Communications Specialist, Foundations

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?

Together, The Global Shapers Community and The Forum of Young Global Leaders work towards a more just, sustainable, and equitable world.

The Forum of Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers community work in alignment with the World Economic Forum’s overall goals of improving the state of the World and support innovative changemakers in driving significant impact through global visibility, knowledge building, leadership development, partnership curation, and collective action.

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

The role will be based in Geneva, reporting to Head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders and working closely with Global Shapers Community and Forum of Young Global Leaders team members. Across the Forum, this individual will work closely with the Global Programming Group and the Global Communications Group teams.

What will you be responsible for?

• Prepare communication products for different audiences, including delegation communications, newsletters, participant communications and other editorial materials.
• Lead the editorial calendar and content creation across digital channels, including social media, websites, newsletters and Salesforce Marketing Campaigns, leveraging AI-enabled tools and other emerging digital technologies to enhance content creation, workflow efficiency and audience engagement.
• Develop and execute communications campaigns that showcase the impact, initiatives and leadership of the Young Global Leaders Foundation and the Global Shapers Community.
• Identify, develop and amplify compelling stories that demonstrate the impact of both communities, translating complex initiatives and leadership insights into engaging narratives for diverse audiences.
• Coordinate communications before, during and after major Foundation convenings and milestones, ensuring consistent messaging and timely delivery across channels.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders across the Foundations team, Global Programming Group, Global Communications Group, Centres, Regional Teams and other colleagues to source content, coordinate communications activities and amplify community achievements.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of communications activities across digital channels, using insights and analytics to continuously improve content, audience engagement and communications effectiveness.
• Ensure consistency of messaging, branding and editorial quality across all communications in accordance with the Forum's editorial and brand standards, acting as a custodian of the Forum's, the Young Global Leaders Foundation's and the Global Shapers Community's reputations.
• Support the continuous development of communications approaches by identifying opportunities to strengthen audience engagement, enhance storytelling and improve the effectiveness of communication products and channels.

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

Domain Knowledge and Experience

• Advanced university degree in communications, journalism, media, business, economics or another relevant discipline.
• Hands-on professional experience in communications for a global audience.
• Demonstrated experience developing engaging editorial content and managing communications across multiple digital channels.
• Strong writing, editing and storytelling skills, with the ability to identify, evaluate, synthesize and communicate complex issues to diverse audiences.
• Ability to embed the "Future of Leadership" narrative consistently across communication products.

Core Skills

• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills, working effectively across the Foundations team, Global Programming Group, Global Communications Group, Centres and other Forum colleagues.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining a high standard of quality and responsiveness.
• Demonstrated interest in emerging digital communications trends, including the effective and responsible use of AI-enabled tools for content creation, communications and audience engagement.
• Fluency in English, with excellent written, digital and verbal communication skills; knowledge of additional languages is an asset.
• Strong editorial judgement and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex topics into accessible and engaging content.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Excel and Word); experience with Salesforce, Salesforce Marketing Cloud or comparable digital communications platforms is a significant advantage.

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.