Job description

The National Robotics Programme Office (NRPO) is responsible for catalysing differentiated Robotics and Embodied AI (EAI) R&D capabilities at our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and Research Institutes (RIs) for the benefit of our economy and society. NRPO also works to foster public-private partnerships to ensure robotics and EAI technologies and IPs developed with public funding are relevant for industry and are commercialised into useful products, services and solutions that are adopted in Singapore and around the world.

A key role of NRPO is to bring together end-users across different industries, robotics, automation and EAI companies, and our IHLs/RIs to identify use cases and technology gaps that public-private partnerships can help to address. In so doing, we enhance Singapore's robotics and EAI R&D capabilities and help Singapore-based robotics, automation and EAI companies to innovate and differentiate themselves in the market.

Another key role of NRPO is to work together with partner agencies to grow our robotics and EAI industry comprising system integrators, robot vendors, software and component suppliers. A strong and vibrant robotics and EAI industry with companies developing and making robotics and EAI products and solutions here for export will help to support our end-user industries and act as vehicles for the commercialisation of technologies and IPs developed by our IHLs/RIs.

We are looking for a highly independent and motivated person to join NRPO to perform the following:

Capability Development.

• Work with key research and technical leads and NRP management to refresh, update and prioritise key areas for funding support to strengthen our Robotics and Embodied AI capabilities. This would include staying up to date on global developments and local capabilities, develop focus group discussions and workshops to synthesize the inputs, as well as form independent assessments and recommendations to management.
• Support the analysis efforts of our research capabilities and ecosystem for strategy development and course corrections where necessary.
• Work with research performers as they develop their R&D proposals, to ensure their proposals are aligned to our focus areas and desired capabilities, and work with programme management to ensure their resourcing commensurate to the planned efforts and meets the eligibility for funding. This would include managing and reviewing the awarded projects subsequently to ensure the technical deliverables are met.
• Understanding of standards development work would be an added advantage.

Secretariat Support.

• Perform Secretariat functions for Robotics and Embodied AI working level platforms to engage stakeholders and key ecosystem players to shape the agenda towards NRPO’s mission.  

• May be appointed, by rotation, to take on operational/administrative secondary roles within NRPO.

Requirements:

• Minimum engineering degree in relevant disciplines to robotics and AI (E.g. Mechanical, Electronic, Computer Science) to appreciate and understand the technical information in R&D proposals,  with at least 3-5 years of experience in robotics R&D or application development work.
• This role would not have direct robotics development work and applicants who intend to stay and grow in technical roles should be aware of this.
• Able to maintain composure and handle pressure from tight deadlines and dynamic changes in technology developments that can shift positioning in the capability development trajectory, particularly in the Embodied AI domain.
• Strong and proactive ownership on assigned tasks to deliver successful outcomes.
• Good communication and facilitation skills to manage a wide variety of stakeholders from both the academic domains as well as industry and public agencies. Demonstrated ability to convey technical information to non-technical audiences would have an added advantage and may be tested during the interview.