Assistant Director (Community Insights)

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth; Singapore; On-site; SGD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in Singapore seeks a senior leader for Community Strategies and Insights to drive engagement across diverse communities. You will lead multi-stakeholder collaboration, design nuanced stakeholder maps, and translate insights into policy recommendations to strengthen social cohesion.

The role requires strong leadership, cross-cultural communication, and experience coordinating community initiatives with religious and cultural bodies.

Qualifications

• Eight years of public engagement or community partnerships experience.
• Supervisory experience would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead the unit’s engagement work and provide direction across its workstreams.
• Develop a comprehensive stakeholder map and design engagement strategies.
• Guide your team in working with internal and community partners to develop and review community initiatives and events.
• Oversee MCCY’s interface with the Hindu Advisory Board, Hindu Endowments Board, and Sikh Advisory Board; support senior leadership.
• Set up structures and processes to organise the team’s work and manage stakeholder demands.
• Mentor and develop officers to realise their potential.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Public relations

Cross-cultural communication

Team leadership

Policy analysis

Job description

What the role is:

What The Role IsAt MCCY's Community Relations and Engagement Division, the Community Strategies and Insights (CSI) team plays a pivotal role in Singapore's efforts to strengthen social cohesion. We bring together our multi-racial, multi-religious communities, fostering bonds that help realise Singapore's vision of a cohesive a harmonious nation.The Community Insights unit in CSI builds and maintains strong relationships across community organisations and strengthens MCCY’s understanding of intra-community dynamics.In this role, you will work closely with the Singapore Indian community ecosystem as part of MCCY's broader efforts to build a stronger, more cohesive Singapore. You will build and sustain meaningful connections with a wide range of organisations within the ecosystem — from religious institutions and cultural groups to youth networks, businesses, and leaders of diverse sub-communities.We welcome candidates from all backgrounds who are passionate about community development and social cohesion.

What you will be working on:

• Lead the unit’s engagement work and provide direction across its workstreams, ensuring that engagement efforts are purposeful, well-coordinated, and grounded in a deep understanding of the community. This includes setting the overall approach to stakeholder engagement while guiding your team in building trusted relationships with stakeholders.
• Develop a comprehensive stakeholder map and design engagement strategies that give MCCY a nuanced, up-to-date understanding of the community’s evolving hopes, concerns, and emerging issues – ensuring that ground-sensing insights are systematically translated into recommendations that sharpen MCCY’s policies and programmes.
• Guide your team in working with internal and community partners to develop and review community initiatives and events, including programmes under the Indian Engagement and Development Initiative (INEI) and major cultural and religious festivals.
• Oversee the unit’s role as MCCY’s primary interface with the Hindu Advisory Board, Hindu Endowments Board, and Sikh Advisory Board, and support MCCY’s political officeholders and senior leadership in facilitating community dialogues and coordinating platforms like the INEI Coordinating Committee.
• Set up the structures and processes needed to organise the team’s work effectively, manage competing stakeholder demands, and hold the team to a high standard of quality and timeliness.
• Mentor and develop your officers, guiding them as they grow and realise their potential.

What we are looking for:

Work Experience

• At least eight years’ relevant experience in public engagement, community partnerships, or international relations
• Supervisory experience would be advantageous.

Competency Requirements

• Ability to build and sustain relationships in complex, multi-stakeholder environments
• Strong critical thinking and clear written communication
• Ability to synthesise ground-level insights into coherent recommendations
• Cultural sensitivity and ability to move comfortably across diverse social and cultural contexts

Personality Traits

• Passionate about community development and believes that meaningful engagement leads to better outcomes for people
• A natural listener who builds trust with ease
• Proactive and takes initiative
• Driven by a genuine desire to contribute to a greater purpose

About Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

We aim to build a cohesive and resilient society, deepening the sense of national identity and affinity for Singapore through strengthening community bonds, promoting of the arts and heritage, youth engagement, sports development, volunteerism and philanthropy.