How to become a senior government official

Official title: Senior government official

Also called: Ambassador (government), Auditor general (government), Civil service commissioner, Commissioner of civil defence force, Commissioner of immigration, Commissioner of inland revenue, Commissioner of police, Commissioner of prisons, Deputy commissioner of civil defence force, Deputy commissioner of immigration, Deputy commissioner of police, Deputy commissioner of prisons

Senior government official plans, organises and controls the activities of a government department, government administrative agency or intergovernmental organisation. He/she advises political leaders or governing body on important policy questions. He/she makes decisions within his/her broad discretionary power and performs other high-level functions in connection with government administration.

Main tasks

• Advising government and legislators on policy matters
• Advising on the preparation of government budgets, laws and regulations, including amendments
• Establishing objectives for government departments or statutory boards in accordance with government legislation and policy
• Formulating or approving and evaluating programmes and procedures for the implementation of government policies in conjunction or consultation with government
• Ensuring appropriate systems and procedures are developed and implemented to provide budgetary control
• Coordinating activities with other senior government officials
• Making presentations to legislative and other government committees regarding policies, programmes or budgets
• Overseeing the interpretation and implementation of government policies and legislation by government departments and agencies

Ways in

• University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 6 universities in Singapore

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Senior statutory board official
• Legislator
• Senior official of political party organisation
• Senior official of employers’/workers’ and related economic-interest organisation
• Senior official of humanitarian and other special-interest organisation

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Questions people ask

How do I become a senior government official?

Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees.

Will AI change the work of a senior government official?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026