Kieren TAN Wui Boon
East Asia Institute of Management
27
years of professional experience
Strategic Senior Executive with over 20 years of leadership in building partnerships and fostering commercial growth within education sector across Asia-Pacific. Established extensive networks connecting universities, Ministries of Education, K-12 schools, corporations, recruitment agencies, and employers in over 15 countries, focusing on sustainable talent pipelines and lifelong educational journeys. Delivered impactful recruitment strategies, enhanced student experiences, and expanded market reach through data-driven insights and innovative relationship-building initiatives.
Work History
2 Years 6 Months
01.2024 - Current
2 Years 6 Months
Director, Student Recruitment and Business Development
East Asia Institute of Management
01.2024 - Current
- Strategic Recruitment Leadership: Develop and execute comprehensive recruitment strategies tailored to attract a diverse student body across undergraduate, graduate, and international programs, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and growth targets.
- Innovative Marketing Campaigns: Oversee the development of multi-channel marketing campaigns—including social media, content marketing, webinars, podcasts and digital ads—to build brand awareness and capture prospective student interest.
- Global Market Expansion: Spearhead market research and segmentation efforts to identify and capitalize on emerging opportunities in international markets, adapting strategies to fit cultural and regulatory contexts.
- Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement: Established and nurtured partnerships with educational institutions, corporate organizations, and government agencies to build referral networks and enhance institutional visibility.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Leveraged CRM and data analytics tools (PepperCloud, HubSpot) to track performance metrics and refine marketing approaches, optimizing conversion rates throughout the recruitment funnel.
- Event Management & Outreach: Designed and executed recruitment events, including on-campus open houses, international fairs, and virtual information sessions, to enhance student engagement and community involvement.
- Team Development & Leadership: Recruit, train, and mentor a high-performing international team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability.
- Financial & Resource Management: Oversee budget allocation for recruitment initiatives, balancing cost-effectiveness with strategic investments to maximize ROI and long-term institutional growth.
1 Year 7 Months
05.2022 - 12.2023
1 Year 7 Months
Head of Local and International Business
Management Development Institute of Singapore
05.2022 - 12.2023
- Lead and responsible for the achievement of student recruitment targets – through effective and profitable recruitment strategies, market research, people development and the development and execution of strategic plan.
- Strategically liaised with, developed and maintained effective relationships with university partners, student recruitment agents and stakeholders.
- Developed recruitment strategies and sales campaigns that differentiated the institute from competitors, contributing to sustained growth.
- Developed and defined key market segments to target and drive new business development initiatives.
- Worked with governing council and CEO to ensure effective overall management of both the local and international department.
- Monitored and evaluated recruitment effectiveness, collaborating with team to ensure accurate execution of campaign deliverables.
- Appraised sales performance and coordinated marketing and sales efforts to achieve performance and smart use of resources at all levels.
- Developed strategy for promotional materials and marketing communications aligned with institute guidelines to enhance visibility.
2 Years
04.2020 - 04.2022
2 Years
Head, Strategic Partnerships and Recruitment, APAC
Skills Union Pte. Ltd
04.2020 - 04.2022
- Scaled and managed global student recruitment agencies, enhancing recruitment capabilities across regions.
- Developed and implemented marketing and recruitment strategies in APAC, achieving enrolment objectives.
- Manage the entry point of the sales cycle; act as first and continual point of contact for prospective students, selling to both individuals and teams across all verticals across Asia.
- Proactively qualify inbound leads and arrange interviews with admissions team.
- Developed and maintained CRM, managing a pipeline of prospects and opportunities and tracking all customer interactions.
- Participated in initiatives to drive student recruitment and enrolment opportunities through online and offline channels.
- Worked with career services for job placement, career pathways and internships for graduating students and alumni. Helped set up student ambassadors program.
- Assisted in the application of Enhanced Registration Framework and Edutrust of the company with CPE.
- Facilitated communication with NTU to coordinate short-term executive education programs for SG United.
