Regional Chief Human Resources Officer — Foundation-Model Platform

The mandate

Sector economics have shifted just as a foundation-model platform moves from research towards supported products. The workforce was assembled to reward scientific depth and fast experimentation; commercialisation now requires product ownership, customer delivery, reliability and clearer cost accountability without weakening research distinction. Regional structures and leadership roles no longer match that mix. The Regional Chief Human Resources Officer will design the transition and ensure that difficult workforce choices are coherent, affordable and consistently executed.

The platform represents approximately S$750 million in AI product and services revenue, while the people remit directly influences roughly 150 employees and material partners across Singapore and the wider operating region. Those figures sit within a broader business whose talent markets are international and highly specialised. Scarce researchers, platform leaders and commercial translators expect compelling work, credible leaders and transparent rewards; retention cannot rely on compensation alone.

The desired outcome is reliable leadership supply, workforce affordability and consistent employee relations. This requires an operating model based on future work rather than existing reporting lines. The CHRO must help leaders decide which capabilities remain central, which need to grow, where roles combine or disappear and how talent moves into the areas of highest value.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement following an accelerated transition. Interim coverage protects essential people decisions, but research-to-product redesign cannot remain split across leaders. The board wants a permanent appointment within six to eight weeks and will communicate predecessor circumstances professionally. The role is onsite in Singapore, supports international relocation and reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive committee sponsor.

What you will own

You will translate the product and research strategy into a capability and workforce plan. Role families, skills evidence, location, employment mix and leadership spans should follow the future operating model. Cost scenarios must include hiring lead times, attrition risk, mobility and transition obligations. The plan needs explicit choices rather than broad aspirations to become more product-led.

Leadership supply is immediate. You will assess pivotal roles, challenge ambiguous shared accountabilities and create succession and development plans based on demonstrated readiness. Research leaders moving into product responsibilities may need new support or different roles. External hiring should close genuine gaps and be balanced against internal mobility, which must become practical across organisational boundaries.

Employee relations require regional consistency and local judgement. You will set fair principles for role changes, performance, consultation and reward while respecting legal and cultural requirements. Managers need scripts, evidence and decision support before announcements. The organisation should avoid both uncontrolled local exceptions and centrally imposed actions that ignore employee context.

Reward and talent investment must reflect changing economics. You will examine scarce-skill premiums, long-term retention mechanisms, vendor use and organisation layers, linking each to capability outcomes. Workforce data should show verified supply, cost and risk, not inflated skill inventories based on self-description.

The first 12 months

In the opening 90 days, establish a trusted view of roles, skills, workforce cost, attrition and leadership readiness. Meet research, product, commercial and regional leaders, assess the people team and identify decisions that cannot wait. Present the board with design principles, workforce scenarios, employee-relations risks and an agreed scorecard.

Between months four and nine, implement the chosen operating model in priority areas. Appoint pivotal leaders, launch targeted mobility and development, address unaffordable or duplicated structures and make external hires only against verified gaps. Managers should use a consistent employee-relations approach. Demonstrate improvement in at least one critical capability pipeline without exceeding agreed workforce economics.

At year end, leadership supply, affordability and employee relations should show stable progress across reporting periods. The next talent plan must reconcile product demand, research capacity, location, succession and cost. Present three-year capability scenarios and practical downside actions if hiring, retention or commercialisation differs from the core case.

What the board will measure

The annual people and transition plan should remain within 10% of approved cost and outcome assumptions, with variance anticipated early. Three quarterly forecasts need to align workforce, capability demand, cash and business milestones. A selected research-to-product skill constraint must improve quantitatively from a verified baseline.

Priority employee-relations and leadership risks should close by authorised dates with proof that interventions last. The platform expects at least 90% retention among critical talent and ready-now succession for 70% of direct reports. Severe people escalations cannot remain unresolved beyond 30 days, while material issues must reach the correct governance forum.

The person

You are a Regional CHRO, People Director or Business HR Vice President with 18–22 years in AI, enterprise software, cloud, data infrastructure, analytics, applied research or a similarly specialised business. You have carried accountability connected to at least S$700 million of P&L, budget or portfolio and led no fewer than 110 people.

Your record includes changing leadership and workforce architecture during a research-to-product shift. You can quantify capability supply, mobility, affordability and retention, and explain how employee relations remained consistent through hard decisions. The board seeks a commercial people leader, not a programme sponsor. References must identify your contribution and show outcomes sustained across two reporting periods.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated package is S$360,000–480,000 base plus annual incentive, calibrated to final scope and current mix. Any longer-term participation follows ordinary performance and vesting provisions. Notice up to six months can be accommodated. The post has regular access to the board and its investment committee.

Confidentiality

The organisation, predecessor and workforce plans will be identified only after mutual relevance is established under a formal undertaking. Published operating details have been rounded and blended to protect all parties.