Assistant Director, Events & International Programmes

Role Overview

As an Assistant Director, Events & International Programmes of International Business Division (IBD), you will play a critical leadership role in shaping how SBF enables Singapore companies to Learn, Lead-Generate, Land, and Localise in overseas markets.

The Assistant Director will lead the Events & International Programmes function, providing strategic direction, governance, team leadership, and stakeholder management across all IBD events—both domestic and international. You will be the key interface between senior management, government agencies, business leaders, and international partners, ensuring institutional-level oversight, strategic coherence, and high-quality delivery of all event initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Direction, Governance & Financial Stewardship
• Strategy Leadership: Develop, communicate, and drive the division-wide strategy for international events and programmes, ensuring alignment with SBF’s internationalisation priorities.
• Governance & Compliance: Establish robust systems for operational governance, audit readiness, procurement compliance, and risk management, particularly for high-value, multi-stakeholder events.
• Financial Oversight: Oversee P&L for all event-related activities, approving budgets, ensuring prudent allocation of resources, and maintaining high accountability in financial reporting.
• Event Conceptualisation, Planning & High-Level Management
• Lead the conceptualisation and development of major IBD platforms such as conferences, seminars, roundtables, networking events, and hybrid programmes for international markets.
• Provide strategic guidance to Market Teams and the Events Management Team to ensure all events are relevant, impactful, and aligned with business outcomes.
• Oversee coordination with government agencies, embassies, chambers, corporate partners, speakers, vendors, and PR/marketing agencies.
• Ensure adherence to protocols for events involving senior political office holders, foreign dignitaries, and top business leaders.
• Project Leadership, Quality Assurance & Reporting Excellence.
• Guide, mentor, and oversee the Events Management Team to ensure excellence.
• Project timelines: On-time delivery of all milestones and outputs.
• Budget & financial management: Optimisation of event budgets, cost effectiveness, and adherence to governance standards.
• Logistics & operations: High-quality participant experience, seamless onsite execution, and strong vendor performance.
• Strategic reporting and delivery of high-quality reports and updates.
• Operational plans, run downs, and manpower charts Event marketing and promotional materials Budget trackers and P&L summaries.
• Registration analytics and participant insights post-event outcomes, reports, KPI dashboards, recommendations for improvement.

Partnership Development & Ecosystem Engagement:

• Build, strengthen, and manage relationships with strategic partners, including foreign government bodies, business chambers, corporates, and key business leaders.
• Identify new partnership opportunities to enhance SBF’s internationalisation events portfolio and most importantly revenue streams.
• Oversee partner onboarding, engagement, and alignment with strategic events and programmes.

Events Marketing, Communications & Brand Leadership:

• Oversee marketing communications for all IBD events, including campaign strategy, content creation, social media outreach, and media relations.
• Guide the development of digital assets, eDMs, website content, and post-event publicity.
• Strengthen SBF’s brand positioning in the internationalisation space through integrated storytelling and consistent messaging across channels.

Team Leadership, Capability Building & Performance Management:

• Lead and mentor a team of managers and executives, providing coaching, feedback, and professional development to build deep bench strength.
• Cultivate a culture of operational excellence, accountability, and innovation within the Events & Programmes team.
• Ensure team readiness for high-stakes, fast-paced, multi-market project environments.

Departmental Planning & Executive Reporting:

• Develop annual strategies, workplans, budgets, manpower deployment frameworks, and performance reports for the division.
• Track and ensure delivery of departmental KPIs.
• Continuously enhance internal processes, SOPs, and operational standards.

Administrative, Financial & Procurement Oversight:

• Provide oversight and guidance on forecasting, budgeting, financial documentation, procurement, and vendor management.
• Ensure strong compliance with financial regulations, internal controls, and audit requirements.
• Maintain clear, accurate and audit-ready administrative and financial records.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Undertake special projects, cross-division initiatives, or strategic assignments as directed by senior management.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of experience in planning and delivering large-scale local and international events, including at least 3 years in a leadership or mid-management role.
• Strong understanding of how event platforms support strategic business goals and internationalisation outcomes.
• Demonstrated capability in programme development, partnership management, financial oversight, and stakeholder engagement.
• Excellent leadership, delegation, and team coaching skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage confidently with senior executives, government officials, and international partners.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality outcomes under tight timelines in dynamic, multi-project environments.
• Experienced with digital marketing tools, content creation, social outreach, and analytics.
• Familiarity with protocols for high-level events involving Political Office Holders and senior business leaders is an advantage.
• Highly organised, adaptable, solutions-oriented, and proactive.
• Positive attitude, strong work ethic, and a collaborative team player.

Note: This is a 1+1 year contract position.