9 Months
01.2019 - 10.2019
9 Months
Senior Manager, Business Development (S.E.A & Oceania)
Essec Business School – Asia Pacific
01.2019 - 10.2019
- Developed and implemented marketing and recruitment strategies in South East Asia & Oceania to meet recruitment objectives.
- Cultivated relationships with alumni, schools, educational counsellors, and B2B vendors to enhance collaboration and support recruitment efforts.
- Managed the development and implementation of marketing & advertising campaigns (online and offline) for leads generation. Improved conversion rate and cost per lead versus 2018.
- Expanded market presence in Myanmar, East Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji to drive recruitment growth.
- Achieved 74% of sales target in half a cycle of admissions, contributing S$1.3 million in revenue.
- Reason for leaving: No opportunities to manage B2B corporate partners to fulfill enrolment.
1 Year
01.2018 - 01.2019
1 Year
Senior Manager, International Student Recruitment (S.E.A)
PSB Academy
01.2018 - 01.2019
- Developed and implemented targeted marketing and recruitment strategies in South East Asia, achieving student recruitment goals.
- Strengthened and established new relationships with recruitment partners across the S.E Asia region, enhancing the recruitment network.
- Supported key agents and non-key agents in promotional activities including Fairs, Exhibitions and alumni events.
- Organized and executed events with presentation and promotional materials, managing budgetary and operational controls while coordinating with multiple entities to represent PSB Academy effectively.
- Developed and supported inbound and outbound sales opportunities, driving pitches, shaping the engagement, and building & growing a pipeline that converts to revenue.
- Achieved an average of 106% of sales target for countries under my responsibility.
- Developed operating goals and objectives for a team of 8; implemented and administered methods and procedures to enhance unit operations.
1 Year 1 Month
11.2016 - 12.2017
1 Year 1 Month
Head, International Student Recruitment (Singapore and Malaysia)
British Council Singapore
11.2016 - 12.2017
- Developed and executed strategic marketing plan for international student recruitment, enhancing outreach and engagement.
- Reviewed, developed and implemented effective and efficient marketing and partnership management strategy across Singapore and Malaysia to optimize reach and profit.
- Developed and implemented effective sales strategies including overseas visits and participation in educational expos/exhibitions, attending local events and providing relevant marketing analysis and reports.
- Led, motivated, coached and trained Managers in Singapore and Malaysia to deliver full-time English sales targets.
- Proactively engaged with internal/ external stakeholders to ensure English program and study camps KPIs and business needs are met.
- Monitored service standards across sales activities, implementing improvements to enhance customer experience.
- Collected and analyzed monthly performance results, producing reports and providing actionable recommendations to management and stakeholders.
- Managed budget with appropriate allocation for different resources. Ensured all expenditure is planned and within budget.
- Achieved 88% of sales target comparing previous year in four months.
3 Years 10 Months
04.2012 - 02.2016
3 Years 10 Months
Senior Manager, Admissions and Industry Relations
Singapore Management University, School of Information System
04.2012 - 02.2016
- Represented and drove marketing campaigns and recruitment drive locally and internationally resulting in 25% growth in recruitment numbers.
- Managed local and overseas recruitment agents, driving targeted admissions initiatives.
- Planned and executed local and overseas outreach events, enhancing diversification of student recruitment.
- Engaged and sourced industrial partners for University collaboration.
- Oversaw Unit’s Advertising & Promotion and Outreach Budget, ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
- Facilitated opportunities for alumni to connect and collaborate with one another.
- Conceptualized marketing collaterals with corporate comms office. Managed online marketing campaign and social media. Conceptualized online content, developed and published webpage. Content owner and Webmaster for online and offline collaterals.
1 Year 7 Months
08.2010 - 03.2012
1 Year 7 Months
Manager, Recruitment & Admissions
Singapore Management University, Lee Kong Chian School of Business
08.2010 - 03.2012
- Directed recruitment team in identifying potential candidates and developing strategies to attract quality students from diverse industries in targeted countries.
