Research Manager, Mandai Nature

Mandai Wildlife Group is the steward of Mandai Wildlife Reserve, a unique wildlife and nature destination in Singapore that is home to world-renown wildlife parks which connect visitors to the fascinating world of wildlife. The Group is driving an exciting rejuvenation plan at Mandai Wildlife Reserve, adjacent to Singapore's Central Catchment Nature Reserve, that will integrate five wildlife parks with distinctive nature-based experiences, green public spaces and an eco-friendly resort.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Shared research administration and laboratory coordination
• Provide shared administrative and operational support across Mandai Academy laboratories, including Wildlife Health, Translational Biobanking, Wildlife Reproduction and Population Management, Animal Welfare Science, Conservation Data Science, Biodiversity Research and other future research domains
• Coordinate across Principal Investigators, laboratory heads, scientists, research assistants, trainees, volunteers, visiting researchers, collaborators and professional support teams to keep research workstreams organised and moving.
• Maintain visibility of laboratory needs, administrative bottlenecks, procurement dependencies, reporting timelines, personnel movements, meetings, training activities and cross-laboratory commitments.
• Develop and maintain project trackers, milestone dashboards, workplans and reporting calendars for research projects, grants, fellowships, training programmes and laboratory development initiatives.
• Support the tracking of deliverables, timelines, responsible persons, dependencies, risks, approvals and reporting obligations across multiple laboratories and funding streams.
• Prepare consolidated updates for the VP, Mandai Academy, Mandai Nature leadership, funders, committees, collaborators and internal stakeholders.
• Budget support and financial coordination
• Work closely with Principal Investigators, Grant management team and Finance to ensure high standard financial management, including proposal coordination, budget compilation, expenditure tracking, funder reporting, claims, documentation, audit preparation and milestone evidence
• Work with Finance, Procurement, Human Resource, Legal and relevant support teams to ensure that grant-funded activities are administered in line with Mandai Nature requirements, donor conditions and internal governance standards.
• Maintain visibility of laboratory operating budgets, manpower budgets, consumables, equipment, travel, professional services and project-specific expenditure commitments.
• Procurement support, vendor and shared resource management
• Consolidate procurement requests for laboratory supplies, consumables, equipment, maintenance services, software, professional services, travel and training-related needs, and coordinate with Procurement Officer to ensure vendor onboarding and procurement requirements are fulfilled.
• Support PIs and laboratory users in preparing specifications, quotations, justifications, purchase requests and follow-up documentation.
• Maintain records for shared equipment, service contracts, warranties, maintenance schedules, calibration records, consumables inventories and vendor contacts.
• Work with laboratory managers and technical staff to ensure shared resources are allocated, documented and replenished in a timely and compliant manner.
• Governance, compliance and documentation stewardship
• Maintain organised, audit-ready records for laboratory administration, research approvals, grant agreements, partner agreements, procurement records, budget documents, meeting minutes, action logs, project plans, risk registers, training records, SOP registers and institutional submissions.
• Support workflows for research ethics, animal ethics, biosafety, risk assessment, sample access, data governance, collaborator onboarding, volunteer or affiliate arrangements and document control, while ensuring that scientific accountability remains with the relevant PI or responsible technical lead.
• Stakeholder, partner and committee coordination
• Serve as a professional coordination point between Mandai Academy laboratories, Mandai Nature and Mandai Wildlife Group such as Veterinary Services, Animal Care, Animal Behaviour and Programmes, Facilities Management, Legal, Health and Safety, Communications and leadership teams.
• Coordinate meetings (including IACUC meetings), agendas, minutes, action items, approvals and follow-ups with academic institutions, agencies, donors, conservation partners, regional fellows, visiting researchers, vendors and collaborators.
• Help translate scientific and operational needs into clear administrative requests, decision notes and follow-up actions.
• Laboratory operations support and continuous improvement
• Work with laboratory managers, PIs and responsible technical leads to support efficient laboratory operations, including space use, shared equipment scheduling, facility readiness, housekeeping coordination, safety documentation, access arrangements, onboarding, training records and incident follow-up documentation.
• Identify recurring administrative bottlenecks and propose practical improvements to systems, templates, trackers, document repositories, workflows and service standards.
• Support a shared-service culture in which laboratories can operate as an integrated platform rather than isolated units.
• People, onboarding and training administration
• Work closely with Human Resource team tooordinate administrative onboarding and offboarding for research staff, trainees, fellows, interns, students, visiting researchers, volunteers and collaborators, including access requests, safety training records, orientationschedules, documentation checklists and supervisor follow-up.
• Maintain records of training participation, competency sign-offs where applicable, fellowship milestones, mentorship arrangements and reporting submissions.
• Support logistics for workshops, short courses, fellowships, attachments, retreats, seminars and regional research-related capacity-building activities.
  
  

Job Requirements

• Degree in life sciences, biomedical sciences, veterinary sciences, environmental sciences, conservation science, research administration, business administration, project management or a related field.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in research administration, research operations,
  
  

laboratory administration, grant administration, project coordination, programme management

or a comparable operational support role in a research-intensive environment.

• Evidence of further training in research administration, project management, laboratory management, biosafety, procurement, finance administration or an equivalent combination of education and experience would be advantageous.
• Training or demonstrated competency in grant administration, project management, budget tracking, procurement processes, research governance, laboratory safety documentation, data stewardship or quality management would be advantageous.
• Experience supporting multiple research projects, laboratories, Principal Investigators, grants,
  
  

collaborators or scientific workstreams at the same time.

Experience with grant budgeting, funder reporting, procurement coordination, budget

monitoring, claims documentation, milestone tracking, meeting coordination and audit-ready

record keeping.

• Experience working in or supporting laboratories, shared scientific facilities, research institutes,
  
  

universities, hospitals, biotechnology organisations, veterinary organisations, conservation

organisations or comparable science-based settings.

• Experience coordinating across finance, procurement, HR, legal, facilities, health and safety,
  
  

technical teams, vendors and external collaborators.

• Experience with research ethics, biosafety, animal ethics, sample management, data
  
  

governance, SOP registers, risk assessments, document control or compliance workflows would

be advantageous.

• Experience supporting conservation, veterinary, wildlife, biomedical, environmental, One
  
  

Health, genomics, biobanking, animal welfare or field-based research would be advantageous

but is not essential.

• Highly organised, reliable and detail-oriented, with a strong service mindset and commitment to
  
  

enabling high-quality research.

• Collaborative and tactful, with the ability to support strong scientific personalities and multiple
  
  

stakeholders while maintaining clear processes and accountability.

• Proactive and solutions-oriented, with the ability to anticipate bottlenecks, follow up on open
  
  

items and improve administrative workflows.

• Comfortable working in a complex, evolving and fast-paced environment where research plans,
  
  

funding conditions, partner needs and operational priorities may change.

• Excellent verbal and written English, communication, interpersonal and coordination skills.
• Comfortable working flexible hours when required by grant deadlines, partner meetings,
  
  

reporting timelines, laboratory needs, training events or urgent operational matters.