Principal / Lead Designer, Design Practice

About GovTech and the Role

GovTech Singapore spearheads the nation's Smart Nation initiatives and digital transformation across the public sector. As the agency's Centre of Excellence for ICT and Smart Systems, GovTech builds government expertise in data science, AI, application development, smart city tech, digital infrastructure, and cybersecurity. We provide a meaningful career path that empowers our team members with continuous learning and growth opportunities.

Join us in shaping Singapore's Smart Nation vision by developing technology for public benefit. The Design Practice is GovTech's central design unit responsible for setting standards, nurturing culture, and developing capabilities across government design teams. We have numerous impactful projects and are looking for a Principal Designer ready to work across multiple domains—shaping design standards, supporting new teams, growing design talent, and fostering collaboration within the government design community. The role involves tackling high-level challenges with significant autonomy and leadership scope.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and influence design standards and a product-first playbook that guide other practices.
• Assist emerging product teams to establish solid design cultures and support their leadership.
• Develop and maintain operational systems such as hiring protocols, role frameworks, evaluation criteria, and defining design excellence benchmarks.
• Lead efforts to develop design capabilities and leadership across GovTech through mentoring, reskilling initiatives, and community building.
• Promote designer connectivity and visibility of quality work by organizing community events and showcasing design achievements.

Ideal Candidate Attributes

• A passionate advocate for design, embracing challenging yet meaningful conversations.
• Comfortable expressing strong opinions and able to engage in debates without insisting on winning.
• Focused on advancing the design discipline broadly, beyond just creating polished deliverables.
• Thrives in ambiguity with enthusiasm for defining new concepts and structures.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• At least 12 years of experience in design with proven impact on design standards, culture, or capability beyond product delivery.
• A clear and practiced point of view on design craft and quality backed by demonstrable work.
• Proven ability to influence change via frameworks adoption, constructive debates, and raised standards.
• Expertise spanning research, problem framing, interface design, and execution.
• Strong communication skills to build trust quickly and lead complex multi-stakeholder discussions.
• Active interest or experience in the intersection of AI and design is a significant advantage.

What to Expect

• A diverse workload crossing AI, policy, capability building, and cultural initiatives.
• Considerable influence in shaping how design is recognized and valued at a government-wide level.
• An opportunity to create sustainable impact by addressing challenging and meaningful problems.

Additional Information

GovTech is committed to equal opportunity and values a diverse and inclusive workforce as a cornerstone of innovation. Employee benefits follow a comprehensive total rewards model with market competitive perks. Flexible work arrangements are promoted depending on the nature of the role, with trust placed on employees to manage their own productivity and schedules.