Professional Development and Management Programme

The Professional Development and Management Programme (PDMP) seeks to develop professionals with leadership and management potential who are starting to take on management roles.

How social service agencies can benefit

By participating in this programme and nominating eligible candidates for the PDMP, social service agencies can:  

• Strengthen their agencies' leadership pipeline
• Gain funding to develop middle-level management and professionals for supervisory roles
• Customise their own professional development programmes

Components of PDMP

PDMP comprises two development components:

Professional Development

The Professional Development component has two distinct parts. Part A comprises longer-term accredited/certified professional courses that are conducted either locally or overseas while Part B offers supervisory training or clinical supervision sessions.
Social service agencies and PDMP applicants can prescribe their own courses for professional development. However, they must ensure that the duration of the professional development plan does not exceed two years.

Management Training

The Management Training component consists of a Milestone Programme, a new leadership initiative offered by the Social Service Institute (SSI). This programme is offered at three different levels and caters to social service professionals with varying levels of experience and development needs:

Lead Self	Lead People	Lead Manager
Individual contributors Limited or no leadership experience in the sector Have the potential to lead people	First-time managers and supervisors Responsible for leading and motivating people Have the potential to lead teams	Directors or equivalents Responsible for leading teams and/or functions Have the potential to lead organisations

Funding details  
Under the PDMP, social service agencies can tap on a capped funding of $47,000. The Professional Development and Management Training portion of the PDMP is capped at $30,000 while salary support for training is capped at $17,000.

The estimated fees for the various Milestone Programmes offered by the SSI are:

• Lead Self Milestone Programme: $4,815
• Lead People Milestone Programme: $5,350
• Lead Manager Milestone Programme: $5,885

Social service agencies can take the fees for the Management Training portion as a guide to plan the budget for their employees’ professional development.

Eligibility criteria

Social service professionals need to be nominated by their employers in order to participate in the PDMP. NCSS member agencies or Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)-funded agencies can nominate the following professionals for the programme:

• Social Workers registered with the Social Work Accreditation and Advisory Board
• Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Speech Therapists with full/restricted registration with the Allied Health Professions Council
• Psychologists with Master’s degrees in Psychology
• Counsellors with qualifications recognised by the Singapore Association for Counselling
• Early Intervention Teachers with Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Intervention (Special Needs)
• Staff performing administrative or corporate functions with a good degree

Candidates must:

• Possess at least three to seven years of direct work experience in their respective professional fields within the sector
• Be currently working in a NCSS member or MSF-funded agency
• Not be serving any current bond
   

Requirements

Upon completion of the PDMP, awardees will be required to serve a two-year bond in their agency. They will also share their findings and learning points from the training at selected platforms as deemed fit by PDMP secretariat (when requested by NCSS).

Selection process   

Social service agencies may nominate eligible staff. Shortlisted candidates will be evaluated by the PDMP selection panel. Successful applicants will be notified of the outcome approximately two months after applications are closed. The decision of the panel is final.


How to apply

All applications must be submitted online via Fund Application System (under e-services on NCSS website)  through nominating agencies. Nominating agencies may download PDMP Application Form here and upload completed form via the Fund Application System.

FAQs
For a list of commonly asked questions, please refer to our FAQ.
 
Contact us
For enquiries, please contact:

Ms June Soo, Manager
Social Service Leadership Unit
Human Capital Development Group
298 Tiong Bahru Road
#18-01 Central Plaza
Singapore 168730
Tel: 6589 5512
Email: Leadership_Development_Programme@ncss.gov.sg