(temporary contract, May 2026 to July 2027, Geneva based)
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organisation 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 Forum’s International Organisations team manages strategic relations with a broad group of multilateral institutions, engaging their leadership and experts through the Forum’s Centres to disseminate their message and accelerate impact, and help build effective multistakeholder coalitions in support of their mandates. This includes driving initiatives that demonstrate new forms of international collaboration, such as the Resilience Consortium and the Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) Initiative. The Forum’s Humanitarian Agenda supports the transformation of the aid and development sector, as the scale, duration and complexity of crises urgently require more sustainable responses and with a wider array of stakeholders.
Within this remit, the team spearheads the Humanitarian and Resilience Investing Initiative, launched in 2019 as an approach to unlock impact investing in frontier markets with the goal to measurably benefit and increase the resilience of at-risk and crisis-hit communities. Since inception, it has brought together over 100 partners across sectors to scale market-driven solutions by mobilizing commercial and catalytic capital, and strengthen the ecosystem for impact investment in frontier markets.
The Initiative Lead will be overall responsible for the delivery of the HRI initiative, and in collaboration with colleagues help drive core activities, engage with the diverse HRI community, and seek opportunities for growing this agenda.
Reporting lines and interactions
The position will report to the Deputy Head, International Organisations and Humanitarian Agenda.
Internally, this person will work closely with colleagues from relevant Centres, including those that manage relations with various stakeholder groups of the HRI community, complimentary Forum initiatives as well as colleagues from global programming and communications to ensure smooth and successful collaborations.
Externally, the successful candidate will engage senior representatives across different stakeholder groups of the HRI community (governments, investors, humanitarian and development organisations, foundations, entrepreneurs and academia), with existing or potential partners, and the initiative’s funders.
Breakdown of main responsibilities
Oversee the delivery of the HRI Initiative: implement and adjust the HRI strategy to accelerate impacting investing in frontier markets. This includes:
Oversee activities related to the Network of Impact Capital, and Network of Innovative Finance, including peer learning opportunities and growing both networks.
Advance progress on the HRI Call to Action, including increasing number of endorsing organisations and tracking progress on commitments.
Collaborate with colleagues on advancing the HRI Roadmap for Africa.
Deliver the annual Frontier Markets Impact Meeting.
Represent the initiative at relevant external events.
Ensure smooth coordination within the team, including CRM processes, impact measurement and marketing materials.
Community engagement: maintain contact and build relations with diverse stakeholders across the HRI community. Identify opportunities for further investment or potential new collaborations.
Policy dialogues: in collaboration with the Deputy Head, contribute to the development and delivery of high-level dialogues on the future of aid and development at relevant Forum, standalone, or external events.
Thought leadership: identify and develop thought leadership products to share new insights and further strengthen the initiative’s visibility, including in partnership with HRI members.
Growth opportunities: identify and pursue fundraising efforts for sustaining the work of the initiative as well as new partnerships to advance the HRI agenda.
Reporting: maintaining relations with funders, oversee the budget and meet reporting deadlines.
The successful candidate will be assessed on
Excellent strategic and systems thinking, as well as team and programme management skills to deliver new multistakeholder collaboration.
Strong diplomacy and relationship management skills to execute complex and impact-driven collaboration with diverse partners.
Expanding number of partners engaging across the HRI Initiative and securing growth opportunities.
Preferred Requirements and Experience
Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. business, finance, international relations, development economics).
8+ years’ relevant professional work experience, such as in the field of program management, sustainable development, market building, private sector development.
Demonstrated experience working within multi-stakeholder processes, public-private partnerships across cultures, and fundraising efforts.
Proactive, self-starting, with a positive and constructive attitude towards getting things done, with a politically astute mindset.
Demonstrated ability to build and manage complex multistakeholder projects with the aim to drive sustainable development outcomes, apply systemic thinking, and interact effectively with leaders to build and deepen trusted relationships.
Excellent cross-cultural verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of additional languages are welcomed.
Proficiency in MS Office/Excel/PowerPoint and recent digital platforms; knowledge of Salesforce and Zoom a plus.
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!