SVP, Operations Lead of Database and Data Platforms, Technology Group

GIC is one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. With over 2,000 employees across 11 locations around the world, we invest in more than 40 countries globally across asset classes and businesses. Working at GIC gives you exposure to an extraordinary network of the world's industry leaders. As a leading global long-term investor, we Work at the Point of Impact for Singapore's financial future, and the communities we invest in worldwide.

Technology GroupWe experiment, design, and lead a 24×7 global business where we support core capabilities in asset management, trading, investment operations, and risk management. We deliver secure, reliable, and integrated solutions, and provide insights on new, and emerging technologies.

What will you do as the Operations Lead of Database and Data Platforms?

This role will be the strategic, technical, and operational leader for all databases and data platforms operation across the global estate. Reporting into the Head of Global Command Centre (GCC), this lead will define and drive the next-generation operations strategy for database, and data platforms: evolving legacy relational systems (Oracle, SQL Server, etc.) while leading migration to cloud-native, open-source, AI/agent-powered data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, data mesh, etc.), partnering with the Engineering Lead of Database/Data Platforms. The incumbent must combine deep technical credibility with visionary leadership and ability to partner with applications, AI, analytics, and operations teams. Over the next 5 years, this role is expected to transform GIC's data and data platforms infrastructure into differentiators for performance, scale, agility, and stability.

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Collaborate with the Engineering Lead to develop a multi-year strategic roadmap for database/data platforms (cloud migration, SLAs, AI-readiness).
• Drive continuous improvement, automation, and predictive operations (AI Ops)—including anomaly detection, self-healing clusters, and event correlation.
• Guide modernization efforts (cloud-native patterns, open-source solutions) and ensure stable, secure on-prem platforms for critical workloads.
• Provide thought leadership on emerging trends, advising teams on the best use of advanced data capabilities.

Service Operations & Reliability

• Oversee daily operations: monitoring, alerting, incident response, root-cause analysis, capacity planning, and backup/recovery processes.
• Implement robust observability (telemetry, dashboards, SLO/SLI metrics) and operational runbooks, championing change management and post-mortem discipline.
• Partner with MSPs and SRE teams to establish strong SLAs, playbooks, and continuous feedback loops, with "follow-the-sun" coverage for incident escalation.
• Manage operational risk, compliance, and disaster recovery for data domains, ensuring alignment with GIC's standards.

Vendor, MSP & Partner Oversight

• Define and enforce operating-level agreements (OLAs), KPIs, and performance SLAs with external providers.
• Ensure efficient handover between engineering and operations—robust runbooks, well-documented interfaces, and integrated processes.

Collaboration with Engineering & Architecture

• Contribute operational requirements (e.g., telemetry, drift control) when new platforms or features are designed.
• Partner with network, compute, security, and application leads to ensure resilient, scalable data platforms that meet performance and security needs.
• Engage in architecture reviews, guiding development teams on operational best practices.

Talent & Capability Building

• Recruit, mentor, and retain top-tier global talent in data operations, fostering a culture of collaboration, automation-first, and continuous learning.
• Define performance metrics (throughput, latency, cost, error budgets) and empower teams to deliver on them.
• Build a robust talent pipeline through career development, succession plans, and structured training programs.

What qualifications or skills should you possess in this role?

• Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or equivalent.
• 15+ years of progressive leadership in database/data platform operations for globally distributed, large-scale enterprises.
• Proven track record migrating from legacy relational to modern cloud-native/hybrid data platforms.
• Deep expertise in DB systems (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Cassandra, etc.), data warehousing (Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks), streaming, and AI/ML tooling.
• Experience driving AI Ops/predictive systems in infrastructure/data domains.
• Strong DevOps, SRE, infrastructure-as-code, and modern delivery methodologies experience.
• Proficiency in AWS, Azure, and hybrid architecture deployments, including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Solid understanding of security best practices (authentication, encryption, vulnerability management) and network fundamentals for distributed systems.
• Demonstrated success managing multi-region teams, vendors, and budgets; excellent communication, stakeholder management, and executive presence.
• Exceptional leadership skills—fostering inclusive, high-performing teams and driving cultural transformation with an innovative mindset.

Work at the Point of ImpactWe need to be forward-looking to attract the right people to help us become the Leading Global Long-term Investor. Join our ambitious, agile, and diverse teams - be empowered to push boundaries and pursue innovative ideas, share your views, and be heard. Be anchored on our PRIME Values: Prudence, Respect, Integrity, Merit and Excellence, which guides us in how we make our day-to-day decisions. We strive to inspire. To make an impact.

GIC is a Great Place to Work

At GIC, our offices are vibrant hubs for ideation, professional growth, and interpersonal connection.  At the same time, we believe that flexibility allows us to do our best work and be our best selves.  Thus, our teams come into the office four days per week to harness the benefits of in-person collaboration, but have the flexibility to choose which days they work from home and adjust this arrangement as situational needs arise. This role will be in our Tampines Office.

GIC is an equal opportunity employer As an employer, we passionately believe every individual brings with them unique diversity of thought and perspectives to meaningfully enrich perspectives of GIC teams to drive competitive performance. An inclusive environment yields exceptional contribution.

*Our PRIME Values*

GIC is a values driven organization. GIC's PRIME Values act as our compass, enabling us to fulfil our fundamental purpose and objectives. It is the foundational bedrock which governs our behaviors, our decision making, and our focus. It informs both our long-term strategy as a firm, and the way we relate to our Client, business partners and employees. PRIME stands for Prudence, Respect, Integrity, Merit and Excellence.