Dr Janson Yap

Chief Risk Officer National University of Singapore

Dr. Janson Yap is the Chief Risk Officer of NUS. He joined the University in January 2020 and was tasked to help transform the risk function. Besides his role in leading and shaping the risk agenda for the future at NUS, he assisted the President and Futures Office in documenting the NUS Strategy and cascading that strategy into the work-plans of major faculties and schools. More recently the NUS Business School has appointed him as an Adjunct Professor for its Executive Education programmes.

His career of over 35 years spans the globe and has covered both corporate organisations and professional services. Prior to joining NUS, he helmed several key positions within the Deloitte network, including that of Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting in Thailand, before taking on the role of Regional Managing Partner of the Risk Advisory business in Southeast Asia, a position he held for 10 years, based in Singapore. He was also the Asia Pacific Risk Leader and Executive at the Global Risk Advisory function as well as a member of Deloitte’s Global Risk Management Team for several years while concurrently managing the business in Southeast Asia. Besides his contributions in the risk advisory business, he was also the Southeast Asia’s firm Innovation & Transformation Leader and part of the Global Innovation Executive Council.

Over his 38 years in corporate organisations and professional services, his work has been cross-disciplinary in nature, often entailing complex problem-solving. In recognition of his achievements in the field, he has received numerous awards in the course of his career. His corporate career began as IT Department Manager with Avon Cosmetics in 1983 after completing his undergraduate studies and a post-graduate Diploma in Education.  He subsequently assumed the role of Senior Director of Technology at the Building Materials Division of Colonial Sugar Refineries (CSR), where he was instrumental in real time visualization of building materials on home exteriors before embarking on his professional services career with the Big Four Accounting firms.

Academically, Janson’s tertiary education is from Australian Universities. Janson completed his doctorate (Doctor of Professional Studies) at the University of Southern Queensland while working fulltime as the Regional Managing Partner at Deloitte Risk Advisory responsible for a billion-dollar business in Asia Pacific.  The doctoral study involved a workplace-based study that generated new knowledge and application of knowledge in practice and resulted in a thesis on ‘Improving Success in Strategy Implementations’.  Additionally, Janson has a Master of Business Administration (eMBA) from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), University of New South Wales, a post-graduate diploma in education (Dip. Ed) and Bachelor of Science, both from Monash University. Consistent with his belief in life-long learning, he also earned a Diploma in Biblical Studies at Moores College, and as with the other graduate degrees, this was undertaken while holding fulltime jobs of considerable responsibility such as that of Regional Managing Partner at Deloitte Risk Advisory.

He has also served in various capacities in numerous organisations. He is currently the Advisor on the Board of Tan Hiep Phat (THP), Vietnam’s largest fast-moving Consumer Goods business. His role includes guiding the Technology Department, steering Real-Estate Business & Strategy, and serving as advisor and coach to the founding family members. He was on the IT Steering Committee of the Government’s SkillsFuture Program and an advisory member of the NUS Asia Pacific Accounting Research Centre (AARC).

Janson has authored/co-authored several books such as Foresight and Strategy in the Asia Pacific Region, Wow! How Did You Know That? and Average to ACES. His latest publications are an article written for the World Economic Forum on Challenges and Opportunities in the Post-Covid-19 World, and a book on motivations and expectations of workers in a wicked world, titled Why ME? Janson is a man of many parts; not only is he thoroughly competent in his work and studies, he is also an adroit badminton player, accomplished lyricist and talented singer. He brings a broad spectrum of experiences and skills to all he does.