Head of People

Who we are

Open Government Products (OGP) operates like a startup within the government; We are a fast-paced, dynamic team of engineers, designers, and product managers dedicated to public good. We autonomously identify opportunities to solve public problems using tech, rapidly prototype, and launch solutions - from citizen apps to automating public agency operations. Embracing an open-sourced and flat hierarchy, we cut through bureaucracy to focus on real-world, user-centric innovations that drive change.

The products OGP builds are used by millions of people. The organisation that builds them needs to work just as well.

Open Government Products is a team of roughly 200 people inside GovTech Singapore. We build digital infrastructure that touches healthcare, employment, and civic life. The People function exists to make sure the organisation behind that work is as strong as the work itself.

We think about People Operations the way we think about product. The organisation is what we are building. The people in it are our customers. That means clear metrics, short feedback loops, honest iteration, and no tolerance for processes that exist for their own sake.

This is the role responsible for building that function and eventually for taking what we've created here and propagating it across the Singapore government.

Mandate

You will lead a team of roughly ten across HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, and HR Operations. The work runs in four horizons — and all four are live from day one.

Get the fundamentals right. Hiring that runs end to end consistently and at speed. Onboarding, probation, performance and exits applied consistently. Metrics and analytics that surface problems before they become crises.

Build what OGP needs to scale. Career frameworks, manager development, workforce planning tied to real priorities. A people function that leadership trusts to solve problems before being asked and not one that waits for the brief.

Build an AI-native people function. While most organisations ask their People leaders to adopt AI, we expect you to master it and drive innovation in how technology transforms talent and organisational effectiveness. Apply AI tools across hiring, people analytics and how the team operates day to day. You will have protected time and direct access to OGP's engineering teams to experiment. You will not be handed a playbook. You will be asked to write one.

Make it travel. The practices you build here are meant to be scaled across the Singapore public service, shaping how 150,000+ public officers hire, develop, and retain people. The model you prove at OGP is the prototype. If it works here, it travels and the impact compounds in a way no single organisation can achieve alone.

Who we are looking for

We care more about how you think than where you have been. That said, some things are non-negotiable:

• You are an operator first. Energised by getting things working, not designing how they should. Strategy is earned through execution.
• You think from first principles. When you encounter a process, you ask what it is trying to achieve before deciding if it should exist. You do not import templates.
• You have led people through changes and you are not afraid to have difficult conversations when necessary.
• You have built or materially improved a people function in a fast-moving environment — a startup, a high-growth tech company, or equivalent.
• You are technically curious about AI and want to get personally capable, not just directionally supportive.
• You care about public good specifically, not generically. What government does matters to you — and the idea of propagating better people practices across the public service is genuinely motivating, not incidental.

We will consider candidates without a traditional HR title who have built and led organisations and want to learn people operations from first principles. Public sector experience is a plus. Passion for public good is not optional.

Working at OGP

• Ownership and Autonomy — Beyond technical tasks, this means having autonomy to voice opinions and suggest future directions. Building what you believe in drives the creation of great solutions.
• Rapid Prototyping — We prioritize testing ideas over debating them, allowing us to identify problems quickly and convey possibilities to others. This fail-fast approach accelerates innovation.
• Flexibility — We provide flexible work arrangements based on what works best for our team and its members, fostering a productive and supportive environment.
• Continuous Learning — Drive professional growth by exploring new architectures, frameworks, and technologies. With dedicated yearly learning months and hackathons, continuous learning is essential as we tackle innovative ideas and challenges.
• Mission-Driven — Our work is dedicated to the public good, aiming to improve the lives of Singapore citizens. We focus on creating impactful solutions that enhance the community and the place we call home.

Projects we have worked on include:

• Covid-19 Vaccination National Appointment System - A suite of systems built to enable Singapore's national vaccination campaign for Covid-19. This includes informational sites, appointment booking systems, and records management systems.
• Data.gov.sg - An open repository of all the Singapore Government's public data. It helps people understand the data using visualisations and articles, and provides real-time APIs for developers to use.
• Parking.sg - A mobile app alternative to parking coupons. It lets users pay, extend, and refund their parking sessions just using their phones.
• FormSG - A form builder tool for agencies to self-service and create online forms that capture classified data, with the goal of replacing paper forms.
• Isomer - Isomer provides government agencies with an easy-to-deploy static website building and hosting service to create usable, secure and faster informational websites quickly.
• RedeemSG - RedeemSG helps the Singapore Government to create, send and track redemptions of digital vouchers easily.
• PaySG - PaySG was developed to enable digital payments for government services, and was initially used for payments for COVID-19 swab tests and Stay-Home Notices for incoming travellers to Singapore.

An overview of other OGP products can be found on our website: https://www.open.gov.sg/products/