SINGAPORE - The DesignSingapore Council, Singapore's national agency for design, will get a new executive director from Nov 1.

Ms Agnes Kwek, 38, who currently helms the Corporate Transformation and Futures Division at the Land Transport Authority (LTA), takes over from Mr Jeffrey Ho, who has been the council's executive director since 2009.

Ms Kwek has experience in the design field. At her current post, she works with the LTA to make its operations more user-friendly. For example, she looked into the design of the future MRT stations. She has been at LTA since 2014.

Before that, she spent a year in San Francisco, working for global design consultancy IDEO as a design consultant. Ms Kwek, who has been a civil servant for 15 years, has also worked at the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Manpower, the Community Development Council and the Public Service Division.

Her predecessor leaves big shoes to fill. In the last seven years, Mr Ho, 50, hit many high notes including successfully applying for Singapore to be the Unesco Creative City of Design; leading the Design 2025 - Singapore by Design masterplan; and setting up the National Design Centre in Middle Road three years ago.

His professional foray into the design scene began as an architect for the Housing & Development Board (HDB). In 2000, he became a lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic, and in 2004, founded its School of Design.

Mr Ho will join the Infocommunications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) and work on incorporating "the use of design thinking and the adoption of design" in its important projects, said a media release about the change of appointments.