Deputy Director (International Relations and Cooperation)

General: • Provide management and policy support to D/IRCD on the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (TEC) project and MND’s other external engagement, particularly those of Senior Management and Political Office Holders. • Oversees the Eco-City and IR Branches, and supervises and clears products from the Eco-City and IR Branches to Senior Management, WOG agencies, other MND Divisions and Agencies and foreign counterparts and interlocutors. • Appraises and provide inputs to D/IRCD of officers in IRCD with particular attention to their development and career planning. • Covers D/IRCD in his absence. • Any other duties as assigned by D/IRCD. Tianjin Eco-City Project: The officer will lead the Eco-City branch to oversee TEC and shape its current and future development. He/she will be involved in the formulation of policies and plans for the project and oversee the implementation of these plans covering the advancing of Singapore’s interests in the project, as well as various aspects of TEC’s development such as infrastructure development, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. The officer will also play a key role in strengthening ties between Singapore and Tianjin, and Singapore and China, including through joint initiatives and programmes. The officer is expected to build up good professional working relationships with the appropriate counterparts in China, particularly the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Tianjin Municipal Government, and the Eco-City Administrative Committee. MND’s External Engagements: The officer will, in consultation with D/IRCD, review and recommend MND's foreign engagement approaches, develop cultivation plans and priorities, prepare briefs and reports for Senior Management, plan and execute exchanges with foreign dignitaries in Singapore and overseas and major MND external-facing events like the World Cities Summit, work closely with MND internal divisions, other government agencies such as the MFA, MTI, and statutory boards in the MND family. This role reports directly to D/IRCD. Responsibilities • Plan, coordinate and implement bilateral programmes and initiatives between MND and our partners in TEC and Tianjin. • Network, engage and build relationships with stakeholders in TEC and Tianjin from the government (e.g., ESG, EDB, MFA), private (e.g., businesses, business associations) and people sectors (e.g., institutes of higher learning). • Track, obtain and analyse information on key developments in TEC and Tianjin, including from open sources, foreign stakeholders and WOG counterparts, to develop policy recommendations on managing our bilateral account with Tianjin. • Plan, coordinate and run visits by MND Senior Management to Tianjin (~2 – 3 times a year), and support incoming visits by Chinese leaders to Singapore. • Facilitate MND’s other external engagements other than related to the TEC project. They include relevant overseas visits by Senior Management, calls on Senior Management by foreign leaders, officials and interlocutors in MND, and major MND external-facing events like the World Cities Summit. Requirements Requirements: • Have a keen interest in international relations, especially in relation to China. • Possess at least 6 to 8 years of relevant working experience (i.e., in areas such as sustainable development, urban planning, international relations, economic development), preferably involving engagements with international partners. • Prior policy or ops experience in areas such as infrastructure, urban planning, sustainability, international relations, or economic development. • Strong interpersonal and networking skills. • Experience in organising visits, meetings and events for senior executives and/or government officials is an advantage. • Good command of written and spoken Chinese. Required functional competencies: • [Strategic Networks & Global Partnerships]: Actively build and maintain relationships with key governmental bodies in Singapore and China to advance Singapore’s and the agency's standing and interests. • [Cultural Sensitivity]: Understand and identify nuances associated with different cultures and their impact on communications. • [Systems Thinking]: Connect issues with larger systems and identify inter-dependencies across issues/domains/agencies. • [Internal Stakeholder Alignment]: Pursue alignment on policy positions and approaches among key internal stakeholders.