Senior Executive, EMPOWER

The Early Mental Potential & Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre is a new University-Level Research Centre whose mission is to maximise every child’s mental and emotional capital by uplifting neurodevelopmental trajectories during early sensitive periods through interdisciplinary discovery science and translational technologies.

The Centre will have 3 major activities and thrusts:

Core Discovery Research, Empowering Science : Basic neuroscience research and AI computational models to understand individual neurocognitive potential, developmental trajectories, risk and resilience factors Clinic & Pedagogy, Empowering Practitioners : Precision assessment and intervention to optimise parent-child social and mental health within clinical, education and community settings Real-World Technologies, Empowering Families : Scalable real-world technologies for parent-led interventions to support children’s mental and cognitive wellbeing at home

We are seeking a Senior Executive who will support the EMPOWER Centre Director, A/Prof Victoria Leong, in providing administrative and operational oversight for the Centre’s core functions.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Centre Director and Research Strategy Manager in the execution of operational and research strategies, support existing research programmes and coordinate new large-scale research grant application efforts.

• The incumbent will also assist with manpower recruitment and talent retention, budget planning and resource management.

• Working together with the Research Strategy Manager, the incumbent will help to track research performance against University and funder KPIs (including ensuring accurate and timely reporting to funding agencies) and ensure compliance with research governance, University ethics and data management policies.

• Assist with external liaison with key stakeholders, including Ministries, Agencies, research organisations and funders to promote the Centre’s work and societal impact.

• The incumbent will be expected to collaborate closely with relevant departments, research staff, and administrators to ensure compliance with national, university, school, and funding agency guidelines regarding the utilisation of research grants.

• The incumbent will assist to plan and carry out internal administrative processes in research account management, grant usage, grant reporting to ensure smooth usage of project funds, managing research accounts from award to expiry, validate expenditures for compliance with applicable funding agencies terms and conditions and Univeristy policies.

• The incumbent will also collaborate and liaise closely with the Legal and Secretariat Office (LSO), funding agencies, and project PIs in the setup and updating of Research Collaboration Agreements (RCAs) as well as in the  implementation, and enforcement of NTU’s research integrity policy.

Requirements

• At least a good Bachelor’s Degree with at last 2-3 years of relevant experience. Prior working experience in an academic institute or research environment will be an advantage.

• Formal training or demonstrated knowledge of financial management or accounting, ideally within NTU.

• Formal training or demonstrated knowledge of human resource management.

• Formal training or demonstrated knowledge of business administration. (desired.)

• Experience with research administration, ideally management of large research grants in the Singapore context.

• Experience supporting administrative operations for a Centre, School or Business.

• Experience working with international collaborators or partners in a research or commercial context. (desired.)

• Well-organised and efficient, with good time management skills.

• Good communication and interpersonal skills, strong team player

• Budget and financial management skills.

• Self-motivated.

• Interest in neuroscience or psychology research, and working with children.

Hiring Institution: NTU