Specialist, Skills Initiatives
(Maternity cover, June 2024 to February 2025, Geneva based)
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Why we are recruiting
The Centre for the New Economy and Society provides a trusted platform to build prosperous, innovative and resilient economies that create opportunities for all. It enables leaders to understand, shape and navigate a new social and economic context through insights, action and dialogue for:
Fostering economic growth and risk preparedness
Investing in talent and human capital
Promoting equity and inclusion
The Centre has over 40 staff in a mix of permanent, grant-funded and fellow roles working across these themes. Its work and methods are enabled by functional practices that encompass Impact Design and Coordination as well as Community Engagement activities. The Centre also hosts the institutional team responsible for embedding experts, universities, think tanks and Global Future Councils across the Forum's work.
We are hiring a maternity cover Specialist to help strengthen the World Economic Forum’s Reskilling Revolution initiative.
Reporting lines and interactions
The Specialist will report to the Head of Education, Skills and Learning and will work closely with other staff across the Centre and the organization to deliver outcomes efficiently.
Main responsibilities:
Support the development of key sessions and meetings related to the Reskilling Revolution Initiative, including sending invitations, drafting agendas, documenting key outcomes, and reporting next steps. This includes the development of key sessions to be held at the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings and the Annual Meeting in Davos.
Scale the number of business and government commitments on the Reskilling Revolution, in collaboration with the regional and business teams as well as the broader Education, Skills and Learning team.
Support the annual impact communication strategy for the Reskilling Revolution Initiative, including developing key narratives and impact stories in collaboration with the communication team, disseminating the impact survey to partners, ensuring sufficient data collection, supporting data analysis and drafting relevant materials for communication.
Support the development of key insights in the Education, Skills and Learning team, including but not limited to the Future of Jobs Report, the Skills Accelerator Playbook, and outputs related incentivizing lifelong learning.
The successful candidate will be assessed on
Strong knowledge regarding the life-long learning, skills and reskilling agenda, relationships and experience with public-private collaboration on these topics, and an up-to-date awareness of key global trends relevant to this portfolio and to the broader socio-economic agenda.
Ability to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, as demonstrated by partner engagement and retainment and scaling of the Reskilling Revolution Commitments.
Ability to independently manage activities within their thematic portfolio of work in alignment with best practices of the Centre’s functional practice(s).
Strong coordination with internal teams in a highly matrixed organization.
Formulating clear strategies and workplans for activities within their thematic portfolio of work, integrating multiple views.
Clarity of communication, writing and relationship management skills, as well as systems thinking skills, agility and ability to work with others.
Ability to engage with senior stakeholders and disseminate key narratives within the context of the specialist’s thematic portfolio, the broader Mission, and the Centre as a whole.
Ability to effectively communicate the portfolio’s systemic impact.
Ability to collaborate efficiently and transparently within the team as a strong team player.
Proficiency in the use of internal and external digital platforms and tools for activity design, project management and constituent engagement.
Ensuring that results and milestones are documented consistently and regularly shared with internal and external stakeholders.
Requirements and preferred experience
Advanced university degree in public policy, economics, social sciences, or other relevant fields.
5+ years of relevant professional experience, ideally across business, government, non-profit, international organization and/or think tanks.
Proven track record of interest and knowledge regarding education, skills and learning topics, relationships and experience with public-private collaboration on these topics, and an up-to-date awareness of key global trends relevant to this portfolio and to the broader socio-economic agenda.
Experience in facilitating high level interactions and discussions with constituents, preferably on the topics of education and skills.
Proven excellent project management and coordination; attention to detail; dedication to interdisciplinary approaches; capacity to apply critical thinking, synthesize various viewpoints, consult broadly, work collaboratively in a multicultural team, and manage both long- and short-term objectives in a fast-paced environment.
Excellent teamwork, collaboration and operational management skills.
Fluency in English, with excellent written, digital and verbal communication skills; knowledge of other languages would be an asset.
Why work at the Forum:
The Forum believes that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to improve the state of the world by building awareness and cooperation, shaping mindsets and agendas, and driving collective action. Join us and become a driver for positive change!
