Assistant Director (Impact Development), Office of Impact

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The 'family-like' atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together – building a strong collegiality and morale within the university.

Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities – all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Building awareness of impact
    • Work with the Deputy Director (Impact) to build awareness of impact among staff through engagement sessions and communications with Deans and faculty via platforms such as Deans meeting and faculty townhalls, and with faculty and school-level research staff through roadshows.
    • Collaborate with fellow colleagues in the Impact Office and other relevant offices and units to develop content for the engagement sessions.
  • Provide support for developing capability
    • Research and curate coaching and training courses to support SOCIs and relevant units build capability in impact.
    • Organise talks and workshops by experienced academics to impart knowledge, experience and best practices.
    • Work with other Associate / Assistant Directors in the Office of Impact (in the fields of communications and evaluation) to develop impact case studies to showcase for a variety of purposes.
  • Best practice sharing and benchmarking
    • Share impact case studies and associated processes from other settings e.g., exemplars from UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) and HK’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) impact databases.
    • Sharing of SMU impact case studies across Schools for cross-learning.
    • Understand assessments and calibration in other systems which will be useful for the development of SMU’s impact case studies.
  • Support for execution for impact
    • Work with the VP to chart a roadmap to support and guide relevant SOCIs to execute for impact and collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to put in place the required support.
    • Enhance awareness of, access to, and take-up and use of internal and external support and resources to achieve impact.
    • As educational impact goes beyond academics, the AD (Impact Development) will provide support to relevant units to expand or contribute to the design of learning opportunities to contribute to greater societal impact.
    • Help to identify SMU research likely to deliver impact and ensure that these are being properly supported throughout their entire lifecycle to realise those impacts. Support should also be made available to faculty applying for research funding to ensure impact is embedded in research proposals from the outset.
    • While the VP (Impact) work with the units in education, research, entrepreneurship and campus infrastructure to further develop SMU’s impact towards sustainability and the environment, the AD (Impact Development) will provide support to these units to identify future opportunities for impact.
    • To participate in discussions about other possible thematic areas of impact that are delivered across the university to ensure that the Impact Office is prepared to help the relevant units in capability building and to provide the necessary support for new thematic areas. This will also help in the research and curation of best practices and case studies for sharing.
  • Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Masters degree in a related field with at least eight to ten years of relevant work experience; PhD degree an advantage. Key substantive expertise in one or both of the following areas: a) conducting or supporting research with applications in and implications for the world of practice, and with engaging with practitioners to translate insights in ways that facilitate the real-world impact of the insights; and b) working with service learning projects to maximize their sustainable impacts on communities and beneficiaries. Expertise in training and professional development desirable.
  • Confident in dealing with senior faculty, senior administrators and external stakeholders; and demonstrated strong understanding of the workings of a complex university system.
  • Strong strategic mindset with proven success in problem-solving, multi-tasking, and analytical abilities.
  • Notable experience in general administration, project management and delivery, stakeholder engagement and relationship building.
  • Experience engaging with research funding agencies, policymakers and/or professional agencies to highlight the implications of research for the world of practice.
  • Experience developing training programs and workshops for faculty and students in areas such as policy analysis, sustainability, community engagement etc.
  • Adept at designing and scoping projects, timelines and deliverables.
  • Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication, and presentation skills.
  • Resourceful, independent worker and a team player, with strong collaborative and influencing skills that enables collaboration with a wide range of partners.
Back to blog