Centre Director, Centre of Excellence, Airport Innovation (Contract)

About the role

The Centre Director leads the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Airport Innovation, translating the Governing Board’s strategic vision into operational reality. Reporting directly to the Board, the role oversees research, talent development, and the management of innovation assets across Singapore’s aviation ecosystem.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and implement the CoE’s operating model, annual roadmap, and multi‑year strategic plan aligned with national aviation strategy.
• Provide regular updates to the Governing Board, including KPI reviews and organisational health reports.
• Lead the Research & Innovation function, supervising lead principal investigators and overseeing high‑impact proof‑of‑concepts and pilots.
• Scout, onboard, and manage partnerships with start‑ups, technology vendors, OEMs, universities and research institutes.
• Form research proposal teams, appointing lead investigators and managing the full innovation lifecycle from research to scale‑up.
• Identify and address ecosystem‑wide innovation talent gaps, co‑designing programmes for undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education.
• Oversee the inventory, procurement and shared use of physical and digital innovation assets, including the apron testbed and digital twin.
• Build and steward strategic partnerships across aviation authorities, academic institutions, research institutes and technology ventures.
• Lead marketing and thought‑leadership initiatives to raise the CoE’s regional and global profile.

Required profile

• Professional with an active track record in innovation‑related work, research and/or applied projects.
• Proven experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams and managing large‑scale innovation programmes.
• Strong understanding of the national aviation strategy and airport operations ecosystem.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with government boards, industry partners and academic institutions.
• Experience in overseeing research portfolios, proof‑of‑concept pilots and technology commercialization.

Required skills