- Led admission team, managing online admission, evaluation, document verification, faculty interviews, offer/rejection process, and online matriculation to enhance student enrollment.
- Evaluated and implemented marketing campaigns in line with central marketing function to manage media schedule, and media related activities.
- Analyzed and engaged potential partners for business development, recruitment, and academic collaborations in South Asia region.
- Achieved an average of 116% sales growth across programmes I oversee.
1 Year 7 Months
08.2010 - 03.2012
1 Year 7 Months
Senior Manager, Student Recruitment
Informatics Academy Pte. Ltd
08.2010 - 03.2012
- Led team of 4, overseeing all facets of student recruitment.
- Managed and developed partnerships with recruitment agents, successfully penetrating new market in Myanmar.
- Manage recruitment agent to deliver greater efficiency and effectiveness resulting in 78% growth in sales numbers. New market penetration: Myanmar and Korea.
- Planned and executed institute’s domestic and international recruitment, promotions and public relations events.
- Implemented marketing and branding strategies for local and international markets resulting in 36% reduction in marketing expenses.
- Implemented work procedures that streamlined processes and increased sales numbers.
- Organized and implemented Career & Education Fair 2011 to promote educational opportunities.
- Facilitated attainment of Edutrust scheme to enhance educational standards.
- Prepared annual budget submission.
3 Years 7 Months
01.2007 - 08.2010
3 Years 7 Months
Senior Country Manager
SAA Global Education Centre Pte. Ltd.
01.2007 - 08.2010
- Achieved 22% growth in 1st year and 34% in 2nd year for enrolment numbers.
- Conceptualized, planned and executed recruitment drive internationally. Successfully facilitated: 82 Seminar, 2 Press Conference, 193 In-House Seminar (Myanmar), 2 Exhibition, 1 Educational Fair, 1 Press Conference (China), 3 Seminar, 2 Press Conference, 8 In-House Seminar (Vietnam), 2 Seminar, 7 Exhibition (Thailand).
- Coordinated training for local and overseas counterparts, facilitating 2 agent conferences and over 90 sales and product training sessions across Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.
- Developed and implemented marketing communication policies and strategies, overseeing advertising and promotional materials with internal and external vendors.
- Planned and implemented marketing campaigns for new Master degrees.
- Led team of 6 staff across admissions and UOL programme.
- Successfully renewed SQC and Casetrust for Institute.
- Principal liaison officer with ICA for international Student’s Pass matters.
- Reduced marketing expenses by 12% for Financial year 2009.
- Assisted in Enhanced Registration Framework and Edutrust.
- Assisted in setting up of China Rep Office.
- Led Employee Innovation Team to promote creative solutions.
- Reason for leaving: Spent 4 glorious years with SAA. Personal and professional growth and experience gained here was valuable and gave me opportunities in the industry: I was offered a bigger role by Informatics.
3 Years 10 Months
02.2003 - 12.2006
3 Years 10 Months
Centre Manager, Serangoon Campus
The Stanfield Group - Singapore Institute of Commerce
02.2003 - 12.2006
- Conceptualized and set up Serangoon campus.
- Developed and executed strategies for sales, marketing, finance, operations, and budgeting for Flinders - Master of Arts, Northumbria - MBA, University of London Bachelor & Diploma programmes.
- Implemented procedures and standards for performance of operations functions.
- Generated sales of ¼ million by end of 2 quarters.
- Conceptualized and launched “Learning for Success 2004, Singapore” to enhance educational engagement.
- Successfully renewed SQC and Casetrust (PEOs) for Institute.
- Set employee goals and objectives; reviewed, evaluated and monitored staff performance.
- Managed facility operations, ensuring compliance and safety through regular inspections.
