(temporary contract, Geneva based, preferred start date September 2024 to October 2027)

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, engaging the foremost leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

Why We Are Recruiting

The Centre for Health and Healthcare works to identify and scale up solutions for more resilient, efficient, and equitable healthcare systems to deliver the best possible care and keep global populations healthy, happy, and thriving. The Centre achieves this by engaging a diverse set of stakeholders from international organizations, academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, healthcare NGOs, hospitals, healthcare providers, consumer industries, investors, innovators, infrastructure, and insurance organizations to positively shape the global health agenda.

The Forum is expanding its current work on Mental Health and launching a new initiative on Child and Youth Mental Health. Mental ill-health poses a significant threat to the well-being, survival, and future prospects of children and adolescents worldwide. Approximately one in six individuals between the ages of 10 and 19 has a mental health disorder, with half of all mental health issues arising before the age of 14. Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29, while depression is a major contributor to global disability. Alarmingly, the prevalence rates of depression in children and adolescents globally have more than doubled since before the pandemic, rising from 8.5% to 23%, and anxiety rates have increased from 11% to 19%.

The Forum’s work on child and youth mental health will focus on illuminating leading global insights and shaping concrete strategies on the role of public-private collaboration to strengthen child and youth mental health and promote healthy childhood development. We will also leverage public-private collaboration to identify the most promising and impactful interventions while strengthening social and health systems to support child and youth mental health, including engagement with public sector leaders (e.g., G7, G20, WHO). To pursue these objectives, the Forum is seeking a Mental Health Manager to help build an active community of multisector and cross-industry partners, to shape models of high-impact solutions on topical areas in the nexus of climate and health.

Reporting Lines

The Initiative Manager, Mental Health will report to the Head of Health and Wellness and take day today directions for work from Lead, Mental Health at Centre for Health and Healthcare. S(he)will also collaborate with other Centres, including but not limited to the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Centre for the New Economy and Society.

Main Responsibilities

·        Lead the strategic development of the initiative, defining its mission, vision, and goals with a focus on the theory of change.

·        Build a community of leading experts on child and youth mental health from governments, UN, academia, private sector, and civil society.

·        Responsible for the overall initiative planning and delivery (including responsibility for identifying and managing project issues as they arise and compliance with internal processes and request).

·        Design and lead the external stakeholder engagement strategy to build and strengthen the community, assess, and validate key solutions.

·        Engage with leaders outside the network through forum events in various geographies.

·        Understand, map, and monitor the overall child and youth mental health ecosystem, including trends, critical business issues, stakeholders, and external influencers.

·        Develop insight reports on key topics of importance under the initiative.

·        Organize and manage events, external workshops, and partner meetings.

·        Collaborate with other forum centers, including the ICT Industry and the Global Coalition for Digital Safety.

·        Responsible for the overall planning and delivery (including responsibility for identifying and managing project issues as they arise and compliance with internal processes and request).

·        Work with the media team to build the strategy and development of public engagement materials, including the website, blogs, social videos, podcasts, and advocacy videos featuring well-known influencers.

·        Responsible for the impact measurement and management of the work to ensure partners are deriving value and the initiative is achieving the intended impact agreed with the funder.

 

Preferred Requirements and Experience

·        Advanced university degree in public health, public policy, or other relevant fields with 6-8+ years of professional experience, preferably in mental health.

·        Self Starter and ability to build up new initiatives from scratch defining strategy, theory of change, outputs and outcomes

·        Significant experience in building and managing stakeholder networks across a range of sectors, including WHO, UN, private sector, civil society and academia.

·        Executive-level presence and presentation skills with the ability to interact efficiently and confidently with global leaders.

·        Proven project management and coordination skills; attention to detail; capacity to apply critical thinking, synthesize various viewpoints, effectively communicate critical messages, and consult broadly across diverse stakeholders.

·        A flexible, agile, and politically astute mindset necessary for working with fast-paced teams in dynamic environments.

·        Outstanding command of English, with excellent written, digital, and verbal communication skills; knowledge of other languages would be an asset.

·        Ability to successfully navigate change, ambiguity, and uncertainty.

·        Ability to understand multi-stakeholder interests, align those to meaningful societal action, and drive impact.

·        Ability to travel internationally.

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!