The Centre Manager provides overall strategic, research and operational leadership for RIMA, the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs of AMP Singapore. This is the head-of-centre role with overall accountability for RIMA’s strategy, delivery and performance.
The candidate would be responsible for the following duties:
1. Strategic Leadership & Direction
- Set the strategic direction of RIMA’s research, publications and engagement work, ensuring alignment with RIMA’s mission and AMP Singapore’s organisational priorities.
- Lead efforts to monitor social, economic and policy trends affecting the Malay/Muslim community, including commissioning and/or conducting periodic environmental scans.
- Translate strategic priorities into multi-year and annual workplans, KPIs and measurable outcomes for the Centre.
2. Research Leadership & Project Governance
- Provide overall oversight for the design, implementation and dissemination of RIMA’s research projects and studies.
- Serve as Project Lead/Principal Investigator for selected flagship and externally commissioned projects, including stakeholder engagement, research design, data collection, analysis and reporting.
- Ensure that research processes adhere to ethical standards, data protection requirements and good research governance, including secure safekeeping of all research data.
- Oversee the quality assurance of research outputs (reports, briefs, commentaries, books, podcasts and other publications).
3. Organisational, Financial & Operational Management
- Oversee and manage the administrative, research and operational functions of the Centre, including human resource planning, workload allocation and performance management.
- Develop, manage and monitor RIMA’s overall budget, including project budgets, grant administration and financial stewardship.
- Put in place systems, SOPs and policies to support effective operations, risk management and compliance with AMP Singapore’s governance requirements.
4. Programmes, Events, Publications & Thought Leadership
- Lead the conceptualisation, planning and execution of RIMA’s conferences, workshops, seminars, webinars, training programmes and other public engagement activities.
- Drive RIMA’s publishing and thought leadership work (e.g. commentaries, opinion pieces, Karyawan, briefs, reports, podcasts and other platforms) on key issues affecting the Malay/Muslim community.
- Lead and oversee RIMA’s book and major publication projects, including concept development, commissioning of contributors, editorial review and coordination with designers/publishers.
- Represent RIMA at dialogues, forums, media engagements and other platforms as required, strengthening RIMA’s profile as a trusted research and thought leadership centre.
5. Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships
- Maintain and grow strong relationships with key stakeholders – including government agencies, community organisations, funders, academic partners and international collaborators.
- Lead efforts to expand RIMA’s research networks, partnerships and collaborative platforms.
- Work closely with AMP Singapore to support its thought leadership initiatives, including follow-up to AMP Conventions and strategic projects.
- Provide, delegate and coordinate analytical and research support for AMP’s various departments and projects.
6. Team Leadership & Capability Development
- Lead, supervise and mentor the research and administrative team to ensure high-quality work, timely delivery and professional growth.
- Build the team’s capabilities in research methods, data analysis, writing, project management and stakeholder engagement through coaching and development opportunities.
- Foster a collaborative, values-driven culture within RIMA, aligned with AMP Singapore’s mission and values.
7. Governance, Reporting & Accountability
- Prepare and present regular reports, analysis and updates to RIMA’s Board and Executive Committee on strategy, research findings, finances, risks and operations.
- Report to AMP Singapore’s Board/senior management on matters related to AMP–RIMA joint projects, commissioned studies and major collaborations.
- Ensure compliance with governance requirements, including timely submissions of reports, audits, grant deliverables and contractual obligations.
Job Requirements:
- Recognised university degree in any discipline.
- Proven experience in executing or managing social science research activities.
- Minimum 6 years research experience.
- Minimum 3 years management / project lead experience.
- Strong financial management skills, coupled with excellent organisational and interpersonal abilities.
- Good writing and communication skills, with a strong command of English. Proficiency in Malay and an additional relevant language is an advantage, as this role involves handling queries and feedback from Malay-speaking counterparts regarding conferences, workshops, seminars, training programmes, and other activities.
- Experience in editorial work and managing publications.
- Strong networking capabilities and an understanding of the Malay/Muslim community will be considered an added advantage.
