Mr Glen Tan

Mr Glen Tan is the Assistant Chief Executive of Corporate Development at A*STAR, overseeing corporate operations and business process transformation across various corporate functions.

Mr Tan is a globally respected transformation leader with deep expertise in Lean Six Sigma, Industry 4.0 Automation, and Operational Excellence. His career spans diverse sectors and business stages – from high-growth start-ups to global multinationals –across Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

He was the Senior Vice President (SVP), Global Automation and Transformation at Flex (Singapore), overseeing automation and transformation initiatives across a global manufacturing network. At Flex, Mr Tan led enterprise-wide initiatives across 70 global manufacturing sites, delivering scalable innovation, productivity gains, and operational sustainability. He played a pivotal role in a major organisational transformation, streamlining operations, upskilling talent, and accelerating Industry 4.0 adoption.

Prior to Flex, Mr Tan founded and managed his own consulting practice, supporting clients in areas such as business transformation, leadership development, and operational strategy.

From 2010 to 2016, Mr Tan held regional leadership roles in Nielsen, as SVP and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan, where he spearheaded a regional turnaround across 14 countries, driving growth in both revenue and profitability. He launched a cultural transformation campaign to drive transparency and accountability, and revamped performance management frameworks to better align with business realities. His leadership contributed to the region’s turnaround and recognition through the Nielsen’s CEO award in 2016.

From 2005 to 2009, Mr Tan was General Manager of China in Solectron, in the manufacturing sector where he led business recovery and growth initiatives for a large-scale operation in China, managing substantial revenues and a sizeable workforce.

Mr Tan worked for General Electric in 1999, driving process excellence and financial improvement initiatives through Six Sigma. His early international assignments included project leadership in power plant operations across several Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines). He was also an auditor with the GE corporate audit staff, with stints in the United States, Japan and India.

Mr Tan graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He received a scholarship from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).