Senior Data Scientist (ACRA)

GovTech Singapore; Singapore; Hybrid; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Leave benefits & wellness programmes

Public-sector career development

Job summary

GovTech Singapore, in partnership with the ACRA, seeks a Senior Data Scientist to harness entity data for regulatory and public service missions. You will design scalable, governed AI workflows and translate research into practical tools used across government.

You will collaborate with policy, engineering and business teams, apply ML, privacy-preserving analytics, and contribute to responsible AI frameworks while guiding junior teammates and shaping technical direction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Data Science, Business Analytics or related field.
• 2–3 years of relevant professional experience in data science or AI.
• Experience applying ML to regulatory or public sector contexts is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Sit at the intersection of data science, AI and governance to harness entity data.
• Design scalable, governed AI workflows for ACRA and related agencies.
• Translate research into practical tools, guidelines and reusable capabilities.
• Bridge policy, research outcomes and real-world deployment across government.

Skills

Machine learning

Python programming

ML frameworks

Experiment design

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Data Science, Business Analytics or related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

Job description

The Government Technology Agency (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.

At GovTech, we offer you a purposeful career to make lives better. We empower our people to master their craft through continuous and robust learning and development opportunities all year round. Our GovTechies embody our Agile, Bold and Collaborative values to deliver impactful solutions.

GovTech aims to transform the delivery of Government digital services by taking an "outside-in" view, putting citizens and businesses at the heart of everything we do.

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 about GovTech at tech.gov.sg.

About ACRA

ACRA is Singapore's national business registry and regulator. As the authoritative source of corporate and business entity data in Singapore, ACRA plays a foundational role in the Whole-of-Government (WOG) data ecosystem — providing trusted entity data that downstream agencies rely on for regulatory, policy and service delivery purposes.

As ACRA embarks on its AI transformation journey, we are building the data and intelligence foundations that will power the next generation of regulatory, service and analytical capabilities. This includes the development of AI/Data Platform, our enterprise data and AI platform, and our expanding role in the WOG Data Hub 2.0 as a central provider of corporate data to government agencies across Singapore.

A core focus of this transformation is ensuring that data is used responsibly, safely and at scale. As AI adoption accelerates and workflows become increasingly autonomous and agentic, the risks associated with sensitive data use will grow. ACRA is committed to staying ahead of this curve by building the technical frameworks, governance structures and AI capabilities needed to use data safely and accountably.

Why Join ACRA

ACRA sits at a unique intersection as both a regulator and the authoritative source of corporate entity data in Singapore, the work you do here has direct and lasting impact on Singapore's business ecosystem and the broader Whole-of-Government data infrastructure.

This is not a role where AI is a side project or a future aspiration. ACRA is actively in the midst of its AI transformation. We are building our AI/Data Platform, our enterprise data and AI platform, deploying AI into live regulatory workflows such as financial statement surveillance and corporate service provider supervision, and developing AI-assisted capabilities that are already changing how our officers work. You will be joining at a pivotal moment, early enough to shape the direction, with enough momentum that your work will see real deployment and impact.

The problems here are genuinely hard and genuinely important. ACRA's data underpins how Singapore registers businesses, regulates corporate conduct, and shares trusted entity information across government. Getting AI right in this context which is reliably, responsibly and at scale that requires the kind of rigorous thinking and careful engineering that makes this work intellectually meaningful, not just operationally useful.

What you will be working on

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will sit at the intersection of data science, AI and governance, helping ACRA harness the value of its entity data while ensuring it is used responsibly across internal and WOG contexts.

Your core responsibilities will include conducting rigorous research and experimentation to evaluate and apply AI and data science approaches relevant to ACRA's regulatory and service missions, designing scalable and governed data and AI workflows that can be operationalised across ACRA and shared with WOG agencies, and translating research and experimentation into practical tools, guidelines and reusable capabilities that raise the bar for responsible data and AI use across government.

You will work across areas such as AI model development and evaluation, privacy-preserving analytics, context-aware data governance, synthetic data generation, federated approaches, and responsible AI frameworks. You will bridge the gap between policy intent, research findings and real-world deployment, experimenting with new approaches, validating them through pilots, and operationalising them into standards and production systems.

At the senior level, you will also take on broader ownership, identifying emerging opportunities in data and AI, shaping the team's technical direction, engaging stakeholders across policy, engineering and business domains, and driving initiatives from problem definition through to scaled deployment.

What we are looking for

We are looking for someone who combines strong technical depth in data science and AI with the judgement and communication skills to work effectively in a complex, mission-driven environment. You should be comfortable working with ambiguity, translating real-world problems into rigorous analytical approaches, and taking ownership of outcomes rather than just outputs.

Experience in areas such as machine learning, natural language processing, large language models, responsible AI, data governance or privacy-enhancing technologies would be relevant. Prior experience in a government, regulatory or public sector context is advantageous but not required, what matters most is the ability to apply technical expertise to problems that have real public impact.

Preferred requirements:

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Data Science, Business Analytics or a related field, with at least 2-3 years of relevant professional experience. Candidates will be assessed based on their experience and may be considered at the intermediate or senior level.

Core Data Science & ML skillset

• Strong foundation in machine learning, with hands-on experience in model development and experimentation.
• Strong programming proficiency in Python and extensive experience with ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn).
• Ability to analyze model behavior, diagnose training issues, and design experiments to optimise performance and reliability

Applied Research & Experimentation

• Demonstrated ability to read, synthesise, and critically evaluate academic research papers and technical literature
• Experience designing and conducting rigorous experiments to validate hypotheses and measure solution effectiveness
• Comfort working with ambiguous problems and developing novel approaches to complex challenges

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with privacy-enhancing technologies, including but not limited to anonymisation, synthetic data generation or differential privacy.
• Familiarity with frontend integration workflows (Next.js/React).
• Prior experience working in multi-disciplinary teams.

Mindset & Collaboration

• Curiosity and willingness to learn new domains (esp. data privacy).
• Strong communication skills to explain technical concepts to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Inclination to work in a collaborative, fast-moving Agile environment.
• Strong in communication with the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audience

Our employee benefits are based on a total rewards approach, offering a holistic and market-competitive suite of perks. These include leave benefits to meet your work-life needs and employee wellness programmes.

We champion flexible work arrangements (subject to your job role) and trust that you will manage your own time to deliver your best, wherever you are, and whatever works best for you.

Learn more about life inside GovTech at go.gov.sg/GovTechCareers.

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