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Summary
As an Assistant Director in the Industry Development Office (IDO), you play a vital role in helping Singapore design businesses innovate to remain competitive and internationalise for growth. You will be working closely with the industry and other government agencies to provide holistic support for designers.
About DesignSingapore Council
DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. www.designsingapore.org
About the Industry Development Office Unit
The IDO unit develops strategies and programmes to strengthen the business competitiveness of the Singapore design sector in the global market. We achieve this through supporting the building of unique value propositions with deep research, augmenting business capabilities, and profiling for internationalisation opportunities.
Responsibilities
This role reports to the Deputy Director of IDO and your responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Focal strategies to guide industry development:
- Lead and oversee the development of strategies to grow and develop the Singapore design ecosystem to be globally unique, relevant and competitive. This includes support for design businesses to capture new opportunities in the future of sustainable design and design for care, enabled by emerging technologies. Other focal areas may surface as the team engages the industry. Your starting focus will be on sustainable design.
Internationalisation and Profiling:
- Lead the development and implementation of strategies to support Singapore design businesses in internationalisation and be continually aware of global design and business trends to assess appropriate interventions in a rapidly changing business landscape.
- This may include organising a Singapore designers showcase at an international platform like the Milan Design Week or SXSW, along with the generation of international business leads and media coverage, as well as a return showcase in Singapore.
Period Contract and Framework Agreement (PCFA):
- Lead the Dsg team to maintain as well as develop new Period Contracts and Framework Agreement (PCFA) for whole-of-government (WOG) to procure design related services.
Engagement with Internal and External Stakeholders:
- Develop an in-depth understanding of, and characterise, the state of Singapore design and its evolving business needs and aspirations, across the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, urban design and town planning, fashion design, furniture design, visual communications, as well as multi-disciplinary design and emerging practices like service design and experience design.
- Work closely with key stakeholders to identify appropriate cross-collaborations in developing the industry and providing holistic support. Key stakeholders include other units within Dsg, government agencies, design trade associations, and any other leading industry players.
Team Management:
- As a team manager, lead budget management and a dynamic team to achieve work targets. Beyond supervision, your leadership will make a significant impact on team success by inspiring collaboration, fostering individual growth, and shaping a positive work environment.
Requirements
To meet the challenges of this role, you must be/have:
- At least 8 years of relevant work experience in industry development or design management
- At least 5 years of leadership responsibilities, with proven skills in leading projects and project teams
- Have a background or degree preferably in business administration, design management or any design-related fields
- Experience in event and project management, client management and procurement
- Familiar with the design and creative ecosystem, especially in Singapore
- Strong written and oral communication skills to synthesise thoughts and properly convey ideas
- Prepared to work under tight deadlines and pressure
In addition, we are looking for:
- A curious individual who delights in acquiring knowledge, with a keen interest to understand diverse design and business trends/needs, and finds great joy in joining dots
- Ability to zoom-out and zoom-in: zoom out to understand the broader strategy and goals of an organisation or initiative, and zoom in to help address potential roadblocks and challenges in implementation
- A great collaborator, with the ability to develop trusted working relationships with colleagues, stakeholders and clients, and co-create solutions
- A team player, supportive of colleagues when they need a hand to keep projects running smoothly
- A multi-tasker who is organised, detail-oriented and hands-on
