Operations Manager
About Company
OPHIR PEOPLE & COMPLIANCE PTE LTD is a Singapore-licensed employment agency. We hold a Ministry of Manpower Employment Agency Licence, with the Managing Director registered as Key Appointment Holder (KAH). Our work centres on recruitment and placement of foreign and local manpower for our employer clients, with end-to-end work pass administration (Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Long Term Visit Pass) and post-placement compliance support. Alongside the agency function, we run adjacent HR services for the same client base: HR outsourcing, payroll, and work pass renewals and appeals.
Role summary
The Operations Manager sits between the Director and the team handling daily agency operations. You will own the workflow across the four core areas of an EA practice: recruitment and placement, work pass administration, employer client management, and EA Act compliance (supporting the Managing Director in their KAH role). The job is part hands-on (reviewing work pass submissions and quality-checking candidate files) and part oversight (managing two to four staff and the placement pipeline). The first six months follow the development plan below, and the role converts to permanent on satisfactory completion.
Responsibilities:
Recruitment and placement operations
- Oversee candidate sourcing, screening, interview coordination, and employer matching.
- Maintain the candidate database and placement pipeline tracker.
- Conduct quality checks on candidate profiles before release to employer clients.
- Track time-to-fill, placement success rate, and post-placement retention metrics.
Work pass administration
- Oversee Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Long Term Visit Pass and Singapore PR applications via MOM EP Online and WP Online.
- Review pre-submission checks on every application: salary thresholds, complementarity, sector quotas, levy implications.
- Manage renewals, cancellations, and the appeals process for unsuccessful applications.
- Coordinate medical examinations, in-principle approval (IPA) issuance and pass issuance logistics
EA Act compliance and KAH support
- Support the Managing Director in fulfilling Key Appointment Holder duties under the Employment Agencies Act.
- Ensure every staff member who deals with placements is registered as EA personnel with MOM and holds a valid CEI certificate.
- Maintain the EA Code of Conduct and fee-rules compliance: candidate fee caps, written service agreements, deposit handling, recordkeeping.
- Prepare the agency for MOM audits and inspections: organise the documentation folder, run mock checks, follow up on any corrective actions.
- Track EA licence renewal milestones and security deposit requirements.
Employer client management
- Handle employer client onboarding, including KYC, service agreement, and fee schedule sign-off.
- Run regular check-ins with active employer clients and manage escalations.
- Quote and scope new placement engagements. Negotiate fee terms within firm policy.
Team and operations
- Manage a team of two to four EA personnel and support staff.
- Run the weekly operations meeting and monthly capacity review.
- Build and maintain SOPs across recruitment, work pass administration, and EA compliance.
Requirements
- Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Prior experience in employment agency work, HR, recruitment, work pass administration, or related compliance roles is preferred. Strong transferable skills from operations management in an adjacent regulated industry are acceptable.
- Comfortable with MOM EP Online, WP Online, basic candidate database tools, and Microsoft 365.
- Detail-oriented. A wrong field on a work pass application can cost a client time and the agency its standing.
- Able to manage people
- Open to learning. MOM policy on work passes, levies, and quotas shifts often and you will need to keep up.