View Vacancy – SG – Science and Technology Advisor, EO

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)

Job Subcategory

Science and Innovation

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

• Drive UK economic growth through S&T (Science and Technology) by connecting UK S&T to partners in Singapore, therefore attracting investment and talent, enabling innovation and commercialisation, whilst focusing on Industrial Strategy sectors.
• Promote the UK’s S&T expertise and leadership in Singapore to ensure UK strengths are recognised globally, opening doors for UK academics, businesses and innovators.
• Support and contribute to overall effectiveness for S&T delivery by ensuring information management and delivery systems are operated efficiently and effectively.
• Embed S&T within UK diplomatic priorities in Singapore to open doors, foster constructive dialogue, and unlock opportunities that strengthen the UK’s international relationships and strategic advantage

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

• This position is part of the UK’s global Science and Technology Network (STN) and is funded through the FCDO. Key priority themes for the STN’s work are: frontier technologies, health, and climate and nature.
• This is a delivery focused individual contributor role, and you will be a self-starter, responsible for supporting and developing the local stakeholder relationship, be responsible for facilitating opportunities for collaboration between the UK and Singapore science, innovation and technology sectors, researching evidence to support policy advice, and lead in co-ordinating/delivering events/activities as appropriate.
• You will be one of the key contact points in the BHC for STN-related enquiries and information requests from government departments/agencies, IHLs (Institutes of Higher Learning), and research funders/organisations.
• A core part of your work will be to facilitate relationships and information exchange between the UK and Singapore research and innovation systems to deliver our objectives across our S&T frontier technologies, health, and climate and energy sectors. You will support the organisation and delivery of delegation visits, networking events, provide support to gather evidence and information towards S&I policy advice, track projects and budgets, and collaborate closely with colleagues across the British High Commission as well as colleagues across HMG’s wider network, to add value and deliver the UK’s wider policy goals. For example, this may include engaging your academic and government network to support the UK’s S&T agenda; complementing the Trade/Climate/Political teams work with S&T components; collaborating with the High Commission communications team to promote the UK’s world-leading science, technology and innovation capability; supporting UK-Singapore universities relationships; working with Innovate UK, DBT and across HMG to target support for innovative companies and emerging technologies with commercial potential.
• As part of the wider British High Commission team, you will also contribute to ad-hoc work, as required, for instance during visits by UK ministers, senior officials, and/or crises. You will have opportunities to initiate and deliver projects in support of UK government policy priorities and provide S&T input to support the wider work of the BHC.

Core responsibilities will include:

• Stakeholder management (20%): Establishing strong working-level relationships with stakeholders in government, academia and industry, and maintaining a network of close working contacts
• Programme/Project management and delivery (20%): Designing, supporting, overseeing and implementing programmes and projects that deliver UK STN objectives within budget. Supporting the delivery of the UK Industrial Strategy.
• Public Diplomacy/communications (15%): Plan, support and deliver campaigns and activities which help to highlight UK science, technology and innovation strengths, capabilities and priorities. These may involve preparation of media and social media messages and articles, public lectures, and panel discussions.
• Policy Analysis/Briefing (15%): Supporting delivery of insights and reporting to the organisation on emerging issues, opportunities and developments. Responding in a timely manner to requests for information, introductions and briefing for meetings and visits from UK government departments and their agencies.
• Co-ordination of visits/events (30%): Lead/Support the organisation of and events by UK government and non-government representatives, deploying them strategically to deliver HMG objectives in Singapore.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

The jobholder will have the opportunity to bid for different programme funds to deliver projects in each financial year.

Language Requirement:

English – Expert

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Knowledge and understanding of Singapore’s science policy and research and innovation ecosystem, institutions, and the role that research and innovation plays in international policy, trade and business.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong stakeholder management skills/experience
• Project / programme management experience

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Knowledge and understanding of the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem
• Experience of working on government policy, international relations, academic research programmes, and/or innovation development
• Relevant postgraduate qualifications
• At least three years of relevant professional experience

Required behaviours

Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together

Application deadline

23 August 2026

Grade

Executive Officer (EO)

Type of Position

Full-time, Temporary, Fixed Term

Working hours per week

37.5

Duration of Post

6 months

Region

Asia Pacific

Country/Territory

Singapore

Location (City)

Singapore

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

SGD

Salary

5,623.00

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

21 October 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

This is a fixed-term temporary position with an end date of 31 March 2027.

Working patterns:

Normal working hours are 37.5 per week: 8:30AM to 5:00PM from Monday to Friday (with lunch hour).

Occasional travel will be required across the region (and, potentially, to the UK). Approximately once per month, you may need to join an evening call with UK counterparts (this can be done from home).

Terms of service:

In addition to the monthly salary listed above, the High Commission pays an annual wage supplement each December equivalent to two months’ salary (pro rata for incomplete years).

In addition to the duties which this job normally entails, you may from time to time be required to undertake additional or other duties as necessary to meet the needs of the British High Commission, including playing a part in the corporate life of the mission and supporting any crisis response.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain a local work permit which we will sponsor.

Staff recruited locally by the British High Commission are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Singapore employment law.

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Only short-listed applications will be called for personal interviews.

We have a generous leave offer including: 23 days annual leave, increasing to 25 after 5 years’ service, with the option to carry over up to 10 days into the subsequent leave year; 13 public holidays; generous maternity and paternity leave; and childcare leave. The successful applicant will be entitled to leave on a pro-rata basis.

We encourage volunteerism and offer up to 3 days paid volunteer leave.

We offer medical insurance to support staff with the high costs of healthcare in Singapore and periodic reimbursement for the cost of eye tests and replacement eye wear.

The British High Commission is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Our values of Collaboration, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence (CORE) are our guiding principles. We aspire to live our values consistently in order to make the British High Commission a great place to work where staff feel valued, supported and inspired to be their best.

Please note that all successful candidates will be expected to serve a minimum of 6 months in their new role before being eligible to apply for further positions within the British High Commission.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

We offer time and financial support for the successful candidate to take advantage of professional learning and development opportunities inside and outside of the organisation.

The BHC has an active Learning & Development Committee which works hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. There is a wide range of options available for personal development including training courses, coaching and mentoring, job-shadowing, presentations and learning sets. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the International Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all available opportunities.

All new hires undertake a workplace induction and there are several mandatory e-learning courses that must be completed to pass probation

Additional information

Please ensure that your application is authentically written based on your own experiences. If AI tools are used, their usage must only be limited to specific tasks such as ensuring formatting consistency and keyword relevance. The core content, personal narratives, and responses to behaviour and skill-based questions must genuinely reflect your professional journey, experiences, and achievements. We place great importance on originality and individual effort throughout the application process. Any form of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core behaviours/qualifications listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours, including through your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how the behaviours are defined.

Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to prepare specific examples of when they have demonstrated these behaviours in their application. Using the STAR format to provide evidence of your skills and experience in your application and at interview helps to give a structure. You briefly describe the situation in which you showed the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.

For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender and nationality.

The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.