NUS Enterprise

Entrepreneurial hub accelerating startups and commercialization

Manager, Partnerships Support

Program ManagementConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeSingaporeNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

A degree is required.
Six to nine years of experience in operational coordination, contract management, programme administration, or commercial support is required; experience in professional services, financial services, or an ecosystem environment is ideal.
Strong commercial literacy, including understanding partnership and donor-engagement structures and effective follow-through, is required.
The candidate must be organised and rigorous, with strong attention to detail and follow-through across multiple workstreams simultaneously.
The candidate must be process-oriented and improvement-minded, able to identify friction, propose solutions, and build scalable systems.
The candidate must be comfortable working across multiple teams and functions without a direct reporting line to any of them.
The candidate must proactively surface issues before they become visible problems.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end day-to-day operations of the Purple Challenge across all five scope areas, driving execution from initial challenge framing through final outcomes reporting.
Coordinate the ASEAN-wide and global outreach campaign by managing digital channels, partner amplification, webinar roadshows, and information sessions across BLOCK71 nodes and disability organisations.
Manage application intake and screening, run the online portal, track submissions, and facilitate shortlisting for the Top 20 and Top 5 finalists.
Coordinate dual-track evaluation panels for technical/commercial and implementation/inclusion evaluation, managing scheduling, scoring logistics, and conflict-of-interest protocols.
Deliver the final pitching event and cocktail networking session end-to-end, overseeing the venue, accessibility services including captioning and sign-language interpretation, audiovisual production, invitations, RSVPs, and catering.
Serve as the primary liaison for external and internal partners and stakeholders, ensuring meaningful and accessible engagement at every stage.
Compile programme outputs, support final outcomes reports, maintain quarterly dashboards, and author recommendations memos for future cycles.
Administer partnership and donor agreements across BLOCK71 Singapore, Corporate Partnerships, and Development and Donations, maintaining an accurate register of active contracts, commitments, entitlements, and deliverable timelines.
Track partnership entitlement fulfilment, identify what has been committed, delivered, and remains outstanding, and escalate delivery risks to the relevant relationship owner before they become visible to external parties.
Establish and maintain a contract and entitlement tracking system serving all three functions, operational and in active use within the first quarter.
Flag contract renewals, extensions, and terminations well in advance and prepare the relevant relationship owner for the ensuing conversation.
Coordinate procurement processes across the three functions, including vendor selection, purchase orders, invoice management, and payment follow-through, in compliance with NUSX policies.
Ensure invoices are issued accurately and on time, track payment receipts, flag overdue payments, and coordinate with Finance as needed.
Maintain accurate financial records for partnerships and donor engagements, supporting relationship owners with budget management and financial reporting.
Coordinate with Legal when contracts require review, amendment, or new agreement structures, and involve the appropriate people at the appropriate stage.
Support operational delivery of externally funded programmes and initiatives, handling administrative and logistical elements so relationship owners can focus on programme substance.
Coordinate across teams when an initiative involves multiple functions, maintaining a shared view of activities, ownership, and risks.
Manage external partner and donor reporting requirements, including due dates and required team inputs, and coordinate those inputs.
Track programme commitments in partnership agreements against actual delivery and flag gaps to the relevant relationship owner.
Identify inconsistent, manual, or friction-producing operational processes across the three functions and propose and implement improvements.
Build and maintain shared operational tools, including trackers, templates, filing structures, and process guides, to support task handoffs and scale the coordination function.
Stay close to each function's work to anticipate operational support needs as partnerships and programmes evolve.
Map the current state of contracts, entitlements, and commitments across the three functions, identifying existing arrangements, gaps, and risks.
Build working relationships with relationship owners across the three functions, understanding their working practices and areas of operational friction.
Identify the two or three highest-priority process improvements and present a proposal to the Associate Director, Strategy and Operations.

Desired Qualifications

Experience in a university, research, or innovation ecosystem environment is advantageous.

