MND Singapore Career Booklet

FULFILLING ASPIRATIONS

AN ENDEARING HOME A DISTINCTIVE GLOBAL CITY

The Ministry of National Development (MND), the key government ministry responsible for national land use planning and development, aims to transform Singapore into an endearing home and a distinctive global city by developing world-class infrastructure, creating a vibrant and sustainable living environment and building rooted and cohesive communities.

OUR DIVISIONS We value creative and analytical individuals with a passion for public policy, and who possess good verbal and writing skills. Discover which MND Division or department is the right fit for you!

Policy Divisions cover strategic planning, housing and infrastructure issues.

The Strategic Planning Division works in close collaboration with URA to deal with policy issues for land use, land and urban development, conservation and Singapore’s long-term development strategies.

The Housing Division works closely with HDB to formulate, review and implement a broad range of policies directed at public housing and town council matters; and with CEA to regulate the real estate agency industry.

The Infrastructure Division works with AVA, BCA and NParks to ensure food safety and animal control, oversee the development and regulation of the built environment sector and construction industry, as well as to create and maintain Singapore’s green spaces respectively.

The Eco-City Project Office drives the development of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

The Research & Strategy Management Division provides insightful research on areas such as the property market, land use planning, public housing, parks development, food safety and construction.

The Research & Development Division works closely with stakeholders across Government, the research community and industry, to drive and coordinate MND’s research and development policies and efforts.

The Corporate Communications Division drives the Ministry’s public communications efforts to raise awareness and understanding of its policies.

The Corporate Development Division focuses on activities relating to the management and deployment of key resources such as Finance, IT and HR, to ensure the smooth functioning of the entire Ministry.

The Municipal Services Office aims to enhance the delivery of municipal services and infrastructure, inculcate the citizen-centric and continuous improvement mindset across partner agencies and promote community partnership and civic responsibility.

The Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) aims to distil, create and share knowledge on liveable and sustainable cities. Its work spans across four main areas – Research, Capability Development, Knowledge Platforms and Advisory.

HERE'S A GLIMPSE OF JUST SOME OF THE WORK OF THE MND FAMILY Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) • Ensure a resilient supply of safe food • Ensure the health and safeguard the welfare of animals • Safeguard the health of plants • Facilitate agri-trade

Building and Construction Authority (BCA) • Shape a safe, high quality, sustainable and friendly built environment

Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) • Regulate the duties, business activities and conduct of property agencies and agents • Raise professionalism and client-centricity of the real estate agency industry • Empower consumers to make informed decisions when engaging property agents

Housing and Development Board (HDB) • Provide affordable homes of quality and value • Create sustainable and vibrant towns • Promote the building of active and cohesive communities

National Parks Board (NParks) • Create the best living environment with excellent greenery and recreational options in partnership with the community

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) • Make Singapore a great city to live, work and play • Plan and facilitate Singapore’s physical development in partnership with the community

Gardens by the Bay (GB) • Make the Gardens by the Bay the leisure destination of choice for all • Delight guests with an enthralling experience, excellent service and enriching programmes • Inspire pride and ownership in every Singaporean for the Gardens • To be a model for sustainable development and conservation

HEAR FROM OUR STAFF What makes our work exciting and interesting? Hear what our staff have to say about their challenging and rewarding careers in MND. As part of the Policy and Planning Division of the Municipal Services Office, I assist in the development of Whole-of-Government structural and policy solutions, and tap on technology and data analytics to study trends and patterns. In this way, we can identify areas for upstream systemic improvements that can benefit Singaporeans.

As a central coordinating body, we have to work closely with many agencies with different mandates and priorities. It is a challenge to balance these different interests to arrive at a consensus, and sometimes, a compromise. It’s like playing mediator and honest broker, but between organisations!

Despite the challenges, the biggest satisfaction about working in MND is seeing our policies and plans taking shape in our island-city – the lush parks and greenery, the safe and clean housing estates and the beautiful city skyline. These are the fruits of the labour of the wonderful people I work with in the MND Family. Our work is not just about numbers and cents – it is about people and their lives, and it requires a delicate balance to manage their needs. We need to be decisive in determining what areas cannot be compromised on when implementing a policy or plan. It also means that we must be convinced of why certain things have to be done. It’s neither solely a science nor an art, it’s a bit of both!

I see myself as a bridge between the public and private sectors, aligning interests to best benefit our people, and working towards safeguarding our food security.

