Start in a classroom, finish in a control room

Associates spend half their time on product engineering and half on whatever they want to be doing after they graduate. By month three the goal is that we trust you in front of an airline on your own.

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Based in Singapore. Most associates join through the NUS Overseas Colleges programme and the programme runs roughly August to December, though the end date is worked backwards from your own commitments.

A day in the life, filmed by an associate

Andy was an associate product engineer and made this about working here. Nobody from marketing was involved, which is the reason it is worth watching.

There is more of the same on Instagram and TikTok, most of it filmed by the team on the way through an airport.

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What you would work on

50%

What you want to do

Work out what you want to be doing after you graduate, then we line up a project that points at it. If that is finance, you get modelling work. If it is software engineering, you get coding projects.

50%

Product engineering

A software engineer writes code and rarely talks to customers. A product manager talks to customers and rarely writes code. Product engineering is both: a lot of time with airlines and a hand in designing and building what they asked for.

Our first goal is an airline that is happy with us and some of that work is not software. One associate rewrote the macros in a customer's spreadsheet. Jeff has redone a cargo manager's slides the night before they went in to see their boss. Nobody here treats that as beneath the role.

How you should be tracking

You get feedback regularly, so you know whether you are ahead of this or behind it rather than guessing.

Month 1

Learn the basics

The first two weeks are systems onboarding in a classroom setting: the tools, the app and how air cargo actually works. The rest of the month is ramping up.

Month 2

Velocity and creativity

You should be finishing projects quickly, improving the workflows you were taught in month one and documenting as you go without being asked.

Month 3

Airline facing

You should have earned enough trust for us to put you in front of an airline, working face to face with the people who run its cargo.

“Jeff asked me to come with him for a moment and together we headed to the Raya Airways control room (called aquarium), where he showed me the flight control dashboard. And here I am, working on my first project: improving that dashboard.”

Julian, associate, on product management and hiring

ApplyApplications are read as they arrive.

What we look for

A combination of technical, communication and problem-solving skill. Strong in one and absent in another does not work here, because the same person does all three in a week.

TechnicalYou can design an application, do some light coding and break a problem into pieces in a structured way.

CommunicationYou will be in a room with airline executives in your first months. You have to be able to hold it.

Problem solvingMost of the job is sitting beside an airline, working out what actually hurts and fixing it quickly.

The three areas you work across

Data and growth: Handling large data sets and running growth campaigns for airlines.
Product management: Most of building a product that works is time spent understanding what to build and defining the problem clearly. Very little of it is writing code.
Problem solving: Sitting side by side with airlines to find the pain and clear it fast.

Where it leads

The programme is paid, and we will talk about what that looks like in the first call.

Best case

We offer you a permanent full-time role at the end of it. That is the outcome the whole programme is built around, and it is why month three is about putting you in front of an airline rather than about output.

Worst case

You leave with a set of skills that transfer to any technical startup, having spent a few months living in Singapore and travelling the region with a reason to be there.

ApplyTell us which half of the split you are more interested in.

Former associates, in their own words

“What surprised me the most during my first few weeks at Belli was the level of ownership they give you right from the start. While this comes with a little more responsibility and stress compared to other entry-level roles at different companies, from a learning perspective, it's arguably one of the best opportunities you can get.”

Vicente, Chile

“Having studied software engineering in Chile, this experience has been extremely special in allowing me to utilize my skills and extend my growth beyond what's taught in the classroom. I would describe my time at Belli as one that is beautifully chaotic and I would not trade this experience for anything.”

Asael, Chile

“What I like about Belli is how quickly we associates get to take on responsibility across different areas. I'm also spending some time in Kuala Lumpur, onboarding the Ground Operations Team at the terminal. Being on site shows me how our product is actually used in practice.”

Julia, Germany

“As an associate, I work with data pipelines, process automation and CRM improvements. At Belli, you engage with people in many different situations, from discussing finance in the office to teaching ground staff how to use our system at the cargo port.”

Kousuke, Japan

Associates at a team event on a boat in Singapore

Three associates in front of an Etihad aircraft engine display

The team together at a rented house, laptops out, after a day on site

You will probably travel

Most associates travel and where depends entirely on which airline needs someone. Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Abu Dhabi and Bangkok come up most. One associate worked with airlines in Morocco, Panama, Peru, Spain, Latvia and the Philippines across a single programme. Two others were working out of the Etihad and Emirates offices by their third month.

We keep underestimating how fast the first trip arrives, so tell us early if you would rather stay in Singapore. That is a fine answer and a much better one than finding out in week three.

Associates and colleagues together during a trip

Practical questions

Where would I live?: Book your accommodation through NUS. There are four kinds of on-campus housing: Halls of Residence are cheapest and have no air conditioning, Student Residences are the nicest and do. Every associate who did not get NUS housing has regretted it. If you miss out, share a condominium with other associates or look at a co-living space.
Can I start earlier?: Yes and we encourage it. You can work remotely at 25% to 50% capacity before you arrive in Singapore, which is a real head start on the technical learning curve.
How long is the programme?: Up to you. We work backwards from your class and personal commitments, so check what your school's exchange programme allows before you write to us.
Do I need to bring a laptop?: We prefer you use your own with a Belli Chrome profile, which gives you access to everything we run. If your laptop is struggling, tell us and we will usually have a spare in the office.
Where is the office?: A co-working space, plus whichever customer office we are working out of. In practice we are only in the co-working space one or two days a week.
What about the work visa?: The Singapore process is straightforward and NUS handles most of it as part of the programme.
Does the start date matter?: More than people expect. Arriving with the rest of the cohort is a real advantage, so if you are going to be late, say so in your first email rather than later.

ApplyAsk us anything else in the same email.

What separates the associates who do well

Optimise for time with your mentorThe associates who did best worked out how to be useful early and those were the ones who ended up on high-impact projects. There is a decay on a mentor's patience for explaining the same thing twice, because they have their own deadlines.

Anticipate the next questionLearn to see the follow-up question or the next step in a task, before anyone asks you for it. That habit is most of the difference between month one and month two.

Know what you are optimising forIf you want consulting, financial modelling or social media, say so. There is almost always work we can point at it, but only if we know.

Apply for the associate programme

Write to careers@belli.ai. Tell us what you have built and what you would want to work on. A CV is welcome but a link to something you made is worth more.

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