Singapore Food Agency

Scientist (Virology)

Fixed Terms

Closing on 28 Dec 2025

What the role is

The mission of SFA is to ensure and secure a supply of safe food for Singapore.

The National Centre for Food Science (NCFS) supports SFA’s vision of ensuring safe food for all by being a national reference laboratory on food science, conducting food safety monitoring to generate scientific data for risk assessment, enforcing food regulations to protect consumer health and ensuring food safety in partnership with stakeholders across the entire food and supply chain to address emerging food safety and security concerns. NCFS also builds up food safety science infrastructure & competencies for new and emerging foodborne hazards.

The officer will be a Scientist of Virology team under the Food Science Rapid Response Department (FSRRD) to conduct food safety testing and analysis, and research work on virology at the NCFS. Based on the operational needs of the department, the officer may also perform cross-functional roles or deploy to other teams/department to broaden the knowledge and skillsets in related scopes to be trained for technically competency and operational readiness to support any potential emerging threat or response operations.

What you will be working on

The officer is responsible for the following:

· Conduct food safety testing and method development in areas of Virology and/or Microbiology with effective use of resources.

· Provide solutions and perform tasks that strengthen laboratory productivity.

· Conduct literature search for preparation of technical papers and provide updated scientific knowledge to support operations, policy making, and guideline development for both the surveillance and testing of Virology.

· Analyse results from study project and showcase the scientific achievements through scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals and delivery of presentation on specialised areas in national and international platforms.

· Implement laboratory quality assurance programmes, including conduct internal quality control testing and participate in international proficiency testing to ensure that the laboratory practices are in full compliances with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 quality standard.

· Propose and execute procurement plan of scientific equipment and laboratory supplies based on the laboratory operation needs, ensuring full compliance with financial rules and regulations.

· Carry out related duties and roles as assigned by supervisor to maximize laboratory efficiency.

What we are looking for

BSc, MSc or PhD in Biological Science, Molecular Biology, Virology, Microbiology or other relevant disciplines.
Possess knowledge in Molecular Biology, Virology, Microbiology techniques for the testing and identification of foodborne pathogens.
Must have a positive attitude and a team player.
Able to work in a fast-paced environment and deliver results within deadline.
Possess the ownership, aptitude, and agility to excel on any assigned project/task.
Must be meticulous, proactive inclination to problem-solving and able to contribute beyond the technical training provided.
Possess knowledge in quality assurance program or ISO 17025:2017 but not a must.
Possess critical thinking and good writing skills to deliver project proposal plan, SOP, scientific report, and publication.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Computer literacy, with good knowledge or interest in statistical and data analytics software.

Work Location: National Centre for Food Science, Techquest, 7 International Business Park, Singapore 609919.

About your application process

This job is closing on 28 Dec 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 Singapore Food Agency or the wider Public Service.

About Singapore Food Agency

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is a new Statutory Board formed under the ‘Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) to oversee food safety and security. The SFA will serve as the single point of contact for public feedback on food-related issues, and strengthen management of foodborne disease outbreaks to protect public health. The SFA will also facilitate more business-friendly regulations with oversight of all food safety policies and consolidation of food laboratory capabilities to deepen competencies in food diagnostics, and research and development in food safety.

Learn more about Singapore Food Agency