Research Engineer (Creative Technologist & Design)

About the role

The NHB-SIT Joint Lab for Digital Heritage, a collaboration between the National Heritage Board and the Singapore Institute of Technology, is looking for a Creative Technologist with skills in web development, software prototyping, design research and digital innovation. The role sits within the Research division of the Business, Communication and Design scheme and is fixed term, starting on 28 August 2026. It suits someone proactive and curious who works across technology, design and research, collaborating with researchers, heritage professionals, designers and technical teams.

Key responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain web applications, prototypes and digital tools for heritage research, documentation, interpretation and public engagement, including proof-of-concept apps and interactive prototypes.
• Contribute to front-end and basic back-end development, API integration, data handling and deployment workflows.
• Apply design thinking and user-centred design methods, including stakeholder interviews, user observations, journey mapping, usability testing and synthesis of insights.
• Create wireframes, prototypes, user flows and interaction flows, and help plan and run design workshops and co-creation sessions.
• Document code, design decisions, research insights and workflows, and contribute to literature reviews, project reports, case studies, conference submissions and research papers.

Required profile

• Degree in data science, AI, database development or a related field; interest in digital heritage, cultural technologies, museums, archives, exhibitions or public engagement.
• Interest or experience in creative coding, interactive installations, digital storytelling, data visualisation, 3D web technologies, immersive media, digital preservation or cultural collections (preferred).
• Previous personal projects, internships, coursework or portfolio work in web development, creative technology, design research or interaction design (preferred).
• Good written and verbal communication, able to document processes and contribute to research outputs (preferred).

Required skills

• HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with front-end frameworks such as React or Vue.js (preferred).
• Some exposure to back-end development with Node.js, Python or similar (preferred).
• Git and version control (preferred).
• Experience with APIs, data storage or cloud platforms such as Firebase, Supabase, Airtable, Google Sheets APIs, MongoDB, PostgreSQL or MySQL (preferred).
• Wireframes, prototypes and user flows in tools such as Figma, Miro or Adobe Creative Suite (preferred).