The posting
Who are we?
We are the University of Cambridge research centre in Singapore called Cambridge CARES, sponsored by the
NRF CREATE program CAM.CREATE. Health-driven design for cities (HD4) is a collaborative research programme
between the University of Cambridge, NTU and NUS within Cambridge CARES.
The Health-driven design for cities (HD4) programme at Cambridge CARES will undertake research in the
following key areas: dynamic characterisation of the features of the environment that potentially impact health
in Singapore; understanding the links between environmental factors, individual behaviour and health
outcomes; observing the impact of environmental change on health in Singapore; simulating the impact of
potential changes on the health of Singaporeans; and working with government agencies to co-develop datarich
public health tools.
Who are we looking for?
Work Package 5 (WP5) is HD4's government and strategic partnerships work package. It exists to build and
sustain trusted relationships with the ministries, statutory boards, and agencies that hold the geospatial,
planning, and infrastructure data HD4's research depends on - and to translate HD4's research findings back into
forms that are directly useful for policy and strategic planning.
HD4 is looking for a Strategic Partnerships Lead to act as the programme's principal liaison with the Singapore
public sector for WP5. This is a senior, relationship-led role for someone who has served inside government and
understands how ministries and statutory boards operate, think, and make decisions - particularly agencies
involved in infrastructure, land use, and geospatial data (e.g. planning, transport, land administration, housing,
environment and Smart Nation / GovTech-related functions).
The successful candidate will work at the interface between government and research: opening doors to data
and problem statements, framing HD4's multidisciplinary research (spanning geospatial science, urban planning,
and public health) in terms that resonate with policymakers, and making sure research outputs land as
something agencies can actually use in evidence-based policymaking, strategic planning, and city-design
decisions that improve population health.
Key Responsibilities:
Government & agency engagement
- Strategic liaison: Serve as HD4's primary point of contact for government ministries and statutory
boards engaged in WP5, building and maintaining senior-level relationships across relevant agencies.
- Data access & partnerships: Work with agency counterparts to identify, negotiate, and facilitate access
to geospatial and related administrative datasets needed for HD4 research, navigating data-sharing
agreements, governance, and security requirements.
- Problem-statement development: Engage agencies to surface real policy and planning problem
statements, and help shape these into well-defined, researchable questions that HD4's
multidisciplinary teams can act on.
- Co-creation of research: Convene researchers and government stakeholders together to co-design
research questions, study designs, and pilots that are both scientifically rigorous and policy-relevant.
Strategic communications & knowledge translation
- Strategic communications: Develop and drive HD4's communications strategy toward government
audiences - briefings, position papers, dashboards, and presentations that make complex,
multidisciplinary research (geospatial, planning, health) accessible to non-technical policymakers.
- Evidence-to-policy translation: Translate HD4 research findings into actionable recommendations for
evidence-based policy, strategic planning, and city-design decisions aimed at improving population
health outcomes.
- Decision-maker engagement: Prepare senior HD4 investigators and agency leadership for joint
briefings, working committees, and inter-agency forums; represent HD4 at relevant government
platforms and working groups.
Programme support
- Internal bridging: Act as an internal “translator” between HD4 researchers and government partners -
helping researchers understand agency priorities, constraints, and timelines, and helping agencies
understand what research can (and cannot) deliver.
- Stakeholder mapping & pipeline: Maintain a live map of government stakeholders, data-sharing status,
and collaboration opportunities across WP5, and report progress to HD4 leadership.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration: Work comfortably alongside researchers, epidemiologists, urban
planners, data scientists, and public health colleagues, given the multidisciplinary nature of the HD4
programme.
What education, experience & skills do you have?
Education
- Bachelor's degree required; a Master's degree is preferred - relevant fields include public policy, urban
planning, geography/geospatial science, public administration, engineering, public health, or a related
discipline.
- Formal training or a track record in public policy or public administration (e.g. an MPA/MPP, or
equivalent Singapore Public Service leadership training) is an advantage.
- No specific health/medical qualification is required - the emphasis is on the ability to work fluently
across disciplines, not on holding expertise in all of them.
Experience
- Around 10-15 years of professional experience, including a substantial track record within the
Singapore Public Service at Senior Manager / Assistant Director level or equivalent (or comparable
seniority in a statutory board).
- Cross-agency exposure: A career path that has rotated through, or included secondments/postings to,
ministries or statutory boards involved in infrastructure, land use, urban planning, or geospatial data -
example URA, SLA, HDB, LTA, JTC, PUB, NParks, MND, MSE, GovTech/SNDGO (OneMap and related
geospatial platforms), or similar.
- Direct experience working with, or governing, geospatial or administrative datasets - understands datasharing
frameworks, data governance, and the practical realities of getting datasets released for
research or cross-agency use.
- Experience engaging with, presenting to, or supporting senior government decision-makers (Directorlevel
and above), including preparing briefing papers, position papers, or Cabinet/inter-agency
committee materials.
- Some exposure to, or comfort working alongside, the health or research sector is a strong advantage -
example prior collaboration with MOH, healthcare institutions, research institutes, or universities.
- Experience managing multi-stakeholder projects or partnerships involving both public-sector agencies
and external partners (academia, industry or non-profits).
- Track record of developing strategic communications materials (briefs, dashboards, reports) aimed at
senior non-technical audiences.
Skills
- Stakeholder management: Proven ability to build and sustain trust-based relationships with senior
officials across multiple agencies simultaneously.
- Strategic communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to produce clear,
persuasive briefing materials and to present confidently to senior audiences.
- Negotiation & facilitation: Skilled at facilitating data-sharing discussions, aligning differing agency
priorities, and brokering agreement between parties with different incentives.
- Data literacy: Comfortable discussing geospatial and administrative data at a conceptual level - does
not need to build the analysis, but must understand data-sharing mechanics, common data
formats/platforms (e.g. GIS, OneMap) and governance issues well enough to broker access.
- Policy fluency: Understands how evidence feeds into Singapore public policy and strategic planning
processes, and how to position research findings to be actionable within those processes.
- Project & programme management: Able to manage multiple concurrent agency relationships and
workstreams, track progress, and report clearly to programme leadership.
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration: Comfortable working with researchers, epidemiologists and data
scientists as genuine thought partners, not just as a communications conduit.
- (Desirable) Existing personal network across infrastructure, planning and geospatial agencies in
Singapore.
- (Desirable) Prior involvement in a research collaboration, sandbox, living-lab or public-private
partnership initiative.
- (Desirable) Familiarity with Singapore's Smart Nation initiatives and geospatial data platforms (e.g.
OneMap, national GIS infrastructure).
- (Desirable) Experience with, or exposure to, health-in-all-policies, urban health or healthy-city design
concepts.
Please note that this post is mainly based in the CREATE Tower at NUS University Town, Singapore.
When is the position available and for how long?
The position is available for an immediate start and is offered on a fixed-term contract of 1 year in the first
instance, with the possibility of extension.
How to apply?
To apply, please send your CV and cover letter (summarising the most relevant skills and experience that you
have for the position) to https://employmenthero.com/sg/jobs/position/cambridge-cares-strategicpartnerships-
lead-government-y0hdh/
Informal enquiries could be sent to the academic lead of the project: Prof Thomas Burgoine and A/Prof Yih Yng
Ng
