Director, Finance

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead public sector R&D agency. Through open innovation, we collaborate with our partners in both the public and private sectors to benefit the economy and society. A*STAR’s research creates economic growth and jobs for Singapore, and enhances lives by improving societal outcomes in healthcare, urban living, and sustainability.

A*STAR is recognised by many accountancy organisations: Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) for the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), a Recognised Employer Partner with CPA Australia and others. It reaffirms our commitment to excellence in professional development, and to fostering the growth of our employees in the field of Finance and Accounting.

JOB SUMMARY

The Director Finance will be responsible for overseeing all strategic and operational aspects of the Finance Division (Statutory Board and A*ccelerate) in A*STAR.

Strategic Planning

• Work with the Chief Financial Officer and other Directors of Finance to review and enhance financial policies.
• Monitor the implementation of strategic business plans and ensure compliance with financial policies.
• Act as effective business partners to management and stakeholders (i.e. Councils, HQ Divisions and National Metrology Centre) in providing financial insights/advice to achieve business objectives.
• Assess financial sustainability of the 5-year ARES research budget, including early alerts to management on potential areas of concerns.
• Provide leadership in directing the section’s efforts to strategically incorporate technology to enhance operational efficiency and raise finance staff productivity.

Operations

• Work with management to optimise resource allocation and utilisation for A*STAR’s annual RDF cash budget (A*STAR as grantor), A*STAR’s 5-year RIE budget awarded/committed and cash disbursed (A*STAR as grantor), and ARES’s annual research budget.
• Maintain oversight on finance reporting and operations at A*STAR Statutory Board (includes grants managed by A*STAR as the Implementing Agency) and A*ccelerate.
• Oversee A*STAR Statutory Board’s transaction processing systems and set in place a system to ensure that vendor payments are tracked and fulfilled expediently to meet Whole-of-Government’s targets for prompt payments and faster payments.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting and returns to MTI, MOF, NRF and AGD and meet MTI’s specified utilisation rate of annual RDF cash budget.
• Develop effective grants management systems within A*STAR to ensure close oversight, tracking and compliance of the following:
• Grantees’ FRs and FSOAs submissions, grantees’ clarifications of FRs and FSOAs, grantees’ grant audits;
• A*STAR grantor’s FRs and FSOAs submissions to ultimate grantors, A*STAR grantor’s clarifications of FRs and FSOAs to ultimate grantors and A*STAR grantor’s entity level audit; and
• Funding initiatives’ commitment and cashflow deadlines.
• Maintain oversight on key operational issues, particularly in the implementation of new Funding Initiatives with unique requirements.
• Manage cash liquidity for RDF, especially close to the financial year end when the annual RDF cash budget is running low. Work with MTI and stakeholders (i.e. Councils and Divisions) on ways to address annual RDF cash budget shortfalls, where applicable.
• Monitor RDF Trust Fund balance and project the balance at financial year end, with early alert to management on potential areas of concerns.
• Track ARES overheads receipts and usage, and give regular updates to management with explanations for key variances.
• Implement finance-related operational best practices through the review and alignment of current processes to enhance efficiency, including the alignment of accounting practices and processes across different entities.
• Leverage and incorporate technology in the delivery of quality financial services to users.
• Evaluate and enhance team structure to ensure that the division operates at optimal capacity through e.g. improving job fit of current staff.
• Achieve corporate KPIs as mapped out in Finance’s workplan, where applicable.

Financial Reporting

• Direct and oversee the issuance of accurate and timely financial information to stakeholders (i.e. Councils and Divisions).
• Develop systems to perform accurate analysis of budgeting, utilisation trends and variances.
• Report original and revised budgets for A*STAR Statutory Board and ARES to A*STAR Board-Exco and A*STAR Board.
• Report mid-year and year-end financial results to management, A*STAR and Accelerate Audit Committees and the Boards.
• Report RIE2025 5-year budget awarded/committed and cash disbursed to A*STAR Board-Exco and A*STAR Board.
• Report to A*STAR Board-Exco on i) Retained Earnings of A*STAR Statutory Board and ARES annually and whenever there is request for usage of Retained Earnings, as well as ii) re-allocation of ARES’ annual research budget.

Risk Management

• Understand and mitigate key elements of the organisation’s financial risk profile.
• Ensure financial, legal and regulatory compliance to governmental and audit guidelines, strong corporate governance, proper accounting and use of public resources to enhance public accountability.
• Maintain relations with external auditors, AGO, internal auditors, etc and address their findings and incorporate their recommendations whenever possible.

People Development

• Groom high performance officers to strengthen the talent pipeline for key finance positions.
• Plan the training and development opportunities for staff to expand both their capacity and capability.

The above eligibility criteria are not exhaustive. A*STAR may include additional selection criteria based on its prevailing recruitment policies. These policies may be amended from time to time without notice. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.