Shopee launches new regional HQ in Singapore, with new job positions and specialities

E-commerce platform Shopee officially launched its new regional HQ in Singapore yesterday (3 September), a move in line with the company's commitment to nurture tech talent, develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and create job opportunities as it expands in Southeast Asia.

The launch was officiated by Guest-of-Honour Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, along with Kiren Kumar, Chief Digital Industry Officer, Digital Industry Singapore; Ye Gang, Group COO and Co-Founder, Sea; Forrest Li, Group CEO and Founder, Se; and Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board [All pictured above].

Shopee is a Sea company, and first launched in Singapore in 2015. It has since expanded its reach to Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Heng said this new HQ stands as a "concrete affirmation of what Shopee has done right over the past four years – taking advantage of the many opportunities in Southeast Asia, and staying ahead of trends in the digital economy."

Apart from that, the new HQ also reflects the growth of the company - Zhou Junjie, Shopee's Chief Commercial Officer, said since it's launch in 2015, the employee pool has grown from just 10 staff to currently over 1,000.

Speaking to Human Resources Online, Lim Teck Yong, Head of Regional Operations and People Team, Shopee, shared: "The new office will become a technology ecosystem, to nurture and develop local talent, especially in the fields of data science and coding. Over the past four years, roles in Shopee have grown in scale and level of complexity.

"The team has also introduced new specialties and job positions such as machine learning engineers, data engineers, site-reliability engineers, machine-reliability engineers, and more. Even our business teams have started adopting data analytics to increase productivity and tackle more complex challenges.

He added that moving forward, with technological advances and the evolving e-commerce landscape, Shopee will "continue to invest ahead of demand and build more advanced capabilities to better serve our users".

A brief about the new Shopee regional HQ

Spanning 244,000 sq ft, the overarching design concept of the new office centres on the idea of connectivity, collaboration and community.

At the media event attended by Human Resources Online, Lim said: "People can come together, know each other better, mingle, and get to know people from the other teams in a less awkward way. It encourages all this in a very subtle way."

Some of the key features for employees include floor-to-ceiling windows, standing desks, a 3,000 sqft gymnasium, a 'fun zone', in-house massage room, and more (pictured below).

[Ed's note: Next week, look out for a more in-depth photo feature showcasing Shopee's new office!]

Photos / Shopee [Pictured in lead image from L-R: Kiren Kumar, Chief Digital Industry Officer, Digital Industry Singapore; Ye Gang, Group COO and Co-Founder, Sea; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat; Forrest Li, Group CEO and Founder, Sea; and Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board.