My main source of motivation is people. I am a sociologist by training and I am driven by the passion and energy of the people I meet and the people I work with. Tremendous amounts of effort are put in behind the scenes to ensure that Singapore continues to run seamlessly, and I get to cross paths with many people who inspire me to give my best. I have the freedom to explore new areas and engage stakeholders in urban farming and food security domains. Most importantly, I have a sense of fulfilment every day, knowing that the effort I put in contributes to something greater that would potentially benefit our people.

The challenges on the job come about because the Government is made up of many pieces making a whole. There is a need to constantly work to make the different pieces come together, such as bringing together the ideas of different agencies. But these challenges are also what makes the job stimulating and exciting. At the end of the day, you tend to learn the most on a path filled with barriers and obstacles that you manage to successfully negotiate, as compared to an easy one.

Everyone knows about Singapore’s amazing transformation from a Third World to a First World country. I wanted to see and experience for myself how this was possible behind the scenes. This was what motivated me to join the public service.

Before joining the Eco-City Project Office (ECPO), I was with the Centre for Liveable Cities and the Corporate Development Division. These three postings exposed me to different aspects of public service. In the process, they have deepened my understanding of Singapore’s urban transformation and exposed me to international perspectives. At ECPO, I am part of the Singapore team leading the second Government-to-Government project between Singapore and China that has helped to transform the Tianjin Eco-city from a barren wasteland into a model city for sustainable development.

My work is exciting because I am always learning and discovering new insights during the course of my work. One of the challenges that I face is in coordinating and managing the different priorities and perspectives of multiple stakeholders.

While this is sometimes an uphill task, it is something that we cannot overlook.

Urban development is not just about coming up with solutions, it is also about how to make these solutions work.

I joined MND as a fresh graduate, starting my career in the HR section before being rotated to the Housing Division after three years under MND’s job rotation framework. My first posting in Corporate Development allowed me to gain a better grasp of MND’s internal operations and its business challenges. My next stint in the Housing Division taught me how to see issues from a different perspective – to look at them through our stakeholders’ point of view, so that our policies will be more robust and are able to cater sufficiently to each group’s needs. My current stint at PUB involves reviewing demand management policies, which requires an understanding of household behaviour and water use.

These diverse stints have given me a better appreciation of our role in developing Singapore, and I find great personal satisfaction in being able to review and improve our policies in order to better the lives of Singaporeans. I am also grateful to the mentors and supervisors who have given me good training and guidance in my career so far.

My role in MND brings together the different agencies within and beyond the MND Family to achieve long-term and holistic goals through strategic planning, futures thinking and research and development. Given our unique challenges as a city-state, Singapore has always innovated to overcome our land scarcity to create a liveable environment for our people. As we enter into our next phase of development, more could be done in terms of research and development to uncover new solutions. I work with different stakeholders (agencies, academia and industry) to create these new solutions. As these stakeholders have different interests, we design policies and processes to actively “match-make” them to achieve our goals. Being the parent ministry, we also engage our agencies to look beyond business-as-usual activities and set aside time and manpower to look into innovation. The different people I get to work with everyday and the challenge of bringing them together makes my job interesting and exciting. At the end of the day, knowing that my efforts contribute towards nation building gives me the satisfaction and the motivation to go further.

With a background in Ecology and Environmental Science and Policy, I joined MND’s Strategic Planning Division to contribute towards making our living environment more sustainable. MND’s work ranges from housing to land use planning, all of which directly affects people’s lives. Our work allows us to influence and shape our physical environment, so that our future generations continue to enjoy a liveable environment that we call home.

With all the constraints we face as a small city-state, how do we ensure that Singapore continues to develop sustainably? Our daily challenges involve thinking out of the box to make more efficient use of our limited space and resources.

I’m motivated by the new ideas that push boundaries to improve our built environment, from shared self-driving electric vehicles that potentially allow us to reduce road space to vertical and rooftop greenery that makes use of underutilised space to make our environment more biophilic. We often work with other agencies to address multi-disciplinary issues, such as Whole-of-Government sustainability initiatives that are detailed in the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint.

MND is one big family with a great working culture. I enjoy participating in the staff work-life activities and contributing to community involvement events such as our annual charity bazaar, which goes a long way in helping the elderly and underprivileged. In all, working at MND is a fulfilling experience and I look forward to continue working with colleagues and stakeholders to make people’s lives better.

