Senior Manager

Singapore Business Federation; Singapore; On-site; SGD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading workforce development organization in Singapore is seeking a strategic leader to oversee the Progressive Wage Mark initiatives. The candidate will drive policy development, enhance operational effectiveness, and engage stakeholders across sectors such as Retail and Food Services. This role requires 6 to 8 years of experience in policy development and a strong understanding of enterprise dynamics. The position offers opportunities for mentorship and impacts the ecosystem significantly.

Qualifications

• 6 to 8 years of experience in relevant fields such as policy development and programme management.
• Excellent conceptual thinking and analytical skills.
• Familiar with data analytics tools and methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead policy and capability development integrating the PWM.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships for PWM adoption.
• Identify systemic challenges and enhance operational performance.

Skills

Policy development

Data analytics

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic planning

Mentorship

Education

Public policy or related field

Tools

Power BI

Python

Job description

The Progressive Wage Mark (PW Mark) is an accreditation scheme under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that recognises eligible firms that pay progressive wages to lower-wage workers. The PW Mark Admin Office (PWMAO), housed within SBF’s Workforce Development Division (WDD), serves as the public-facing body for PW Mark administration, certification, renewal and outreach to businesses.

This role leads the strategic development and review of policies impacting PW Mark (such as the PW Model), oversees programme planning and evaluation, and drives data-informed decision-making to enhance impact and operational effectiveness. The incumbent will also spearhead stakeholder engagement and cross-functional initiatives to strengthen SBF’s role in the PW Mark and the larger Human Capital ecosystem.

The role is critical to repositioning PWMAO and its strategies from a regulatory outfit for compliance requirements into a strategic enabler for enterprise transformation, offering employers skills, capability pathways, and ecosystem support. This is a strong value proposition aligned with One SBF and One WDD’s enterprise and workforce transformation priorities to build progressive and inclusive practices across PWM sectors and roles.

Job Responsibilities

1. Policy Development & Capability Development

• Conceptualise and lead initiatives that integrate the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) into broader enterprise and workforce transformation strategies, beginning with the Retail and Food Services sectors.
• Regularly conduct research work and translate emerging workplace policies and ecosystem developments into actionable and business-centric programmes that build enterprise capabilities.
• Co‑design and deliver sector-specific PWM and capability bundles with SBF Business Institute (SBI), sequencing interventions with diagnostics and bundling leadership, human capital, digital and sustainability tracks.
• Integrate Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), such as CCP for SME Executives, into PWM adoption journeys to enable job redesign and mid‑career entry, aligning employer onboarding and funding navigation across SBI and other key ecosystem initiatives, e.g. Enterprise and Workforce Transformation Package (EWTP) and the Jobs‑Skills Integrator (JSIT) initiative.
• Establish impact metrics covering engaged and benefitted firms, capability uptake and wage or skills progression proxies, and use analytics dashboards such as Oracle NetSuite or Power BI to inform programme pivots.

2. Industry Development and Stakeholder Engagement

• Cultivate and deepen strategic partnerships with government agencies, industry bodies and ecosystem partners to advance PWM adoption.
• Support the Director in leading and overseeing the team’s industry development and Know‑Your‑Customer (KYC) efforts across all PWM sectors.
• Design and execute outreach strategies that drive awareness and recognition of PW Mark, especially for sectors hiring PWM Retail and Food Services job roles across retail, restaurants, catering, attractions and hotels.
• Embed One WDD orchestration by partnering EWTP, JSIT and Mid‑Career Pathways Programme (MCPP) teams to progress firms from PW Mark awareness to capability uplift with SBI and CCPs, leveraging TACs as multipliers.
• Drive TAC‑led outreach and ecosystem partnerships to scale PWM and capability programme adoption, leveraging TAC networks for sectoral transformation.
• Convene sector relevant roadmaps and practitioner playbooks, for example PWM and tech‑enabled productivity, omnichannel and service excellence for the retail sector, in partnership with TACs, IHLs and solution partners.

3. Operations Excellence

• Identify systemic challenges and implement solutions that enhance operational performance and stakeholder experience.
• Handle the end‑to‑end process of PW Mark application, renewal, approval or rejection, appeal and assist with escalated cases where necessary.
• Oversee the planning and execution of outreach sessions to create awareness, understanding and recognition for PW Mark among businesses.
• Drive operational technology improvements including PWMAO CRM optimisation and an AI chatbot for enquiries to reduce low‑value administrative work and free up officer bandwidth for industry development and capability building.
• Institutionalise audit‑ready processes and LOA compliance for MOM‑funded workstreams and standardise impact reporting and knowledge management across PWMAO and SBI.

4. Mentorship & Capability Building

• Mentor and develop junior officers, fostering a high‑performance culture within the team.
• Lead cross‑functional projects that deliver holistic business solutions and accelerate PWM and/or PW Mark adoption.
• Coach officers to deliver cross‑functional PWM projects paired with EWTP, JSIT, MCPP and CCPs, ensuring sector‑tailored capability pathways and sustained employer outcomes.

Job Requirements

• 6 to 8 years of experience in policy development, programme management, public sector strategy, systems‑thinking and/or strategic planning.
• Excellent conceptual thinking skills, able to structure analysis for complex issues, using qualitative and quantitative data to distil insights and propose direction and actionable solutions.
• Familiar with data analytics tools and methodologies (e.g., Power BI, Python).
• Experience translating PWM policy into sectoral capability solutions, with facility in enterprise dashboards or CRM systems for impact tracking and decision‑making.
• Good understanding of enterprise dynamics and industry‑specific challenges across sectors hiring PWM workers (e.g., Retail, Food Services, Hospitality).
• Ability to design programmes that balance regulatory compliance with business needs.
• Familiarity with CCP frameworks including CCP for SME Executives and the ability to orchestrate CCP deployment alongside PWM adoption and SBI capability programmes.
• Strong relationship‑building and stakeholder‑influencing capabilities to deepen partnerships across public and private ecosystems and drive win‑win alignment on strategic initiatives.
• Ability to orchestrate TAC engagement and ecosystem partnerships to scale programme uptake and accelerate industry‑wide transformation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling narratives and clearly present complex concepts to diverse audiences across B2B, B2G and G2B contexts.
• Proven track record in delivering data‑driven outreach campaigns, articulating employer success stories, and using insights (e.g. A/B testing for EDMs and social content) to convert interest into meaningful engagement and capability uptake.
• Proven strategic and cross‑functional leadership capability in leading teams and driving end‑to‑end initiatives from policy to programme to outcomes with strong governance, with professional certifications (e.g. PMP, Agile, Lean Six Sigma) as an added advantage.