Programming and Content Specialist/Lead, China (6-month maternity cover)

Why we are recruiting

The Forum’s Programming team develops and organizes high-level, multi-stakeholder meetings, including the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in the People’s Republic of China, that are insightful, innovative and inspiring. The events convene global leaders from business, politics, the media and civil society to address the most relevant and pressing challenges on the global, regional and industry agendas.

China has become the fastest growing country in the past decade. Given the region’s strategic importance, the Forum continues to strengthen its thought leadership and presence in China. The China office is seeking to hire a Lead position focusing on programming and content development for the Forum’s China and global events.

Reporting Lines & Interactions

The Programming and Content Specialist/ Lead will report to the Head of the Program and Events of the Forum’s China office.

The successful candidate will work closely with various teams in the Beijing Office, as well as the Global Programming Group in Geneva. Externally the successful candidate will engage with top-tier universities and think tanks in Greater China to bring relevant researchers and thought leaders to Forum events. The candidate will also work closely with the China business teams in communicating the narrative of the organization and specific meeting programmes.

Breakdown of main responsibilities

Time spent on areas of responsibility can be broken down as follows:

• Programming: identify trends and curate breakthrough ideas related to China – domestically and globally – understand their business, economic and social relevance, and translate them into cutting-edge sessions. Ideal candidate will have a strong intellectual curiosity and passion for interaction, facilitation and collaboration.
• Member and constituent engagement: leading the identification, engagement and preparation of experts for our global meetings and supporting business outreach where needed; this entails effective communication in the run-up to the meeting as well as all support during an event.
• Team collaboration: collaborate across portfolios and support other team members across Content and Interaction team

The successful candidate will be assessed on

• Understanding of China’s business, economic and social landscape and ability to craft narratives that resonate both domestic and global audience
• Excellence in content leadership
• Ability to drive deadlines and milestones on session design and content delivery
• Capability of navigate and collaborate with various internal and external stakeholders
• Quality of written and oral communication

Preferred Requirements and Experience

• A master’s degree in business, economics, communication, or related field
• 5-10 years’ relevant work experience in the industry of business communication, marketing, journalism or consultancy
• Demonstrated ability to identify, evaluate, synthesize and communicate issues related to China’s economic, business and social landscape
• Demonstrated service attitude and ability to work in a lateral way, collaborating across portfolios and with people with very different functions and expertise
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Chinese
• Strong organizational skills

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!