CAREER AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES Training Structured training including professional job-specific courses and on-the-job training to sharpen your competencies, as well as foundational courses such as the MND Induction Programme and City EXCEL Programme to provide a better understanding of how the Ministry and its agencies work together to achieve a common vision.

Cross-Agency Mobility Exposure to varied and diverse career opportunities, including job rotations within the Ministry headquarters, as well as inter-agency postings to our statutory boards or other agencies.

Talent Development Opportunities to attend milestone leadership courses such as the Executive Development and Growth Exchange (EDGE) Programme and Leaders in Urban Governance Programme (LUGP). Opportunities to participate in inter-agency projects. Postgraduate scholarships are available to groom officers aspiring towards leadership roles.

GREEN HARVESTING OPPORTUNITIES If you are a final year undergraduate, you may be invited to attend a tea session in MND which will include a presentation. After the session, you may submit your application. If successful, you will be assured of a job even before graduating. Find out more about us through your school’s career fair!

Joining the research team in MND allowed me to understand the various dimensions of housing, an issue which affects everyone in Singapore.

Beyond the macro dimension of supply, demand and pricing, there is also a social dimension on how housing affects various groups of people. I was recently rotated to the Housing Division, where I am gaining in-depth exposure to the considerations in policy formulation, implementation and communication. It also allows me to directly shape policies that impact and improve people’s lives. It has been an enriching and meaningful journey, with helpful colleagues and supportive supervisors who provide leadership and guidance.

We often think of the physical space as being indifferent to the people who inhabit them but as the age-old saying goes, the streets are for people, by people. With my background in sociology, I have a keen interest in how the city I live in is planned, and I want to contribute to the conversations behind it. My experience at the Centre for Liveable Cities has been enriching – gleaning lessons by our urban pioneers on planning physical and social spaces to researching about the challenges we will face tomorrow. I learn from our past, but even more excitingly, get to play a part in safeguarding what we have and continuing on this journey of building a liveable and sustainable city for everyone.

As a Geography major, I was attracted to a career with MND as it would expose me to a diverse range of urban and spatial issues.

I wanted to work alongside like-minded individuals who are passionate about our city. Having shared that I am keen to hone my interpersonal skills during the Green Harvesting Programme recruitment drive, I was offered a position with the International Relations unit, which supports MND’s foreign engagements. Working here has deepened my understanding of urban concepts that I had learned in university. I also enjoy the nurturing and vibrant MND culture, and am grateful for the approachable colleagues I’ve met!

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES If you are an outstanding individual with a passion in shaping Singapore’s living environment, MND’s internship Programme is for you. During the internship, you will get a chance to take on challenging and varied projects in one of our divisions.

Beyond acquiring valuable working experience, you will also get to interact with MND’s senior management and glean deeper insights into our policy making process. Apply for an MND internship today!

My key task at the Infrastructure Division was to conduct a study on global urban planning practices. I experienced how polices are formulated first hand! The greatest insight I have gained was the sheer amount of intergovernmental learning that takes place despite all the different contexts various city governments had – nothing is ever the same between any two cities; what works in New York might not work in San Francisco – and that’s two cities in the same country! Attempting to contextualise these policy tools and innovations and analyse their relevance in Singapore was one of the most challenging aspects but also the most fun!

As an intern with the Engagement & Partnership team, I assisted in the formulation of a MND volunteer programme which aimed to consolidate and promote volunteer development in MND’s agencies. We researched best practices as well as conducted focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders.

The greatest takeaway from my internship experience was the insight into the culture at MND, which emphasises adaptability and collaboration – the doors are always open for friendly advice and help when needed!

Overall, it was an eye-opening experience to see how the ministry is run and to get a good grasp of working in the public service.

Playing a part in the Research and Development team’s efforts to encourage the development of new technologies to enhance our living spaces was exciting!

I explored various areas such as ways to reduce noise pollution and innovative ideas on how to best make use of our underground spaces.

I was also involved in organising an International Advisory Panel meeting for the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2NIC), which saw many international experts gather to discuss ideas and proposals related to land use maximisation. The experiences were both exciting and invaluable as they challenged my existing worldview. More importantly, they taught me to look at issues not just from different perspectives, but also in a contextualised manner.

Find out more at http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Careers/WhyMND or email us at MND_career@mnd.gov.sg