SINGAPORE, July 20 — One of Singapore’s most secretive intelligence agencies has launched a public drive to recruit more mid-career professionals such as economists, lawyers and bankers.
The Security and Intelligence Division (SID) — which is under the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) — launched a website yesterday to heighten the public’s awareness of the job opportunities available in its department.
SID, whose work is shrouded in secrecy due to security reasons, hopes the new recruits can challenge existing norms and play the devil’s advocate as threats such as cyber attacks and climate change continually evolve.
Established in 1966, SID provides intelligence and assessments to Singapore government agencies, supports discussions on key strategic issues and analyses global developments that could affect Singapore’s security and national interests, Mindef said in a statement.
These include areas ranging from geopolitics, terrorism and cyber security, to other transnational threats.
In a media interview arranged by Mindef, a senior director of the division, Michael (not his real name), said that SID is looking to recruit mid-career workers from the private sector as it foresees new challenges on the horizon such as climate change, as well as future “black swan” events like Covid-19.
“You cannot just rely on your present talent to work at this. You need people with different perspectives, people to challenge the norms of what the current thinking is,” said Michael, who could not reveal his identity due to security reasons.
Should the organisation fail to recruit those with fresh perspectives, it may go into “groupthink”, he said, and that will not be ideal as the role of the SID is to advise and help the Government.
“We do encourage within our organisation that sense of tension, that creative tension that we have that will probably push us to do better assessments. But you can only get that if you bring in people who have very different perspectives from you.”
Roles available
There are five types of roles that SID offers, according to its website:
- Research officer: Produce intelligence assessments on the latest geopolitical developments and threats to Singapore
- Operations officer: Seek timely and “actionable” information on threats to Singapore’s security and interests
- Technology officer: Build and deploy technical tools, products and platforms to meet SID’s mission requirements
- International partnerships officer: Help provide SID with global reach for information, insights and innovation
- Corporate officer: Manage, coordinate and steward SID’s resources effectively
Asked if the skills in private-sector roles are transferable to those offered by SID, Michael gave several examples of how they can add value to the organisation.
For instance, SID needs economists as they are able to “make sense of economic numbers that will have political implications”, he said.
For lawyers, they are able to provide the organisation with advice on what legal boundaries SID can operate within.
He added that there was also an ex-banker who had joined SID and gave the division a “better understanding of financial systems, that we probably wouldn’t have had if we didn’t bring in someone like that”.
Michael said that in terms of remuneration, the division will try to match the salaries these workers are drawing from their previous jobs.
He added that those with “special skills that are very marketable” will have allowances on top of their basic salaries, though he did not elaborate on these skills.
The recruitment process typically takes about three to four months, but could stretch on to six months, due to the thorough recruitment process. Candidates will have to go through security clearances and be tested on their language abilities, he said.
“The (recruitment) process is quite long so by the time the person comes in, we are pretty sure that this person will do well and succeed in the organisation,” he added.
According to the website, those who are interested can submit their application on the website through SingPass. Applicants must be Singaporean.
The culture at SID
For Sophie (not her real name), a senior analyst at SID under the research department, she first heard of the organisation in her third year of university studies, where she majored in history.
While she was afraid that the work would be too regimental, this was not her experience when she joined eight years ago.
“I found that there was really a lot of space for open communication, we have a culture of discussion, of bouncing ideas. Regardless of how senior an officer is, your opinion matters,” she said.
She said that she has gone through various training programmes with the division, such as leadership courses.
She has also learned several languages in her time there to better grasp different cultures and political systems she may have to analyse. She is presently competent in four languages.
She is not able to talk about her work openly with her family and close friends, due to the sensitive nature of her job.
“Usually when I tell people that my work is sensitive and I can’t share very much, most people will understand, though they might joke about it a bit,” she said. “Personally, I’ve never really had difficulties managing that.”
Michael said that there have been several moments in his 20-year career with SID that he has felt immense pride.
One was during the early 2000s, when the threat from the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists was “pretty serious” in Singapore.
“I was very much part of the counter-terrorism efforts in those times and I had to work with our Singapore agencies very closely… and foreign intelligence agencies.”
He was also involved in an operation to arrest terrorists who had fled Singapore and return them here, a feat that was “pretty incredible”, he said.
He also had to brief political leaders here directly on security issues, and he could see that policy decisions were subsequently made from such briefs.
“We are able to have these conversations with top Singapore leadership to make sure we are keeping Singapore safe. It just gives you an incredible sense of purpose.” — TODAY
