Principal / Lead Designer, Design Practice

Government Technology Agency; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Total rewards package

Job summary

GovTech in Singapore is seeking a Principal Designer to shape design standards, culture, and capability across government. You will lead high-impact initiatives, influence senior stakeholders, and mentor design talent to raise the bar for public‑sector digital experiences.

You’ll work across AI-enabled projects, policy, and digital infrastructure, building scalable design systems and leadership communities.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in design leadership and standards development.
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive change.
• Strong communication and mentoring skills.
• Deep experience across design craft from research to delivery.

Responsibilities

• Shape design standards and the product-first playbook that other practices build around.
• Support new product teams as they form, helping their leads find footing and build a strong design culture.
• Stand up the systems the practice runs on: hiring processes, role frameworks, evaluation rubrics, and the baseline for what good design looks like.
• Build design talent and capability across GovTech, through mentoring, reskilling programs, and growing the leadership community.
• Keep designers connected and good work visible, through community spaces, events, and showcasing strong outcomes.

Skills

Design leadership

Systems thinking

Stakeholder management

AI in design

Job description

GovTech is the lead agency driving Singapore’s Smart Nation initiatives and public sector digital transformation. As the Centre of Excellence for Infocomm Technology and Smart Systems (ICT & SS), GovTech develops the Singapore Government’s capabilities in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Application Development, Smart City Technology, Digital Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity.

AtGovTech, we offer you a purposeful career to make lives better where we empower our people to master their craft through robust learning and development opportunities all year round.

Play a part in Singapore’s vision to build a Smart Nation and embark on your meaningful journey to build tech for public good. Join us to advance our mission and shape your future with us today!

Learn more aboutGovTechat tech.gov.sg.

GovTech's Design Practice is the central design team for the agency, responsible for the standards, culture, and capabilities that design teams across government rely on. We have more to do than we have people to do it, and that's the opportunity. As a Principal Designer, you'd work across the full range of what the practice is building: from shaping design standards and the product-first playbook, to supporting new product teams as they stand up, to growing design talent and the community that connects designers across government. The exact shape of your work will flex with the practice's priorities and your own strengths. What stays constant is the seniority of the problems and the room to lead.

[What you will be working on]

• Helping shape design standards and the product-first playbook that other practices build around
• Supporting new product teams as they form, helping their leads find their footing and their teams build a strong design culture
• Standing up the systems the practice runs on: hiring processes, role frameworks, evaluation rubrics, and the baseline for what good design looks like
• Building design talent and capability across GovTech, through mentoring, reskilling programs, and growing the leadership community
• Keeping designers connected and good work visible, through community spaces, events, and showcasing strong outcomes

You’ll thrive here if:

• You care deeply about design, almost to a fault. This role is full of hard conversations that matter, and only someone who genuinely cares will have the energy for them
• You're comfortable being opinionated, and you can hold a position in a debate without needing to win it
• You see your job as moving the whole field forward, not producing the most polished artifact in the room
• You're energised by ambiguity and the chance to define things that don't exist yet

[What we are looking for]

• 12+ years in design, with a track record of shaping standards, culture, or capability, not just shipping products
• A demonstrated point of view on craft and quality, and the credibility to back it up with work
• Evidence that you can drive change through influence and argument: frameworks others adopted, debates you moved, bars you raised
• Depth across the design arc, from research and problem framing through to interface and delivery
• A strong communicator who builds trust quickly and can hold the room in difficult, multi-stakeholder conversations
• Active engagement with how AI is reshaping design work is a strong plus

What you can expect:

• Work that is genuinely varied and rarely pre-defined, spanning AI, policy, capability, and culture
• Real influence over how design is understood and valued across government, with the seniority to set the bar
• A mandate to build something that lasts, and the kind of hard, meaningful problems that make the work worth caring about

GovTechis an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that values diverse voices and perspectives, as we believe it is key to innovation.

Our employee benefits are based on a total rewards approach, offering a holistic and market-competitive suite ofperks.

We champion flexible work arrangements (subject to your job role) and trust you to manage your time to deliver your best.

Learn more about life insideGovTechat go.gov.sg/GovTechCareers.

Stay connected with us on social media at go.gov.sg/ConnectWithGovTech