(34525) Manager, Partnerships Support

NUSX · Singapore, Singapore · Contract · Posted 2026-09-28

Workplace: on_site

Department: BLOCK71 Singapore

Description

About Us

NUSX is where NUS talent, research and ideas meet the people, pathways and resources that can take them further. That includes founder development, research translation, venture creation, industry partnerships and access to capital and global networks. The parts of NUSX do different things, but we share a common ambition: help more NUS talent, research and ideas find a path to use and scale. NUSX was known as NUS Enterprise until September 2026.

Why This Role Exists

NUSX's ecosystem has grown into a scale where relationship-building talent - the people who develop corporate partnerships, secure donor commitments, and build long-term institutional relationships - is being absorbed by operational work. Contract administration, entitlement tracking, procurement coordination, invoice management, and financial compliance are necessary. They are also not the best use of senior relationship owners' time.

The Manager, Partnerships Support exists to provide a shared operational backbone across key initiatives including the BLOCK71 Singapore, Corporate Partnerships, Development and Donations, and flagship ecosystem initiatives. By concentrating the coordination, delivery, and follow-through work in one capable role, this capability frees relationship owners to focus on what they do best - and ensures that commercial, donor, and programme commitments are tracked, delivered, and documented with the discipline the ecosystem now requires.

This is an enabling role, not an administrative one. It requires commercial literacy, process rigour, and the ability to work across multiple teams and initiative types simultaneously.

Operating Approach

This role operates with a high degree of ownership and initiative. The Associate Director, Strategy and Operations sets the direction. How the operational support model is built, maintained, and improved is yours to develop and iterate. You are expected to surface process gaps, propose solutions, and drive follow-through without being asked.

Key Responsibilities

1. Programme Delivery & Operations (Purple Challenge Lead)

Own the end-to-end day-to-day operations of the Purple Challenge across all five scope areas, driving execution from initial challenge framing through to final outcomes reporting.
Coordinate the ASEAN-wide and global outreach campaign by managing digital channels, partner amplification, webinar roadshows, and information sessions across BLOCK71 nodes and disability organisations.
Manage application intake and screening, running the online portal, tracking submissions, and facilitating shortlisting for Top 20 and Top 5 finalists.
Coordinate dual-track evaluation panels (technical/commercial and implementation/inclusion), managing scheduling, scoring logistics, and conflict-of-interest protocols.
Deliver the final pitching event and cocktail networking session end-to-end, overseeing venue, accessibility services (captioning, sign-language interpretation), AV/production, invitations, RSVPs, and catering.
Serve as primary partner liaison for external & internal stakeholders, ensuring meaningful and accessible engagement at every stage.
Compile programme outputs, support final outcomes reports, maintain quarterly dashboards, and author recommendations memos for future cycles.

2. Contract Administration and Entitlement Tracking

Own the end-to-end administration of partnership and donor agreements across BLOCK71 Singapore, Corporate Partnerships, and Development and Donations. This includes maintaining a current and accurate register of all active contracts, commitments, entitlements, and deliverable timelines.
Own end-to-end day-to-day operations of a global challenge across all five scope areas, from challenge framing through to final outcomes reporting.
Serve as primary partner liaison for internal and external stakeholders, ensuring meaningful and accessible engagement at every stage.
Track entitlement fulfilment for each partnership - what has been committed, what has been delivered, and what is outstanding. Surface risks to delivery early and escalate to the relevant relationship owner before they become visible to the external party.
Stand up and maintain a contract and entitlement tracking system that serves all three functions. In the first quarter in role, this system should be operational and in active use.
Ensure contract renewals, extensions, and terminations are flagged well in advance and the relevant relationship owner is prepared for the conversation.