3 Years
01.2000 - 01.2003
3 Years
Senior Guest Services Executive
Treetops Executive Residences
01.2000 - 01.2003
- Managed guest registration and facilitated reservations while executing concierge tasks, preparing daily reports, balancing transactions, and conducting security walks to ensure smooth operations.
- Developed and implemented policies and procedures for Front Office to enhance service delivery and guest satisfaction.
- Created and implemented a mailing system that streamlined communication processes and improved operational efficiency.
- Duties included handling corporate tenants.
- Reason for leaving: One of the major reasons for leaving was to fulfill the second segment of my Bachelor degree. I have learned a lot from my manager and achieved many professional milestones together. She will be one of my strongest references about my skills and performance. To keep improving myself professionally, I had to move onto a new industry with room for growth.
Education
International Master of Business Administration
University of Wolverhampton | United Kingdom | 01-2025
Bachelor of Commerce - Hotel & Institutional Management
Lincoln University | Christchurch, New Zealand | 01-1999
Year 12 Matriculation
St Ignatius College | Adelaide, Australia | 01-1993
Skills
Strategic planning
Project management
Market analysis
Operations management
Decision-making
People management
Strategic objectives
Communication skills
Interests
I have great interests in photography and sports. My passion is scuba diving, which I picked up in 2004. I am a certified PADI Divemaster. I have been passionately involved in team sports since primary school in badminton and soccer. I also have passion for social and staff clubs since varsity days.
Selected Strategic Partnerships
Strategic School & University Network
Vietnam: British Vietnamese International School, Van Lang University
Malaysia: Chung Hwa High School, Foon Yew High School
Myanmar: Yangon International School
China: Si Yao Education Group
Sri Lanka: Ivy Global Campus
India: GIET Foundation, IFEEL University, Vivekanand Education Society Business School
Thailand: Thammasat University, Sathorn International School
Indonesia: Sudarso, Mondial, Pa Hwa, Lilin Bangsa, Pelita, MEDI, Monarch Global Hospitality College
Singapore: PSB Academy, MDIS, ESSEC Business School, EAIM, Singapore Management University and numerous university partners.
Corporate & Enterprise Partnerships
Built strategic relationships with RSM Chio Lim, Grab, Deloitte, Singapore Polytechnic, EC-Council, Keystone, DTZ, Flywire, Singapore Cricket Club, Crowne Plaza and other organisations to support executive education, workforce development, talent pipelines and industry engagement.
Timeline
Director, Student Recruitment and Business Development
East Asia Institute of Management
01.2024 - CurrentRead more
Head of Local and International Business
Management Development Institute of Singapore
05.2022 - 12.2023Read more
Head, Strategic Partnerships and Recruitment, APAC
Skills Union Pte. Ltd
04.2020 - 04.2022Read more
Senior Manager, Business Development (S.E.A & Oceania)
Essec Business School – Asia Pacific
01.2019 - 10.2019Read more
Senior Manager, International Student Recruitment (S.E.A)
PSB Academy
01.2018 - 01.2019Read more
Head, International Student Recruitment (Singapore and Malaysia)
British Council Singapore
11.2016 - 12.2017Read more
Senior Manager, Admissions and Industry Relations
Singapore Management University, School of Information System
04.2012 - 02.2016Read more
Manager, Recruitment & Admissions
Singapore Management University, Lee Kong Chian School of Business
08.2010 - 03.2012Read more
Senior Manager, Student Recruitment
Informatics Academy Pte. Ltd
08.2010 - 03.2012Read more
Senior Country Manager
SAA Global Education Centre Pte. Ltd.
01.2007 - 08.2010Read more
Centre Manager, Serangoon Campus
The Stanfield Group - Singapore Institute of Commerce
02.2003 - 12.2006Read more
Senior Guest Services Executive
Treetops Executive Residences
01.2000 - 01.2003Read more
St Ignatius College - Year 12 Matriculation,
Read more
Lincoln University - Bachelor of Commerce, Hotel & Institutional Management
Read more
University of Wolverhampton - International Master of Business Administration,
Read more