Director (Sector Funding), ECDA/SF

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) is the regulatory and developmental agency for the early childhood sector in Singapore, overseeing key aspects of children’s development below the age of 7, in both kindergartens and childcare centres. The Sector Funding division in ECDA administers supply-side funding schemes for government supported and non-government supported preschool operators to increase families’ access to quality and affordable early childhood care and education for their children. It also administers the childminding pilot to provide additional care options for families. You will be leading the Sector Funding Division, comprising 3 teams, to formulate, implement and refine supply-side funding for the preschool sector, comprising approx. 300 operators and 1,800 centres. Specifically, your Division administers the following schemes: 1) The Anchor Operator Scheme 2) The Partner Operator Scheme 3) Schemes for non-Government funded centres (e.g. the Preschool Opportunity Fund and any new grants as and when decided) You will also be overseeing the pilot and subsequent scale-up of the Childminding service, which provides care services for families at premises or at childminders’ homes. As Director/SF, you will be responsible for the development, implementation and review of operations policy related to supply-side funding for the early childhood sector, to ensure attainment of schemes’ objectives. You will also oversee grant administration and processes, to ensure accurate and timely disbursement of funds to operators, with proper governance. The total grant amount disbursed under the different schemes is about $2 billion annually. With the growth of the sector, your Division will play the main role in steering the sector towards greater accessibility, affordability and quality of preschools. As a member of ECDA’s Senior Management Team, Director/SF is expected to contribute to the wider work of ECDA, such as in strategic planning, policy discussions, organizational development, and resource use and optimization. The key responsibilities of this role include the following: • Drive the formulation and review of funding models and scheme parameters to ensure attainment of scheme objectives. This includes determining the best approach to funding, drafting and administration of funding agreements, and crafting and monitoring of key performance indicators. • Ensure proper end-to-end grant administration, from determining the application approach, to processing of applications, to contract management, grant disbursement, and conducting external audits. • Develop and review grant control frameworks and grant management procedures and policies to enhance scheme administration and ensure proper governance. • Develop and maintain strong partnerships with operators to engender shared goals and smoothen grant implementation. • Drive the corporate functioning and development of the Division, including determining and securing sufficient budget and its proper management, and the recruitment, optimal deployment and training of manpower. • Drive transformation initiatives such as policy and process innovation, systems and technological development and capability building in the Division. Competencies Required: • Background in any discipline. Knowledge/training in Business Management, Finance, Accountancy or Economics would be an added advantage. • Strong analytical, problem solving, and systems-thinking skills. • Meticulous and comfortable with numbers. • Able to handle and understand legal language. • Attention to detail while not losing the big picture. • Excellent written and communication skills, and able to provide guidance to teams in these skills when needed. • Effective interpersonal skills to work across divisions within ECDA, as well as with public and private sector stakeholders. • Relevant work experience in Ops policy, grants administration would be an advantage. • Preferably has had some experience at a senior …