Director (Comparative Medicine)

About the role

NUS is looking for a Director (Comparative Medicine) to provide strategic and operational leadership for its Comparative Medicine unit. Comparative Medicine supports multidisciplinary research, teaching and translational programmes across NUS and affiliated research institutes, while ensuring compliance with Singapore's NACLAR Guidelines, the Animal and Birds Act and maintaining AAALAC International accreditation standards. The position is based at the Kent Ridge Campus.

Key responsibilities

• Partner with Deans, the Vice Dean (Research) and Principal Investigators to support NUS research strategy and contribute to undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education programmes.
• Ensure adherence to NACLAR guidelines, AVS regulations and institutional policies; oversee the NUS Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC); lead AAALAC accreditation and site visits.
• Champion the 3Rs principles and a culture of care, overseeing veterinary and welfare programmes for rodents, large animals and aquatic models such as zebrafish.
• Oversee vivarium, large animal and aquatic facilities across NUS campuses, including biosafety (e.g. BSL2/BSL3 where applicable), occupational health and environmental requirements.
• Facilitate preclinical and translational research, including surgical models and advanced technologies, and support reproducibility and rigor in animal studies.
• Work with the Office of Risk Management and Compliance on risk management, zoonotic disease prevention and staff occupational health programmes.
• Manage the budget, cost recovery models and resource allocation, and oversee procurement and vendor management.
• Engage AVS, AAALAC, funding agencies and academic collaborators, and represent NUS in regional and international laboratory animal science forums.
• Lead veterinarians, animal care, aquatic and technical teams, and ensure NACLAR-compliant training and competency frameworks.

Required profile

• Degree or equivalent in veterinary medicine, biomedical sciences or a related field.
• At least 15 years' experience, including leadership in animal facilities.
• Strong experience with AAALAC accreditation and the NACLAR regulatory framework.
• Experience in academic or university environments preferred.
• Experience supporting large-scale translational and collaborative research programmes preferred.
• Familiarity with the Singapore research ecosystem and funding landscape preferred.