Associate Director, Content-as-a-Service - Singapore - SPH Media

Description

About Us

SPH Media's mission is to be the trusted source of news and lifestyle content in Singapore and Asia. One of our core purposes is to produce credible, balanced, and objective news and analysis, always with a view to uphold the public good and fostering an informed, engaged citizenry.

We welcome talented individuals to join us and grow a career in a vibrant and collaborative environment built around a culture of respect and inclusivity.

As an employer, we are committed to rewarding our people fairly and developing them in their careers.

About the Role

SPH Media is establishing a new Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) capability within its international-award-winning Content & Solutioning Division, which is responsible for some of Singapore's most recognised content marketing and branded storytelling work.

CaaS is designed to serve public- and regulated-sector clients who require trusted, nuanced, editorially rigorous storytelling – delivered not just as standalone publications, but as integrated, multi-format content spanning longform text, design, video, audio and digital formats.

This is a founding leadership role. You will lead the entire CaaS initiative end-to-end, shaping its strategy, building the team, defining its offerings, driving business development, and ensuring work is delivered to the highest editorial and creative standards.

If you've led teams in agency or content marketing environments, understand commissioned content, are passionate about multiformat storytelling, know how to sell ideas to senior stakeholders, and want to build something meaningful at institutional scale, this role is for you.

This is a 2-year contract position, with renewal possibilities.

What you'll do

Lead and grow the CaaS business

• Own the overall vision, positioning, business development and commercial targets of the CaaS unit.
• Define clear offerings across longform publishing, institutional storytelling and multi-format content.
• Shape pitches, scopes and proposals.
• Lead senior-level conversations with government and regulated-sector clients.
• Convert trust, credibility and ideas into viable, high-value projects.

Set the strategic and creative direction for integrated content systems that span:

• Long-form editorial and publishing
• Design-led visual storytelling
• Video and audio formats
• Digital and educational extensions

Run delivery through direction, not execution

• Lead a lean internal team that acts as the central brain for CaaS.
• Commission, brief and direct an army of freelancers and production houses.
• Ensure content is produced as pitched, on brief, on time, on budget, and to standard.
• Maintain tight quality control, editorial integrity and delivery discipline.

Set the bar for trust and rigour

• Be accountable for everything delivered under the CaaS banner.
• Ensure content meets the expectations of government and regulated industries – including accuracy, policy nuance, clarity and accessibility.
• Balance creativity with governance, sensitivity and public-interest considerations.

Build the capability

• Hire and lead a small, high-calibre founding team.
• Establish clear workflows, standards and decision-making frameworks.
• Build and manage a trusted ecosystem of external partners.
• Create a culture of ownership, judgement and high standards.

Who we're looking for

You're likely to have:

• Leadership experience in agency, content marketing, commissioned content, media or regulated-industry environments
• A strong understanding of how content is conceptualised, sold, scoped and delivered
• Experience working with government, public sector or regulated industries
• Led multi-disciplinary teams across editorial, creative and production
• Strong commercial instincts, paired with editorial and creative judgement
• Comfort operating at senior stakeholder level – including pitching, negotiating and closing work

You understand content deeply, but you're not precious about execution. You care about ideas, outcomes and impact.

What this role is not

• Not a newsroom editor role
• Not a pure creative director role
• Not a traditional agency account lead
• Not a hands-on production role

This is a business-led, content-native leadership role.

Why this role is interesting

This is an opportunity to build a new capability from the ground up, with the backing of a trusted national media organisation – and the freedom to experiment, test ideas and shape how the capability evolves. You'll be working within SPH Media's award-winning Content & Solutioning Division to explore new formats, new approaches and new ways of telling important stories. The work spans public-interest storytelling, institutional narratives and multi-format content, sitting at the intersection of trust, policy and creativity. There's real room to play, push boundaries and try things that don't yet have a template.

About SPH Media's Content & Solutioning Division

This is where editorial craft meets creative ambition. The division brings together Content Lab, Brand Newsroom and SPH Media's advertising capabilities to produce commissioned work that spans branded storytelling, native content in news environments, video, and integrated campaigns across social, digital, print, audio and out-of-home. The team's work has been recognised internationally by organisations such as The Drum, the Content Marketing Association, the Content Marketing Institute, and WAN-IFRA – including multiple wins for public-sector, video and multiformat work. It's a place for people who like ideas, enjoy solving complex briefs, and want to make work that is smart, credible, entertaining, and genuinely impactful.