World Economic Forum is looking for a Specialist, Bioeconomy Initiative

Contract type: Temporary position (November 2026 to May 2029)

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

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 Frontier Technology & Innovation (CFTI) helps leaders anticipate exponential technologies and drive responsible sectoral and industry transformation. It creates and scales initiatives in a global network of government- and not-for-profit hosted centres that provide national partners with a trusted platform for shared learning and problem solving. remain underdeveloped. The Initiative addresses these challenges through three complementary workstreams:

• Building public trust through strategic communications.
• Accelerating commercial adoption through pilots, regional deep dives, and multistakeholder collaboration.
• Strengthening enabling policy conditions through evidence-based tools and policy engagement.

The Bioeconomy Initiative Specialist will help deliver these workstreams by coordinating communities, supporting flagship publications, developing stakeholder insights and translating Forum convenings into practical action.

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

The Bioeconomy Initiative Specialist reports to the Bioeconomy Lead and works across multiple Forum teams and geographies in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced environment. The Specialist will support delivery of the Forum's Bioeconomy Initiative by coordinating workstreams, managing stakeholder engagement, developing content, and ensuring effective execution of programme activities across multiple global initiatives. The role requires close collaboration across the Forum, including the Centres for Health and Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing, Climate and Nature, as well as with partners across business, government, academia and international organizations.

What will you be responsible for?

• Coordinate and expand the Forum's global Bioeconomy Community, including Working Group activities as well as collaborative workstreams.
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders across business, government, academia, international organizations, and civil society.
• Facilitate stakeholder consultations to develop and test narratives that build trust in emerging biotechnologies.
• Develop communications materials, briefing notes, presentations, agenda blogs, social media content, and partner engagement resources.
• Conduct policy and landscape research and facilitate expert consultations to inform the Bioeconomy Policy Maturity Index and related policy tools.
• Support development of policy blueprints, analytical frameworks and evidence demonstrating the societal, environmental, and economic value of bioeconomy interventions.
• Contribute to flagship reports, research briefs and thought leadership that translate complex bioeconomy issues into practical insights for senior decision-makers.
• Support development of regional deep dives on commercial biomanufacturing and bio-enabled value chains.
• Coordinate multistakeholder workshops, consultations, and regional dialogues across multiple geographies.
• Identify promising regional initiatives and translate lessons from pilots and convenings into practical guidance, adoption resources and case studies.
• Coordinate and deliver regional workshops, policy dialogues, multistakeholder consultations and partner convenings across multiple geographies.
• Monitor progress, prepare updates for partners and funders and ensure high-quality execution of programme activities.
• Support coordination of bioeconomy activities around major Forum meetings and institutional events.

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

Domain Knowledge and Experience

• Academic background in life sciences, bioengineering, biotechnology, bioeconomy, public policy, economics, business, or a related discipline.
• 2–4 years of relevant experience in biotechnology, bioeconomy, biomanufacturing, innovation policy, sustainability, consulting, international organizations, or a related field.
• Familiarity with commercialization pathways for biotechnology and bio-based innovation.
• Understanding of policy development, regulation, standards, or innovation ecosystems.
• Experience working across business, government, academia and civil society in multistakeholder environments.

Core Skills

• Excellent project management, organization and coordination abilities, including the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, international, and multidisciplinary environment.
• Excellent written and spoken English; additional languages are an advantage.
• Strong analytical and written communication skills, with experience synthesizing complex information into reports, presentations and briefing materials for senior audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with stakeholders across sectors and cultures.

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. Be part of a global team that brings leaders together through dialogue, to build trust, and turn shared understanding of complex global issues into collective solutions. Our culture is grounded in care, curiosity and respect, encouraging genuine dialogue and meaningful collaboration. By investing in trust and understanding, we create an environment where everyone can contribute fully to our shared mission. Work in an environment that values shared learning, diverse perspectives, and real-world collaboration, helping you grow through challenge, not routine. At the Forum, every role contributes to global progress. We advance together and help our partners shape solutions that make a lasting impact.

While we do our best in sharing high quality job postings, Jobs in Geneva can't guarantee or be made responsible for the content in the postings (e.g. specified deadlines or links).