Head, Education, Skills and Learning

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 World Economic Forum’s Centre for the New Economy and Society (CNES) supports leaders in understanding, shaping and implementing systems that create economic opportunities for all. The Centre accelerates impact on three interconnected thematic pillars: 1) Fostering Growth and Risk Preparedness; 2) Investing in Human Capital and Talent; and 3) Advancing Economic Inclusion and supports partners and stakeholders in co-creating a systemic view of the new economy and building future-ready strategies for their organizations , countries, and in the public interest. The Centre’s matrix also includes functional practices: 1) Impact Design and Coordination and 2) Community Engagement. The Centre also hosts the Knowledge Communities unit, responsible for embedding innovative ideas and frontier thinking into the Forum’s work, and for the Forum’s engagement with leading experts and universities. Within this structure, this role will head the thematic portfolio of Education, Skills and Learning in the Centre and serve as a member of the Centre’s leadership team to shape the wider socio-economic agenda. Reporting line and how is this role embedded in the wider team? The Head will report to the Centre’s Managing Director and collaborate closely with other staff across the Centre and across the organization. More particularly, they will closely collaborate with the Head, Work Wages and Job Creation to deliver a coherent narrative on workforce transformation. The Head will supervise the thematic team in close collaboration with the Centre’s functional practice Heads, within its matrix organisational structure. The Head will manage the thematic portfolio of work on education, skills and learning, comprising reports and insight products (e.g., Future of Jobs Report, New Economy Skills Series), frameworks and toolkits (e.g. Education 4.0 framework), and a network of collaboration initiatives (e.g. Reskilling Revolution, Education 4.0 Initiative, Closing the Skills Gap Accelerators), and associated leadership, expert and practitioner communities. What will you be responsible for? • Iteratively design and implement the team’s strategy to drive ambitious systems change, anticipating future needs and shaping the activities to implement this strategy. Ensure alignment of the team’s work with the wider Centre portfolio, support the development of the Centre’s work as a member of its Leadership Team and collaborate across the wider Centre and the Forum. • Engage the world’s leading business, government, academic and civil society stakeholders in the education, skills and learning portfolio as co-creators and partners. Supervise the development of the teams’ communities and their interaction and integrate Forum members and partners across the work. • Keep a consistent focus on impact and engagement outcomes, tracking and reporting internal and external metrics and KPIs. Communicate impact externally and support our stakeholders in doing so too through the Forum platform. • Draw from the full range of Forum impact methods to create and implement mission workplans, in close collaboration with functional practice Heads. • Manage financial and human resources of the team in an efficient, transparent and collaborative manner, including the grants and partnerships related to the team’s thematic portfolio of work. Support team members with the quality and delivery of their work and understand and role model an ambitious and collaborative team culture. • Represent the Centre for the New Economy and Society internally across the organization and externally, including to senior-level stakeholders. What core knowledge, skills and experience are we looking to add to our team? Domain Knowledge and Experience • Advanced university degree in public policy, economics, business, social sciences, or other relevant fields • 15+ years of relevant professional experience, ideally covering business, government, and non-profit, international organization or think tanks. Experience in management consulting and international organizations, working in matrix organizations, managing networks of geographically and/or sectorally distributed initiatives and familiarity with quantitative and qualitative research are an advantage. • Strong knowledge on the education, skills and learning agenda, experience with public-private collaboration, and ability to lead and coordinate the team’s portfolio of work by leveraging synergies across the Centre’s work, aligning thought leadership and action frameworks to team, centre and institutional impact priorities. • Staying at the cutting-edge of relevant issues, developments, initiatives and stakeholders pertinent to the Centre’s broader remit, including the thematic teams and the intersections between them. • Proven track record and interest in driving impact and systems change in the areas of Education, Skills and Learning and dedication to interdisciplinary approaches. A proven track record in the drafting of thought leadership, familiarity with using data to build strong narratives and experience in creating global partnerships would be an added advantage. • Developing, managing and coordinating strategic partnerships with external partners, including major efforts by leading businesses, governments and international organizations. • Ability to pitch to senior stakeholders and assess partnership potential in different contexts. Supporting grant development and partnerships related communication. Core Skills • Proven project management and coordination skills; attention to detail; strong relationship development and management skills; capacity to apply critical thinking, consult broadly and synthesize various viewpoints. • Excellent team management and collaboration in a multicultural team; operational and financial management skills; and manage both long- and short-term objectives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. • Supervising and coaching team members; managing long-term and short-term, in-house and remote contributors to the Centre’s activities. • Ability to work in the matrix organization to successfully deliver on the team’s objectives and the Centre’s overall strategy, collaborating deeply and transparently across the Centre’s functional and thematic units and developing partnerships with other internal teams. • Excellent communication skills, with fluency in English, and well-rounded written, digital and verbal communication skills; knowledge of other languages would be an asset. Why join us? Join an independent and impartial organization with over 55 years of connecting leaders to make sense of global challenges and move the world forward together.