Deputy/Assistant Director, Payments Dev (Strategy & Policy Analyst) (Contract)

Your work will involve the following:

• Research global developments in the real economy, financial sector and geopolitical space. Analyse how Singapore's competitive advantage in payments is being shaped by economic trends, technological advancements and geopolitical shifts. Formulate market development interventions to optimise Singapore’s value capture over the medium-to-long term.

• Compare Singapore’s competitive position with those of other financial centres, identify opportunities, and propose concrete action aimed at measurable results over a definite timeframe.

• Develop a payments competitiveness tracking methodology for Singapore, to credibly track how Singapore’s competitive position changes over time and compared to other financial centres. The methodology must involve regular analysis of available data to draw actionable insights that inform MAS’ developmental interventions in the payments sector.

• Develop governance frameworks that support the transformation of payments infrastructure in Singapore to efficiently serve future use cases of corporates, financial institutions, government agencies and retail (local and foreign). This includes consideration of future payment volumes, target cost of payment services, relevance of current payment rails to future needs, investments needed in infrastructure, and a feasible implementation (from both technical and commercial perspectives).

• Engage key payments firms with significant investments in Singapore (e.g. regional HQ, centre of excellence, advanced capabilities), and understand what makes them sticky to Singapore. Propose targeted incentives and support measures for these firms to grow their footprint of regional leadership, critical functions and jobs, anchored in Singapore.

• Engage promising payment firms which can add good value to Singapore’s payments sector. Work with industry associations to design programmes that support such firms’ set-up and license application in Singapore. Where firms bring exceptional value to Singapore, put up a case for priority processing of their license application to accelerate their time-to-market.

• Write proposals to secure (i) funding and manpower resources to support development of next-generation payments infrastructure in Singapore, and (ii) targeted support for payments firms, analysing their benefits and costs to Singapore.

• Good strategic thinking, with realistic views. Grounded in current facts, while able to see possibilities.

• Analytical competence with the capacity to synthesise value from diverse, rapidly-changing sources.

• Strong interpersonal skills and able to positively influence internal and external stakeholders.

• Good understanding of trends and developments in the global payments landscape.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

• A team player who is proactive and motivated, with keen interest in growing Singapore as a financial centre.

• Background in technology will be an advantage.

As part of the shortlisting process for this role, you may be required to complete a medical declaration and/or undergo further assessment. This is a 2-year contract, with the option to renew for another 2 years. All applicants will be notified on whether they are shortlisted or not within 4 weeks of the closing date of this job posting.