Lead, Economic Growth and Transformation

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 partners with leaders in business, government and civil society to understand current challenges and future scenarios, shape new ideas and build collaborations that create economic opportunities for all.

The Centre works in three areas:

• Supporting economic and risk foresight

• Human capital advancement

• Economic inclusion

The Centre works with more than 400 business partners, over 50 governments, 30 international organizations and more than 100 academic, civil society and philanthropic organizations to build a future where economies and societies work for everyone.

The Lead, Economic Growth and Transformation, will contribute to the design, development and delivery of the Centre’s work on economic growth and transformation . The role combines strong economic, business and innovation expertise, analytical skills and the ability to connect insights to action, engaging senior public- and private-sector stakeholders, contributing to the Centre’s efforts to shape and drive a forward-looking economic agenda.

Reporting lines and interactions

The role will report to the Head of Economic Growth and Transformation and will work closely with colleagues across the Centre and the Forum to deliver outcomes efficiently.

Main responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of key initiatives on economic growth, industry strategy and innovation, leveraging both desk research and stakeholder insights.

• Conduct and coordinate analysis of key trends related to economic growth, industry strategy and innovation, leveraging quantitative and qualitative data, and translate it into actionable insights for public and private stakeholders.

• Co-create thought leadership outputs, also by designing and implementing collaborative processes that integrate expert inputs, data analysis and stakeholder engagement.

• Curate communities of diverse stakeholders around thematic portfolio of work, initiating, expanding, and maintaining relationships

• Ideate, curate and manage stakeholder workshops and dialogues on the topic of economic growth, industry strategy and innovation, ensuring a focus on policy or business implications, across geographies and industries.

• Support implementation of the thematic unit’s strategy and activities, drawing upon relevant impact tools and templates developed by the Centre and supporting Centre- wide planning and communication flows

• Work in close collaboration with the Centre’s functional practices to ensure alignment with Forum-wide methodologies and strategic goals.

• Support integration of the Centre’s economic work into relevant cross-Centre activities.

• Represent the Centre internally and externally as needed.

• Contribute to Centre-wide planning, communications and culture.

The successful candidate will be assessed on

• Ability to lead work on the topic of economic growth, industry strategy and innovation with strong analytical and conceptual grounding in economic analysis and business-oriented research.

• Ability to develop and deliver high-quality insight and action initiatives in a complex, fast-paced environment.

• Ability to engage credibly with senior stakeholders from the public and private sectors and convene constructive multi-stakeholder dialogues, synthesizing diverse viewpoints into coherent narratives.

• Forward-looking thinking and capacity to elaborate future scenario and map uncertainties into accessible, engageable and actionable insights for a wide range of stakeholders.

• Capacity to connect economic and structural trends to business and innovation strategy, policy design and systems-level impact.

• Fluency in the use of internal and external digital platforms and tools for activity design and project management; ensuring that results and milestones are documented consistently and regularly shared with internal and external stakeholders

• Capacity to manage complex projects with multiple workstreams and contributors.

Requirements and preferred experience

• Advanced university degree in economics, business, innovation or a related field, with demonstrated knowledge of emerging issues and trends. Candidates who have completed digital accreditations or taken different routes to upskilling are welcome to apply.

• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience government, business, consulting or related sectors.

• Experience formulating work plans for activities within the thematic portfolio of work, in alignment with best practices of the Centre’s functional practice(s)

• Experience managing activities within the thematic portfolio of work in alignment with

• best practices of the Centre’s functional practice(s).

• Demonstrated ability to engage and work with high-level stakeholders.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including editorial writing and content development; fluency in other languages is an asset.

• Proficiency in digital tools for project management, insight curation, and data analysis.

• Excellent teamwork and interpersonal skills, with a collaborative, inclusive approach to problem-solving and delivery.

• Strong alignment with the Forum's mission and experience working in international and cross-sectoral teams.

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!