop qualitative and quantitative assessments of progress in attracting, developing and retaining talent, including global competitive benchmarking.
• Plan and manage research grants administered by NRF RIE Talent. This includes secretariat duties to support the Fellowship Evaluation Panel (comprising eminent scientists from around the world) in awarding research grants.
• Key multi-year workstreams that the jobholder may lead include:
i. Creating a self-sustaining talent flywheel in the RIE ecosystem.
ii. Enhancing a systematic talent monitoring system for the RIE ecosystem, including setting benchmarks for quality of talent and developing responses to capture opportunities or tackle challenges related to the stock, flow and mix of top talent.
iii. Formulating strategies, shaping culture/mindsets and rolling out initiatives to grow entrepreneurial research by PhD Students, Postdocs and Faculty/Senior Researchers.
iv. Enhancing the diversity of talent in the RIE ecosystem, in terms of sources, career stage, and technical vs business.
What we are looking for
• 3 years of experience in a Singapore Government agency in a policy, strategic planning or sector development role is preferred.
• The candidate should be inspired by the opportunity to take on challenging issues and break new ground. This requires strong analytical abilities, being comfortable with complexity and ambiguity, and ability to sense-make the way forward.
• Candidates with imagination and tenacity in driving progress while working collaboratively in a team are expected to perform well in the role
About your application process
This job is closing on 26 Nov 2025.
If you do not hear from us within 4 weeks of the job ad closing date, we seek your understanding that it is likely that we are not moving forward with your application for this role. We thank you for your interest and would like to assure you that this does not affect your other job applications with the Public Service. We encourage you to explore and apply for other roles within National Research Foundation or the wider Public Service.
About National Research Foundation
The National Research Foundation (NRF) was set up on 1 January 2006 as a department under the Prime Minister's Office. It was set up to perform the following:
a) To provide secretariat support to the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), chaired by the Senior Minister;
b) To coordinate the research of different agencies within the larger national framework in order to provide a coherent strategic overview and direction;
c) To develop policies and plans to implement the five strategic thrusts for the national R&D agenda; and
d) To implement national research, innovation and enterprise strategies approved by the RIEC, and to allocate funding to programmes that meet NRF's strategic objectives.
Learn more about National Research Foundation