Strategic Partnerships Lead

We are the University of Cambridge research centre in Singapore called Cambridge CARES, sponsored by the NRF CREATE program CAM.CREATE. Health-driven design for cities (HD4) is a collaborative research programme between the University of Cambridge, NTU and NUS within Cambridge CARES.

The Health-driven design for cities (HD4) programme at Cambridge CARES will undertake research in the following key areas: dynamic characterisation of the features of the environment that potentially impact health in Singapore; understanding the links between environmental factors, individual behaviour and health outcomes; observing the impact of environmental change on health in Singapore; simulating the impact of potential changes on the health of Singaporeans;

and working with government agencies to co-develop datarich public health tools.

Work Package 5 (WP5) is HD4's government and strategic partnerships work package. It exists to build and sustain trusted relationships with the ministries, statutory boards, and agencies that hold the geospatial, planning, and infrastructure data HD4's research depends on - and to translate HD4's research findings back into forms that are directly useful for policy and strategic planning.

HD4 is looking for a Strategic Partnerships Lead to act as the programme's principal liaison with the Singapore public sector for WP5. This is a senior, relationship-led role for someone who has served inside government and understands how ministries and statutory boards operate, think, and make decisions - particularly agencies involved in infrastructure, land use, and geospatial data (e.g. planning, transport, land administration, housing, environment and Smart Nation / Gov Tech-related functions).

The successful candidate will work at the interface between government and research: opening doors to data and problem statements, framing HD4's multidisciplinary research (spanning geospatial science, urban planning, and public health) in terms that resonate with policymakers, and making sure research outputs land as something agencies can actually use in evidence-based policy making, strategic planning, and city-design decisions that improve population health.

• Strategic liaison:
  Serve as HD4's primary point of contact for government ministries and statutory boards engaged in WP5, building and maintaining senior-level relationships across relevant agencies.
• Data access & partnerships:
  Work with agency counterparts to identify, negotiate, and facilitate access to geospatial and related administrative datasets needed for HD4 research, navigating data-sharing agreements, governance, and security requirements.
• Problem-statement development:
  Engage agencies to surface real policy and planning problem statements, and help shape these into well-defined, researchable questions that HD4's multidisciplinary teams can act on.
• Co-creation of research:
  Convene researchers and government stakeholders together to co-design research questions, study designs, and pilots that are both scientifically rigorous and policy-relevant.

• Strategic communications:
  Develop and drive HD4's communications strategy toward government audiences - briefings, position papers, dashboards, and presentations that make complex, multidisciplinary research accessible to non-technical policymakers.
• Evidence-to-policy translation:
  Translate HD4 research findings into actionable recommendations for evidence-based policy, strategic planning, and city-design decisions aimed at improving population health outcomes.
• Decision-maker engagement:
  Prepare senior HD4 investigators and agency leadership for joint…