View Vacancy - SIN - Operations Manager, Asia Pacific, B3(L)
Main purpose of the job:
Based in the British High Commission in Singapore (BHC), the post-holder’s immediate and primary role is to provide operational and administrative support to Invest Northern Ireland (INI) in the Asia Pacific territory. The post holder will report to INI’s Operations Director who is based in our Shanghai office in China.
Invest Northern Ireland (INI) has offices and in-market professionals in Singapore (covering Southeast Asia), Sydney (covering Australia and New Zealand), Tokyo (covering Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (covering China) and in Hong Kong. It is anticipated that in the near future INI’s presence in Asia Pacific (APAC) will increase through the addition of in-market professionals and further office(s).
The post holder will work with the Operations Director and with INI’s International Business Group Services (IBGS), which is located in Belfast, UK. The post holder will support our in-market professional teams in the APAC territory from an operational and administrative perspective.
In addition to day to day operational and administrative tasks the post holder will also provide support to INI’s Marcoms Director (based in Shanghai) and will also undertake certain tasks relating to Northern Irish Connections (NIC) activity in APAC. In addition, the post-holder will work closely with a range of business partners and stakeholders such as FCDO, Invest NI IBGS and NIC. The post-holder is expected to undertake travel, either within Asia Pacific, to the UK and also to other countries.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Efficient and timely reporting to the APAC Operations Director and Invest NI IBGS, including monthly financial returns, staff expense claim, approvals for procurement, hospitality, membership and subscription for offices across APAC
- Assisting the APAC Operations Director to ensure operational compliance of APAC team, including overseas payment of work related items, expense queries, purchasing policy, use of corporate credit cards, status of team’s annual leave, sick leave and TOIL and other operations related returns and processes
- Assisting the APAC Operations Director in recruitment process, in new staff induction exercises and working with internal and external stakeholders
- Supporting INI’s APAC Marcoms Director from an operational and administrative perspective. This could include: attending and supporting marketing and promotional events as required, coordinating delivery and procurement of corporate gifts and other administrative work required by the Marcoms Director
- Liaising with, coordinating and consolidating information from Invest NI APAC team, including returns like risk register, conflict of interest, gift & hospitality, corporate gift stock, fix asset register and other information required by the management team. This will be coordinated with and activity and output reported to the APAC Operations Director
- Supporting NIC activities in the APAC territory which will include (but is not limited to) assisting in the amplification of NIC Marcoms messaging and content, maintaining a NIC data base for each INI office, assisting with the arrangement of NIC events from a project management and logistics perspective under supervision of the INI Marcoms Director and the INI Regional Directors in the APAC territory
- Effective management of the APAC HOT’s calendar (where it pertains to international travel), travel arrangements, pre-approval expenditure requests and other associated work requirements
- Arranging regular team calls and meetings and managing meeting notes, as well as other office work required by the APAC Operations Director and the wider APAC team
- Educated to degree level ideally in an administration, finance or related functions
- Over 5 years’ of working experience in a private or public sector organisation, with at least three years’ relevant experience in operations and administration
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills
- Excellent IT skills (using Microsoft software including PowerPoint, Excel and Word)
- Fluent in English – spoken and written
- Knowledge of Northern Ireland
- Experience in analysing information and preparation of reports, including financial information such as budgets and expenditure
- Experience of working in multi-location environment and liaising with team members in these locations
We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary of SGD 4,738 per month and annual wage supplement [an additional 2 months’ salary paid out in December each year], 23-day annual leave entitlement in pro rata and insurance plan.
BHC will consider applications from candidates in countries from which travel to Singapore is feasible under prevailing Covid related borders restrictions. Singapore will allow entry for fully vaccinated with vaccine approved under WHO EUL. Applicants should be aware that Singapore has mandated that from 1 January 2022 only employees who are fully vaccinated, or have recovered from COVID-19 within 270 days, can return to the workplace. Singapore will require unvaccinated employees to have a negative Pre-Event Testing (PET) result at their own expense before coming to the office.
We offer time and financial support for the successful candidate to take advantage of professional learning and development opportunities inside and outside of the organisation.
The BHC has an active Learning & Development Committee which works hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. There is a wide range of options available for personal development including training courses, coaching and mentoring, job-shadowing, presentations and learning sets. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the International Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all available opportunities.
All new hires undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses that must be completed in order to pass probation.
Induction training will be provided at Invest Northern Ireland’s Head office (subject to travel restrictions), locally in Singapore and also virtually by our Operations Director in Shanghai. The post-holder is obliged to undertake certain L&D mandatory courses offered through INI’s e-learning platform and also non-mandatory L&D courses delivered through this platform. From time to time L&D courses will be offered to the post holder as part of INI APAC continuous learning.
Normal working hours are 37.5 per week: 8.30am to 5.00pm from Monday to Friday.
BHC supports and promotes flexible working as a crucial part of our inclusive offering.
Due to time difference with the UK, the post-holder may be required to work after office hours in order to meet deadlines or attend conference calls.
In addition to the duties which this job normally entails, you may from time to time be required to undertake additional or other duties as necessary to meet the needs of the BHC, including playing a part in the corporate life of the mission and supporting any crisis response.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain a local work permit which we will sponsor.
Staff recruited locally by the BHC are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Singapore employment law.
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Only short-listed applications will be called for personal interviews.
The BHC is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.
Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.
Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.
To those applicants not short-listed, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer.
The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
