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Summary

As an Assistant Manager in the Industry Development Office, 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. The Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. www.designsingapore.org

About the Industry Development Office Unit

The Industry Development Office 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 the Industry Development Office (IDO) and your responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Internationalisation and Profiling:

• Assist in 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, along with the generation of international business leads and media coverage, as well as a return showcase in Singapore.

Good Design Research Programme:

• In our push for designers and design firms to experiment, innovate and create their own unique value propositions to remain competitive, IDO’s Good Design Research (GDR) programme awards selected design research projects with grants, mentorship and profiling opportunities.
• Assist in running the twice-yearly open calls, liaison with and manage designers with awarded projects, as well as assist in the subsequent review and evolution of the programme.

Period Contract and Framework Agreement (PCFA):

• Work with EDB Procurement team to maintain the current design-related Period Contracts and Framework Agreement (PCFA) for whole-of-government (WOG) to procure graphic design services and respond to queries in supporting good design procurement practices within the government.
• Assist in developing new PCFA when and where there is aggregated WOG demand for any other specific design services or products.

Engagement with Internal and External Stakeholders:

• Develop an in-depth understanding of 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.

Budget Management

• Working with respective programme leads, track budget management for the unit to ensure effective use of funds and budget utilisation marksmanship.

Requirements

To meet the challenges of this role, you must be/have:

• 3 years of relevant experience in industry development or design management
• 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.
• Have 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

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.