Innovation Specialist (Food and Water)

World Economic Forum (WEF)

Geneva, Switzerland 🇨🇭

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, and other leaders of society to build coalitions, projects and initiatives – digitally and physically – to address industry, regional and systemic issues.

The Centre for Climate & Nature (CNC) seeks to bring innovation and frontier approaches to help the international system be more agile and equipped to respond to today’s challenges. The Centre does this by helping the international community leverage public-private cooperation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, systems thinking and a platform approach for improved management of the global commons and building sustainable markets for the 2030 development goals.

The CNC is seeking an Innovation Specialist to operationalize the Innovation and Technology Ecosystem pillar of the Food and Water team.

Why we are recruiting
Food and Water is a newly integrated portfolio located at the Centre for Nature and Climate. The Forum has worked on both agendas for a decade and a half, building up a strong track record of galvanizing multi-sectoral leadership to support collective regional and country-led action, and advancing global insight and policy, to accelerate food systems transformation and, water security and equity, to meet the needs of people and the planet. More here: Food initiatives and Water initiatives.

The food and water agenda has three strategic tracks:

  • Finance and Incentives for Regenerative and Adaptive,
  • Innovation and Technology Ecosystems,
  • Public Private Partnerships to support country pathways.

The Food and Water team’s second Strategic Track is focusing on developing a global innovators network that can develop and disseminate best practices, enable knowledge exchange, curate a global community of practice and action across scalable innovation opportunities. Emerging technologies including data and digital are a key priority within the global initiative that can support
food and water systems in being net-zero, nature positive and nourish all.

The Food and Water Team is hiring a Innovation Specialist to support, develop and connect the ecosystem of innovation and technology to food and water agendas as part of the second strategic track. A key component of the track is an UpLink partnership on its Aquapreneur Innovations Initiative and the Food Innovation Hubs Global Initiative that aim at strengthening innovation ecosystems for freshwater and food systems transformation.

The Aquapreneur Innovations Initiative is a 5-year $15M project which was launched during the Forum’s Annual Meeting in May 2022 with HCL, an Indian conglomerate. It aims to accelerate the innovation agenda for water and create a first-of-its-kind innovation ecosystem for the global freshwater sector on UpLink. Each year, it runs one water innovation challenge, sourcing up to 10
leading water entrepreneurs – “Aquapreneurs” – and distribute a total prize money of $1.75 million amongst them. Through UpLink, Aquapreneurs will receive visibility, introductions to scale their funding, invitations to global events as well as become part of the UpLink innovator community. In parallel, UpLink is growing a Water Innovation Ecosystem to strengthen collaboration across the
diverse stakeholders and accelerate water innovation and implementation for all.

The Food Innovation Hubs global initiative aims to drive relevant high-end and low-cost inclusive innovation that can have a scalable impact and meet the needs of food systems stakeholders.
Globally, the initiative is focused on three following strategic pillars where innovations can contribute to 1) Resilient and climate-smart; 2) Sustainable and healthy and 3) circular food systems.

The Innovation Specialist will spearhead the development of connecting UpLink Aquapreneurs and a pipeline of innovative solutions to a wider innovation ecosystem in food and water. In addition, the Innovation Specialist will be responsible for ensuring that Uplink Aquapreneurs and the related programmes are included in key milestones and across strategic pillars of food and water systems.

Reporting Lines & Interactions
The role will be based in Geneva within the Centre for Nature and Climate (CNC), reporting to the Lead, Data and Digital, Food and Water, who is based in Geneva. There will be a non-formal relationship with the Lead, Water and Health, UpLink, who is based in Geneva.

Internally, this person will work with colleagues in the broader CNC, as well as a wide range of other teams and colleagues in the Forum.

Externally, this person will engage Forum partner companies, potential Forum partners, the investor community and a broad range of stakeholders including governments, multilateral development organizations, civil society, and academia in the areas of food and water.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Responsible for managing and engaging the community of Aquapreneurs and innovator pipeline to the Food and Water programmes, across innovation and technology strategic pillar.
  • Lead the collaboration with UpLink on water as it pertains to building an ecosystem of innovators. This would include innovation ecosystem mapping, pipeline building and active outreach and formalizing collaborations with the identified stakeholders in the water innovation space.
  • Support the Lead, Water and Health, UpLink with the operations and management of the Aquapreneur Innovation Challenges.
  • Facilitate introductions and meaningful collaboration opportunities for respective UpLink Aquapreneurs and water-focused funds with Impact Partners, Investors and Forum platforms, communities, and networks.
  • Support the development and specific thematic of the Global Innovators Network, to foster learnings exchange across the food innovation hubs, UpLink, C4IR network, and others leveraging internal as well as external communities of innovators and thought-leaders.
  • Develop a pipeline and network of mission-aligned external organizations, with resources to support aquapreneurs either financially or otherwise, committed to supporting UpLink water challenges

The successful candidate will be assessed on

  • Internal and external partner engagement to advance the work on data and digital
  • Community design, development and management including organizing regular exchanges, knowledge development and delivery
  • Manage event planning and logistics for select key global milestones
  • Ensure external and internal communications plans are well delivered and amplify the work of the initiative

Preferred Requirements and Experience

  • 5-7 years of professional experience in the public sector, private sector or civil society, international working experience is a plus
  • Strong understanding of sustainability and the issues core to the global water security agenda, including climate change, resilience, nature, and circular economy
  • A passion for the role of innovation and entrepreneurship as a key accelerator for sustainable development
  • Familiarity with the accelerator, incubator or investor eco-system
  • Master’s, political science, environmental science, MPA, MBA or equivalent degree in business
  • Experience in handling public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder platforms
  • Excellent knowledge of the water political and stakeholder landscape
  • Excellent relationship management skills and international network among key individuals and organizations in the water sector
  • Entrepreneurial mind, excellent communicator with high standards of professionalism and integrity
  • Willing to work in a highly demanding environment and able to juggle multiple priorities

Why work at the Forum
We believe 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 co-operation, shaping mind-sets and agendas and driving collective action. Join us and become a driver for positive change!

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!


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