Job Detail

PROJECT LEAD, Skills AND WORK

New Economy and Society

(Fixed term until end June 2021, with high possiblity for extension)

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Why we are recruiting

The World Economic Forum’s New Economy and Society Platform is the global platform for shaping prosperous, inclusive and equitable economies and societies that create opportunity for all. It accelerates impact on four interconnected challenges: 1) Economic Growth, Revival and Transformation; 2) Work, Wages and Job Creation; 3) Education, Skills and Learning; and 4) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It delivers on its mission by providing a platform for insights (benchmarking practice), industry impact (frontier solutions practice), country impact (country accelerators practice) and engaging multistakeholder constituents (community engagement).

Reporting lines and interactions

The Platform is organized as a matrix between functional practices and thematic missions. The role will be based within the Country Accelerators Practice and the Education, Skills and Learning mission. The Closing the Skills Gap Accelerators are a key public-private collaboration model within the Centre, supporting governments and business in preparing their current and future workforce for a changing jobs landscape as well as strategies for redeployment and reemployment. The Project Lead will report to the Head of the Country Accelerators Practice, work closely with the mission coordinator, and collaborate with other relevant mission and practice colleagues as well as regional and business engagement teams.

Main responsibilities

• Management, development and sustainable scaling of a growing country portfolio of Closing the Skills Gap Accelerators, including pilot and champion countries


• Management and development of:
  
  
  
  • the Global Learning Network of the Closing the Skills Gap Accelerators, the main community for accelerator members to share knowledge and collaborate
  
  
  • associated knowledge assets such as the accelerator framework, content playbook and shared insight tools;
  
  
  • associated process tools such as roles and responsibilities of country leadership, accelerator membership criteria, membership databases, and media and communications collateral
  
  
  • targets for business engagement across the network of Closing the Skills Country Accelerators in the leadership groups and membership across countries
  
  
  • Global Future Council on Education and Skills
  
  


• Collective development of narrative, content and activities on areas related to the Education, Skills and Learning mission as well as Work, Wages and Jobs Creation mission in the midst of a rapidly evolving labour market


• Support the Reskilling Revolution institutional initiative to improve education, skills and jobs for one billion people by 2030 and report back at the one-year mark of the initiative in January 2021


• Coherent collective development of the New Economy and Society Accelerators model, including closing the skills gap, closing the gender gap and closing the innovation gap.

The successful candidate will be assessed on

• A coherent and sustainable scaling strategy, with in-built agility for integrating m ultiple views and evolving with a rapidly shifting context


• Analysing and synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data in support of project-related insight development, specifically on education, skills and learning and the future of work, wages and job creation


• Developing and managing the leadership communities associated with the accelerators, at the national and global level, with clear business engagement targets, value delivery to governments and public impact


• Ability to pitch to senior stakeholders and assess suitability of the model in different contexts


• Ensuring that results and milestones are documented consistently and regularly shared with internal and external stakeholders


• Close collaboration with Platform colleagues and the Forum’s regional, business engagement and communication teams


• Working with remote contributors and secondees supporting project activities


• Developing a strong understanding of the Forum’s mission and regularly monitoring relevant global developments in the areas pertinent to the Centre’s remit as well as the intersections between them , in particular with regard to skills, education, the future of work and employment

Preferred requirements and experience

• University degree in public policy, economics, business, or other relevant fields.


• 8-12 years of relevant professional experience, ideally across public and private sectors


• Proven knowledge and skills in shaping national-level public-private collaboration initiatives and applying systems change approaches


• Excellent project management and coordination skills; attention to detail; 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, dynamic environment


• Proven interest in the areas covered by the Centre’s mission, especially Economic Growth, Revival and Transformation; Work, Jobs and Social Mobility; Education, Skills and Learning; and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and a high degree of comfort with interdisciplinary approaches


• Capacity to apply critical thinking, synthesize various viewpoints, consult broadly, work collaboratively in a team and manage both long- and short-term objectives and navigate ambiguity


• 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 World Economic 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.