Job Summary

About the Role
The SDSO is responsible for shaping A*STAR’s approach to strategic scientific data across the organisation. Operating under three strategic pillars — Community, Governance, and Build — the office drives cultural change, governance frameworks, and enabling infrastructure to unlock the value of scientific data.
This role drives the Governance Pillar, which establishes the rules, frameworks, and conventions that underpin A*STAR’s ability to share, protect, assess, and derive value from its scientific data assets. You will work at the intersection of policy, research operations, and corporate functions, translating governance ambitions into practical, researcher-friendly frameworks.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific Data Governance Framework
- Design and operationalise a scientific data governance framework for data reuse, covering roles/responsibilities, data ownership, access rights, usage conditions, and attribution
- Coordinate with the stakeholders to ensure the framework complements corporate data governance while addressing the distinct requirements of research data
- Develop data sharing processes and management of strategic data assets

Data Valuation Framework
- Develop organisation-wide criteria and terminology for data quality dimensions and strategic value classification
- Establish assessment processes and regular review cycles to distinguish strategic from non-strategic data, enabling resource prioritisation
- Facilitate consultations with stakeholders to validate and refine the framework

Data Protection Decision Framework
- Collaborate with the various organisational entities to implement a holistic data protection decision framework
- Provide scientific domain context to ensure protection controls are proportionate

Accountability and Effectiveness Tracking
- Implement an accountability framework
- Define and track governance KPIs across the organisation
- Publish compliance dashboards at RI level for constructive peer accountability

Cross-Pillar and Stakeholder Engagement
- Work closely with the Community Pillar to ensure governance frameworks are adopted through training, workshops, and communication campaigns
- Coordinate with the Build Pillar to ensure governance requirements are reflected in platform design and tooling

Job Requirements

Education
- Bachelor’s/Master’s degree (or higher) in a relevant discipline (science, engineering, information management, legal, public policy, or related field)

Experience
- 5+ years of professional experience, with at least 3 years in data governance, data management, research policy, or a closely related domain
- Demonstrated experience developing and implementing governance frameworks, policies, or standards in a research, government, or complex multi-stakeholder environment

Technical Skills
- Strong understanding of data lifecycle management, FAIR data principles, metadata standards and data quality concepts
- Knowledge of data protection and security frameworks in the Singapore public sector context (e.g., PDPA, public sector data governance)
- Familiarity with data commercialisation and IP licensing in an industry research context

Communication and Organizational Skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate technical/policy concepts into clear, actionable guidance
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Experience engaging and aligning diverse stakeholders (researchers, IT, legal, compliance, leadership) around shared frameworks
- Track record of delivering outcomes in a decentralised or federated organisational structure

What We Offer

• The opportunity to shape data governance for one of Asia’s leading research organisations
• Influence over frameworks that will underpin AI-readiness and data-driven research across A*STAR
• A collaborative, mission-driven environment within a small, high-impact office
• Professional development opportunities at the forefront of scientific data strategy

Application Process: Interested candidates should submit their resume and a cover letter detailing their interest in the position and relevant experience.