Deputy Director, AI R&D (LLM & Multimodal AI), Q Team CoE

HTX is Singapore's Science and Technology agency that brings together diverse scientific and engineering capabilities to develop transformative, operationally ready solutions for public safety. As a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs, HTX works at the forefront of science and technology to empower the Home Team with cutting-edge capabilities. Guided by our mission to amplify, augment and accelerate the Home Team's advantage, we are committed to keeping Singapore the safest place on planet Earth. The HTX AI Products team is committed to empowering our Home Team Department (HTD)'s flagship projects through the seamless integration of AI technologies. From identifying opportunities to delivery, launch, and continuous enhancement, HTX AI Products aim to push boundaries and setting new We are seeking a visionary and highly skilled Deputy Director to lead and manage a multidisciplinary team focused on the design, development, deployment, and governance of Large Language Model (LLM) and Large Multimodal Model (LMM) solutions. The ideal candidate will combine deep technical expertise with strong leadership, strategic thinking, and organizational management capabilities. This role will be pivotal in shaping HTX AI strategy, ensuring operational excellence, and driving innovation in real-world applications. Responsibilities Leadership & Strategy: Define and execute the strategic roadmap for LLM/LMM research, development, and deployment in alignment with organizational goals. Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on AI/LLM/LMM trends, risks, and opportunities. Foster a culture of innovation, ethical AI use, and continuous improvement across the team. Team Management: Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of AI researchers, machine learning engineers, MLOps specialists, and product managers. Oversee cross-functional collaboration with stakeholders in data engineering, product, compliance, and security. Ensure clear objectives, measurable performance metrics, and career development pathways for team members. Technical Oversight: Direct the training, fine-tuning, evaluation, and deployment of cutting-edge LLMs. Guide the design of robust MLOps pipelines for scalable and reliable deployment. Oversee research on prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), multilingual LLMs, and domain adaptation. Ensure responsible AI practices, including fairness, bias mitigation, interpretability, and compliance with regulations. Program & Project Management: Manage project portfolios, budgets, and timelines, ensuring delivery of high-quality outcomes. Implement governance frameworks for model monitoring, security, and risk management. Drive partnerships with academia, industry, and open-source communities to accelerate progress. Requirements Tertiary education preferably an advanced degree (PhD or Master’s) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or related fields. 10+ years of progressive experience in AI/ML, with at least 5 years in team leadership or senior management roles. Proven track record in large-scale ML/LLM development, deployment, and lifecycle management. Strong understanding of AI, AI platforms, MLOps practices, and modern data infrastructure. Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills. Preferred: Experience with fine-tuning foundation models, RAG pipelines, and multilingual/multi-domain adaptation. Prior experience in public sector, regulated industries, or mission-critical environments. Demonstrated ability to manage cross-border or multi-site AI teams. Publications or patents in LLMs, NLP, or generative AI. ***All new hires are appointed on a two-year contract in the first instance and will be assessed and considered for permanent tenure over time, based on performance. As part of the shortlisting process for this role, you may be required to complete a medical declaration and/or undergo further assessment. All applicants will be updated on the status of their applications within 4 weeks upon closing of the advertisement.