Job Description

Company: 1011 United Overseas Bank Ltd

About UOB

United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) is a leading bank in Asia with a global network of more than 500 branches and offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. In Asia, we operate through our head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as branches and offices. Our history spans more than 80 years. Over this time, we have been guided by our values – Honorable, Enterprising, United and Committed. This means we always strive to do what is right, build for the future, work as one team and pursue long-term success. It is how we work, consistently, be it towards the company, our colleagues or our customers.

Reporting to the Head of Innovation Enablement, the SVP, Group Innovation PMO, Partnership Engagement & Head of Talent & Culture is a senior leadership role responsible for driving enterprise-wide innovation programmes, strategic partnerships, workforce transformation, and innovation culture across UOB.

This role sits at the centre of the Innovation Group, providing strategic leadership across Group Innovation PMO, Partnership Engagement, and Talent & Culture. The role is responsible for driving the governance, execution, and scaling of strategic innovation initiatives across the Group, building and operationalising partnerships with fintechs, technology providers, academic institutions, and ecosystem partners, while simultaneously shaping the Bank’s innovation culture through workforce transformation, capability development, and future-ready skills programmes. Working closely with Group functions, country teams, and external stakeholders, the role ensures that innovation, partnerships, and people capabilities are aligned to accelerate adoption, strengthen organisational readiness, and deliver sustainable business value across UOB’s regional network.

The role works closely with Group functions, country teams, business units, HR, technology, and external ecosystem partners to accelerate innovation adoption and strengthen UOB's innovation capabilities across its regional network.

Beyond programme delivery, the SVP plays a critical role in shaping UOB's evolution into a future-ready organisation by connecting people, technology, partnerships, and innovation capabilities to drive sustainable business value.

Success in this role requires strong strategic leadership, ecosystem engagement, enterprise programme management, workforce transformation expertise, and the ability to influence and align stakeholders across multiple levels of the organisation.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Group Innovation PMO and Enterprise Programmes

• Lead the governance, planning, and execution of strategic innovation programmes across AI, data, digital assets, automation, and emerging technologies.
• Drive alignment across business units, Group functions, and country teams to ensure successful execution and scaling of innovation initiatives.
• Establish governance frameworks, operating models, delivery standards, and programme reporting mechanisms.
• Monitor programme progress, dependencies, risks, and outcomes, ensuring timely escalation and resolution.
• Drive adoption of repeatable innovation frameworks, playbooks, and best practices across the Group.

Lead Rapid Response Enterprise Transformation Engagements

• Serve as programme lead within high-impact transformation engagements addressing priority business, operational, and innovation opportunities.
• Define engagement models, success metrics, governance structures, and operating rhythms to support rapid execution.
• Apply systems thinking, structured problem-solving, and programme management disciplines to complex enterprise challenges.
• Facilitate collaboration across multiple stakeholders to accelerate decision-making and delivery.

Build and Operationalise Strategic Partnerships

• Develop and deepen relationships with fintechs, technology providers, universities, innovation hubs, venture ecosystems, and industry partners.
• Establish structured partnership frameworks, onboarding processes, governance requirements, and engagement models.
• Create and manage partnership roadmaps that expand innovation capabilities and ecosystem reach across UOB's regional network.
• Identify emerging opportunities through ecosystem engagement and translate them into strategic collaboration initiatives.
• Facilitate cross-functional engagement to maximise value from innovation partnerships and external collaborations.
• Represent UOB in industry forums, innovation ecosystems, and strategic partnership engagements.

Lead Innovation Talent Development and Workforce Transformation

• Define and drive the Innovation Group's talent, capability-building, and workforce transformation strategy.
• Partner with HR and Innovation Academy to establish future skills frameworks aligned to the Bank's digital, AI, and innovation ambitions.
• Design and oversee capability-building programmes, innovation learning pathways, certifications, and experiential learning initiatives.
• Build innovation communities, champion networks, and talent pipelines to support long-term capability development.
• Drive the adoption of innovation mindsets, agile ways of working, and continuous learning across the organisation.
• Support leadership development initiatives that strengthen innovation capabilities across Group functions and country teams.

Foster a Culture of Innovation and Continuous Learning

• Lead enterprise-wide innovation engagement programmes, challenges, hackathons, showcases, and community-building initiatives.
• Promote experimentation, curiosity, collaboration, and responsible innovation practices throughout the organisation.
• Drive employee participation in innovation programmes and initiatives that address real business challenges.
• Recognise and showcase innovation success stories to strengthen organisational engagement and adoption.
• Partner with communications and leadership teams to strengthen UOB's innovation culture and employer brand.

Align Stakeholders and Drive Enterprise Execution

• Lead alignment forums across business, technology, HR, risk, compliance, governance, and country stakeholders.
• Define ownership models, governance structures, RACIs, funding requirements, and operating principles.
• Maintain execution momentum through structured governance, transparent communication, and regular performance tracking.
• Influence stakeholders across all levels of the organisation and drive alignment without direct authority.
• Ensure innovation initiatives remain aligned to strategic priorities and deliver measurable business outcomes.

Qualifications & Skills

Core Experience

• 15+ years of leadership experience in innovation, programme management, workforce transformation, learning and development, technology, strategic partnerships, or enterprise transformation.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-wide programmes involving multiple business units and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success building and managing strategic partnerships and innovation ecosystems.
• Experience leading capability-building, talent development, or organisational transformation initiatives.
• Regional experience working across multiple markets and stakeholder groups is highly desirable.

Technical & Domain Expertise

• Strong understanding of AI, data and analytics, digital transformation, emerging technologies, and innovation ecosystems.
• Knowledge of workforce transformation, capability development, organisational change, and innovation management practices.
• Familiarity with financial services, regulatory environments, and enterprise governance frameworks.

Leadership & Behavioural Competencies

• Strategic and structured thinker capable of translating vision into actionable plans.
• Strong executive presence with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment across diverse groups.
• Passionate people leader with strong coaching, mentoring, and talent development capabilities.
• Ability to lead through ambiguity while maintaining strong execution discipline and governance standards.

Personal Attributes

• Enterprise-level systems thinker with strong analytical rigour.
• High integrity, ownership mindset, and strong execution focus.
• Curious, adaptive, and committed to continuous learning and improvement.
• Passionate about innovation, partnerships, people development, and organisational transformation.
• Strong advocate for collaboration, experimentation, and building a future-ready workforce.

Additional Requirements

Develop, Engage, Execute, Strategise

Be a Part of the UOB Family

UOB is an equal opportunity employer. UOB does not discriminate on the basis of a candidate's age, race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or other non-merit factors. All employment decisions at UOB are based on business needs, job requirements and qualifications. If you require any assistance or accommodations to be made for the recruitment process, please inform us when you submit your online application.

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