3. Commercial and Financial Coordination

Coordinate procurement processes across the three functions - vendor selection, purchase orders, invoice management, and payment follow-through — in compliance with NUSX policies.
Ensure invoices are issued accurately and on time, and track receipt of payments. Flag overdue payments and coordinate with Finance where needed.
Maintain accurate financial records for all partnerships and donor engagements, supporting the relationship owners in budget management and financial reporting.
Coordinate with Legal where contracts require review, amendment, or new agreement structures. Ensure the right people are looped in at the right stage.

4. Programme Delivery Coordination

Support the operational delivery of externally funded programmes and initiatives, ensuring that the administrative and logistical elements are handled so relationship owners can focus on the substance.
Coordinate across teams where a single initiative involves multiple functions. Maintain a shared view of what is happening, who owns what, and what is at risk.
Manage reporting requirements for external partners and donors - what reports are due, when, and what inputs are needed from which teams. Own the coordination of those inputs.
Ensure programme commitments made in partnership agreements are tracked against actual delivery and flag any gaps to the relevant relationship owner.

5. Process and Systems Improvement

Identify where operational processes across the three functions are inconsistent, manual, or creating unnecessary friction. Propose and implement improvements.
Build and maintain shared operational tools - trackers, templates, filing structures, process guides - that make it easier for relationship owners to hand off operational tasks and for the coordination function to scale.
Stay close enough to the work of each function to anticipate what operational support will be needed as partnerships and programmes evolve. Do not wait to be asked.

First 90 Days

Map the current state of contracts, entitlements, and commitments across BLOCK71 Singapore, Corporate Partnerships, and Development and Donations. Understand what exists, where the gaps are, and what is at risk.
Stand up a contract and entitlement tracking system that is operational and in active use by the end of the first quarter.
Build working relationships with the relationship owners across all three functions. Understand their ways of working and where operational friction is highest.
Identify the two or three highest-priority process improvements and bring a proposal to the Associate Director, Strategy and Operations.

What Success Looks Like

Relationship owners across BLOCK71 Singapore, Corporate Partnerships, and Development and Donations spend more time building strategic relationships and securing opportunities.
Contract and entitlement tracking is current, accurate, and proactively managed. No commitment falls through without being flagged first.
Externally funded initiatives are delivered with operational discipline. Reports go out on time. Invoices are accurate. Payments are tracked.
The operational coordination function scales alongside ecosystem growth without adding proportional administrative burden to relationship owners.

Requirements

Degree holder
6 to 9 years of experience in a role requiring operational coordination, contract management, programme administration, or commercial support, ideally in a professional services, financial services, or ecosystem environment
Strong commercial literacy - understands how partnerships and donor engagements are structured and what good follow-through looks like
Organised and rigorous, with a high standard of attention to detail and follow-through across multiple workstreams simultaneously
Process-oriented and improvement-minded - identifies friction, proposes solutions, and builds systems that scale
Comfortable working across multiple teams and functions without a direct reporting line to any of them
Proactive and solutions-oriented - surfaces issues before they become visible problems
Experience in a university, research, or innovation ecosystem environment will be advantageous

Please be informed that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Job Type: 2-year Contract

Location: Kent Ridge Campus

Organisation: NUSX

Department : Ecosystem Development

Job requisition ID : 34525

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About the Company

NUS Enterprise

Entrepreneurial hub accelerating startups and commercialization

NUS Enterprise supports and grows entrepreneurship at the National University of Singapore. It seeds ideas, sparks innovations, and scales ventures from campus into global companies by offering experiential learning, ecosystem building, technology translation and commercialisation, and strategic global partnerships. It has helped nearly 4,300 students and over 3,000 start-ups, including 10 unicorns, and aims to improve the lives of 1 billion people in the next decade by building a worldwide innovation network. Their approach combines education, mentorship, access to resources and markets, and collaborations to turn research and ideas into real-world impact.

Company size: Not listed
Company stage: Not listed
Total funding: $2.9M
Headquarters: Singapore, Singapore
Founded: 2001

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