Programme Specialist, First Movers Coalition for Food, Asia-Pacific

(time bound position, start asap to 31 March 2028)

The World Economic Forum is an independent, not-for-profit organization, headquartered in Geneva, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Beijing, and Tokyo.

We are the trusted platform for public-private cooperation where leaders come together to understand global challenges and drive action across sectors and regions. We create spaces where different stakeholders engage openly, build trust, and collaborate to help solve shared global challenges.

Context and why we are recruiting?

The Centre for Nature and Climate (CNC) connects leaders to scale climate and nature solutions that drive prosperity within planetary boundaries. The First Movers Coalition (FMC) for Food within CNC, is a platform of over 60 partners, that elevates credible demand signals* and builds market confidence for sustainable and resilient food systems. FMC for Food seeks a Programme Specialist to drive partner engagement, knowledge development, events and deliver strategic efforts in Asia-Pacific, especially in the rice agri-commodity, for the platform.

The programme specialist will support the development and delivery of APAC strategy and engagement, especially in Rice, building on the work underway with FMC for Food.

Reporting line and how is this role embedded in the wider team?

The role will be based in Geneva within the Centre for Nature and Climate (CNC), reporting to the Food Initiatives and Partnerships Manager, who is also based in Geneva. The role will also have a dotted line with the Head, Regional Agenda, Asia-Pacific. Internally, this person will work with colleagues in the broader Center for Nature and Climate, Center for Finance and Monetary Systems, industry teams well as a wide range of other teams and colleagues in the Forum.

Externally, this person will engage Forum partner companies, philanthropy, farmer organizations, civil society, multilaterals and other stakeholders including governments in the APAC region on the topics of agriculture, food and finance including a commodity focus on rice. 

What will you be responsible for?

• Convene and manage stakeholders, including a working group under the FMC for Food globally and in the region. This includes government stakeholders, private sector, civil society, and others. With the working group, develop the portfolio of work on rice in the region, in support of the global and regional goals of the platform

• Coordinate and support delivery of the Asia-Pacific strategy, starting with a focus on rice, including through regional meetings, knowledge development and engagement for FMC for Food community in the region

• Participate in the development of thought leadership and synthesis products designed to drive awareness on the topic

• Be the liaison for the regional work and drive internal processes as well as coordination for key deliverables, in alignment with the global food team and others

• Support the global FMC for Food platform evolution and delivery as well as the wider food systems team

What core knowledge, skills and experience are we looking to add to our team?

Domain Knowledge and Experience

• Project and stakeholder management.

• Regional experience and knowledge on agriculture, food and related topics.

• Be solutions-oriented, proactive, responsive to feedback, and comfortable operating in ambiguity.

• Thrive in a convening role, facilitating alignment across actors with different incentives and timelines.

Core Skills

• Master’s degree preferred, with knowledge and curiosity on the topic

• 5+ years’ relevant work experience, preferably in the region or the topic

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. 

• Strong stakeholder engagement, project management and organizational skills

• Ability to synthesize complexity and present compelling narratives in both written and oral communications

• Outstanding team player and collaborator

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!