The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) serves as the regulatory and developmental authority for the early childhood (EC) sector in Singapore, overseeing key aspects of children’s development below the age of 7, across both kindergartens and childcare centres. ECDA is an autonomous agency jointly overseen by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and is hosted under the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
The Regulation and Licensing Division oversees the regulation of Early Childhood Development Centres in Singapore to ensure compliance with the Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations. The Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations seek to raise the quality of early childhood care and education in Singapore.
Ministry Of Social And Family Development
Assistant Director (Licensing), ECDA/RL
Contract
Closing on 28 Apr 2026What the role is
What you will be working on
As an Assistant Director (AD), you lead and supervise a team of officers in the Licensing Branch to ensure smooth operations and maintain strict adherence to ECDA regulatory frameworks and guidelines. The key responsibilities are:
• Regulate Early Childhood Development Centres to ensure compliance with the Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations;
• Review and approve different types of licence applications from Centres;
• Guide and support officers in crafting responses to regulatory queries, managing inspections at the Centres, and taking regulatory actions against licensees when needed
• Guide officers in handling complex cases and managing feedback and appeals from different stakeholders, including operators, parents, centre staff, or members of the public; and
• To lead or be involved in cross-divisional reviews within ECDA and inter-agency or Ministry initiatives, to ensure regulatory alignment and operational effectiveness.
What we are looking for
• Preferably possess a background in regulation, quality assurance, or service management-related work
• Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and in an agile manner
• Strong understanding or interest in the early childhood sector
About your application process
This job is closing on 28 Apr 2026.
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 Ministry Of Social And Family Development or the wider Public Service.
About Ministry Of Social And Family Development
Join Us at MSF for a Meaningful, People-Centric Career!
At MSF, our mission is to nurture and build resilient individuals, strong families, and a caring society. We offer meaningful and impactful people-centric careers in the design and delivery of policies, services and programmes. We are an all-inclusive and family friendly workplace where career growth is prioritised through a comprehensive suite of development opportunities to help our officers succeed today as well as be future-ready. We do this through various formal and informal learning and development programmes for officers to build different competencies and gain diverse work experiences within MSF, the Public as well as the Social Service Sectors.
Learn more about Ministry Of Social And Family Development