Deputy Director

[What the role is]

The SFA’s mission is to ensure and secure a supply of safe food for Singapore. This role offers a strategic leadership opportunity to shape and steward national agri-food infrastructure ecosystem that underpins this mission.

The Deputy Director provides both strategic and operational leadership over SFA’s industry-facing infrastructure, including wholesale centre, farm facilities and associated industry-facing public assets. The role adopts a system-based, lifecycle-oriented approach to infrastructure planning and management – covering land and sea-space use, facilities, building systems, logistics nodes and tenancy structures for agrifood production and distribution.

A key focus of the role is forward planning for future infrastructure and tenancy models, including the design of scalable building systems, fit-for-purpose tenancy frameworks, and robust lease management processes for farms and agrifood facilities. The Deputy Director translates policy intent into implementable operating models, governance frameworks and SOPs, while working closely with government agencies and industry stakeholders to support orderly farm transitions and long-term sector sustainability.

[What you will be working on]

Infrastructure Planning, Asset Enhancement and Farm Transition

• Lead and drive all aspects of facilities planning and management to ensure on-time and on-budget completion.
• Provide strategic oversight of facility lifecycle issues such as refurbishment, upgrading, capacity optimization, utilities management, and operational resilience.
• Drive forward planning and strategic facility management for major food wholesale centers and agri-food infrastructure, so that they remain operationally efficient, safe, and resilient.
• Work closely with internal planning, regulatory, and operational teams to translate facilities/farm transition policies into phased implementation plans, transition roadmaps and stakeholder engagement strategies.
• Partner relevant agencies and statutory boards and business stakeholders on infrastructure planning, regulatory requirements, and operational interfaces affecting agri-food facilities and farms.

Infrastructure Policy, SOPs and Governance

• Lead the design and forward planning of tenancy and lease management frameworks for farms and agrifood facilities.
• Develop and refine future tenancy models (e.g. multi-tenanted facilities, shared infrastructure arrangements, differentiated lease structures). Provide strategic input on tenancy-related risks, trade-offs and sustainability considerations to inform policy development and senior management decision.
• Ensure policies and SOPs are aligned with prevailing public-sector standards and practices.
• Maintain a robust Work, Health and Safety regime across industry-facing facilities and assets.
• Identify effective and efficient solutions to strengthen sustainability, resilience and resource efficiency across infrastructure and asset portfolios.

[What we are looking for]

• 8 -12 years of experience leading efforts in policy writing, facilities planning, asset management, SOP development, implementation of governance frameworks.
• Qualifications in Infrastructure/Building/Estate Management, Facilities Management, Engineering, Economics/Business, Urban Planning or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience in government procurement process, contract administration, as well as familiarity with relevant legislations/guidelines/ codes for land, housing, infrastructure and/or particularly in roles involving public assets, estates, or complex facilities would have an added advantage.
• A proactive and collaborative leader who can balance policy intent with operational realities, and adopt a win-win, partnership-oriented approach.
• Good written and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex policy, infrastructure and tenancy issues clearly and persuasively.
• Proven ability to foster strong partnership and relationship building with stakeholders and partners.
• Sound understanding of benchmarks, guidelines, statutory requirement, and Singapore Standards/Code of Practice in relation to building matters.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and project management skills, adaptable and agile to identify options, meticulous and attentive to details.