Senior Assistant Director, Organisation Psychology & Assessment Science
Advance Scientific Talent Through Evidence-Based Assessment
At A*STAR, exceptional people drive scientific excellence, innovation and national impact.
As Singapore's lead public sector research and development agency, attracting and selecting exceptional scientific, technical and leadership talent is fundamental to our success.
We are looking for an experienced Organisation Psychologist to lead A*STAR's organisation-wide assessment and behavioural science capabilities, ensuring talent decisions are objective, evidence-based and aligned with the capabilities needed to support our future workforce.
Beyond talent selection, you will apply behavioural science to strengthen leadership effectiveness, organisational capability and workforce performance across A*STAR.
About the Role
You will be A*STAR's enterprise expert in assessment science, organisational psychology and behavioural insights.
You will lead the design of evidence-based assessment methodologies for talent acquisition, executive appointments, leadership development and succession planning, while partnering leaders to strengthen organisational effectiveness through behavioural science.
This role combines science, psychology and strategic Human Capital to ensure A*STAR continues to attract, develop and retain exceptional talent.
Long Description
What You'll Do
Lead Enterprise Assessment & Selection Strategy
- Develop and continuously enhance A*STAR's enterprise assessment philosophy, standards and governance.
- Design evidence-based assessment frameworks that support the selection of scientific, technical, leadership and corporate talent.
- Ensure assessment methodologies are valid, reliable, fair and aligned with international professional standards.
- Establish governance and quality assurance for psychometric assessments, behavioural interviews and assessment centres.
Strengthen Talent Selection & Executive Assessment
- Design and deliver assessment centres for executive, leadership, scientific and specialist appointments.
- Lead behavioural interviews, competency-based assessments and executive assessment methodologies.
- Interpret psychometric assessments and provide evidence-based recommendations to hiring panels.
- Partner recruiters and hiring managers to identify the most appropriate assessment approaches for different job families.
- Support executive search, leadership appointments and succession planning through behavioural profiling and assessment.
Enable Leadership & Talent Decisions
- Partner Leadership & Talent Development teams to strengthen leadership identification and high-potential assessment.
- Apply behavioural science to succession planning, talent reviews and leadership development programmes.
- Develop leadership assessment frameworks that support future leadership capability.
- Provide coaching and insights to leaders on individual and team effectiveness.
Apply Behavioural Science to Organisation Effectiveness
- Conduct organisational diagnostics to identify workforce, leadership and team effectiveness opportunities.
- Design evidence-based interventions that improve organisational effectiveness, collaboration and employee experience.
- Support organisation design, culture and change initiatives using behavioural science principles.
- Translate behavioural research into practical solutions that improve organisational performance.
Build Workforce Insights & Research Capability
- Analyse assessment outcomes and workforce data to identify trends and strengthen talent decisions.
- Conduct research and benchmarking on assessment science, behavioural psychology and emerging workforce practices.
- Evaluate new psychometric tools, assessment methodologies and AI-enabled assessment technologies.
- Ensure A*STAR remains at the forefront of evidence-based talent assessment and organisational psychology.
Long Description
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role means:
- A*STAR has a robust, evidence-based assessment framework that consistently identifies high-quality talent.
- Assessment methodologies are trusted, objective and aligned with international best practices.
- Leadership appointments and succession decisions are supported by high-quality behavioural insights.
- Behavioural science informs leadership development, organisational effectiveness and workforce strategies.
- Talent decisions are increasingly data-driven, predictive and evidence-based.
- A*STAR is recognised for excellence in talent assessment and selection.
What You'll Bring
We are looking for someone who has successfully:
- Designed and implemented enterprise assessment and selection frameworks for professional, technical or leadership roles.
- Led assessment centres, executive assessments or psychometric assessment programmes.
- Applied organisational psychology and behavioural science to improve talent decisions, leadership capability or organisational effectiveness.
- Advised senior leaders on talent selection, succession planning and leadership assessment.
- Designed competency frameworks, behavioural interviews and evidence-based selection methodologies.
- Used data, research and behavioural insights to strengthen workforce and organisational outcomes.
- Worked across multiple stakeholders to deliver organisation-wide initiatives in dynamic and evolving environments.
You are passionate about applying science to people decisions and believe that rigorous, evidence-based assessment is critical to building exceptional organisations.
Preferred Qualifications
- Degree in Psychology, Industrial-Organisational Psychology, Organisational Behaviour or a related discipline.
- Master's or Doctorate in Industrial-Organisational Psychology, Occupational Psychology or Behavioural Science preferred.
- Professional accreditation in recognised psychometric assessment tools (e.g. Hogan, SHL, Korn Ferry, Saville, OPQ or equivalent).
- Experience designing assessment centres, executive assessment methodologies and competency frameworks.
All new hires are appointed on a 3-year renewable contract in the first instance.