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Technical Lead / Software Engineering Manager

  • Hybrid
    • Singapore, Central Singapore, Singapore
  • Software Engineering

Job description

Who We Are

Open Government Products (OGP) operates like a startup within the government. We are a fast-paced, dynamic team of engineers, designers, and product managers dedicated to building technology for the public good. We identify opportunities to solve real problems, rapidly prototype, and launch impactful products - from citizen apps to platforms that power entire government operations.

We work in the open, embrace flat hierarchies, and cut through bureaucracy to focus on user-centric innovations that make a difference at scale.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Technical Lead (Engineering Manager) who can build and lead at the same time. This role is not just about people management - it’s also about writing production code, making key technical decisions, and setting engineering standards.

You’ll spend part of your time designing, coding, and reviewing systems, and part of your time guiding a team, mentoring engineers, and working with stakeholders to ensure we build technology that is scalable, secure, and impactful.

In this role, you will:

  • Write and ship code regularly, while balancing leadership responsibilities.

  • Lead and mentor engineers, providing technical direction, coaching, and clarity.

  • Architect and design systems end-to-end, from prototype to production.

  • Collaborate cross-functionally with designers, product managers, and policymakers.

  • Balance long-term technical vision with near-term delivery needs.

  • Represent engineering in discussions with agencies and partners, bridging technical and operational perspectives.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of hands-on engineering, leadership, and impact.

Key Responsibilities

  • Contribute code across the stack while setting technical standards.

  • Architect, design, and deliver scalable, high-quality systems.

  • Lead a team of engineers with clarity and accountability.

  • Mentor and grow engineers through reviews, pairing, and coaching.

  • Drive engineering best practices: testing, security, observability, CI/CD.

  • Partner with stakeholders to align technology with user and policy needs.

  • Translate complex technical issues into actionable decisions for mixed audiences.

  • Explore and deliver innovations that improve efficiency, resilience, and impact.

What We’re Looking For

  • Proven track record as a Senior/Lead Engineer, shipping and scaling production systems.

  • Strong background in modern software engineering (bonus if you’ve worked across backend, frontend, infra, or data pipelines).

  • Experience balancing coding with leadership - you enjoy both and are effective at switching contexts.

  • Ability to make tough trade-offs, guide technical strategy, and lead teams through ambiguity.

  • Excellent communication and stakeholder skills, with the ability to influence across technical and non-technical domains.

  • A mission-driven mindset: motivated by the chance to build technology that improves lives at scale.

This is not a pure management role. You’ll be expected to stay hands-on, write code, and lead by example, while also growing and guiding a team to deliver impact.

Working at OGP

Ownership and Autonomy — Beyond technical tasks, this means having autonomy to voice opinions and suggest future directions. Building what you believe in drives the creation of great solutions.

Rapid Prototyping — We prioritize testing ideas over debating them, allowing us to identify problems quickly and convey possibilities to others. This fail-fast approach accelerates innovation.

Flexibility — We provide flexible work arrangements based on what works best for our team and its members, fostering a productive and supportive environment.

Continuous Learning — Drive professional growth by exploring new architectures, frameworks, and technologies. With dedicated yearly learning months and hackathons, continuous learning is essential as we tackle innovative ideas and challenges.

Mission-Driven — Our work is dedicated to the public good, aiming to improve the lives of Singapore citizens. We focus on creating impactful solutions that enhance the community and the place we call home.

Projects OGP has worked on include:

ScamShield — iOS and Android mobile apps, enhanced in August 2024, help users check and report suspicious communications. The apps automatically filter known scams using an AI-powered machine learning classifier. An Admin Dashboard also allows police to verify reported scams.

ParkingSG — A mobile app alternative to parking coupons. It lets users pay, extend, and refund their parking sessions just using their phones.

RedeemSG — Helps the Singapore Government to create, send and track redemptions of digital vouchers easily.

COVID-19 Vaccination — A suite of systems built to enable Singapore's national vaccination campaign for COVID-19. This includes informational sites, appointment booking systems, and records management systems.

data.gov.sg — An open repository of all the Singapore Government's public data. It helps people understand the data using visualizations and articles, and provides real-time APIs for developers to use.

Isomer — Provides government agencies with an easy-to-deploy static website building and hosting service to create usable, secure and faster informational websites quickly.

FormSG — A form builder tool for agencies to self-service and create online forms that capture classified data, with the goal of replacing paper forms.

PaySG — Was developed to enable digital payments for government services, and was initially used for payments for COVID-19 swab tests and Stay-Home Notices for incoming travellers to Singapore.

An overview of other OGP products can be found on our website https://open.gov.sg

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I hereby give my consent to Open Government Products, Government Technology Agency (“OGP”) to: Obtain and verify information from or with any source (including third parties) as may be deemed appropriate by OGP and/or any relevant Government agency for the purposes of assessing my application for employment and/or for recommendation to a third party for employment with or engagement by that third party (see below for more information). Share my personal data set out in this application form and any other personal data subsequently provided by me arising out of or in connection with my application for employment with other Government agencies or a third party vendor appointed by OGP for the purposes of recruitment and/or review of recruitment practices, and for such personal data to also be used as part of de-identified and aggregated data for reporting purposes.  

Additionally, where relevant, OGP may share my personal data set out in this application form and any other personal data subsequently provided by me to a third party for that third party to consider employing or otherwise engaging me to undertake work relevant to OGP. I understand and acknowledge that the collection, use and/or disclosure of such personal data may also be subject to that third party’s privacy terms. I declare that all the information given by me is true to the best of my knowledge and voluntarily given.   By clicking the 'Apply' button, I hereby certify that I have read and understood all of the clauses above and that I agree to all of them.