APAC AI COE Director: Open-Source R&D Leader

Red Hat Asia-Pacific PTE LTD; Singapore; On-site; SGD 250,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Red Hat Asia-Pacific PTE LTD seeks an executive leader to head the APAC AI COE, aligning R&D with national guidelines and regional partners. You will guide a multi-disciplinary Singapore-based squad and serve as the main liaison to government bodies, CNCF, and other open-source foundations.

You will drive upstream R&D into open-source projects, manage strategic customer engagements, and ensure governance across productization of AI stacks in a sovereign, enterprise context.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/CE; MBA differentiator.
• 12+ years in software engineering, architecture, or technical R&D leadership.
• 5+ years in an executive-level strategic role bridging technical capabilities with business strategy.
• Experience interfacing with government investment/agencies (EDB/IMDA or equivalents).
• Open-source leadership in governance or steering committee roles.

Responsibilities

• Represent the COE to the Singapore EDB and government stakeholders.
• Lead upstream R&D and open-source contributions (70% target).
• Oversee Forward-Deployed Engineers and Senior Architects for key accounts.
• Advise strategic customers and align pre-sales with Services delivery and governance.

Skills

Executive leadership

Strategic thinking

Open-source leadership

Government liaison

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's/Master's in CS/CE

MBA (differentiator)

Tools

GitHub

Job description

Red Hat Asia-Pacific PTE LTD seeks an executive leader to head the APAC AI COE, aligning R&D with national guidelines and regional partners. You will guide a multi-disciplinary Singapore-based squad and serve as the main liaison to government bodies, CNCF, and other open-source foundations.

You will drive upstream R&D into open-source projects, manage strategic customer engagements, and ensure governance across productization of AI stacks in a sovereign, enterprise context.