Partner Lead, India & South Asia, Regional Business Team

The World Economic Forum is an international organization that brings together leaders from business, government, academia, and civil society to build industry, regional and global agendas, address systemic issues, and improve the state of the world.

The Regional Business Team is responsible for building and managing the strategic engagement and development of existing and new Forum Partners in Asia Pacific, China, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, South Asia and Japan across Industry Communities, the 10 Forum Centres and our Forum events.

We are currently searching for a Partner Lead, India & South Asia, who will focus on building and reinforcing strategic relationships and interactions with senior executives from Forum Partner companies and support the development and conversion of a pipeline of new Forum Partners.

Responsibilities include:

• Building and maintaining executive-level relationship with key executives (from CEO, C-suite)




• Building and converting a pipeline of new Forum Partners, carefully crafting outreach strategies to grow the partnership portfolio in the region




• Developing in-depth understanding of Partners’ strategies and priorities, and of the regions and industry sectors in which they operate




• Ensuring engagement by developing tailored engagement plans for Partners to address their priorities and deepen their engagement in the most relevant Forum activities




• Onboarding Senior Executives from Partner companies into the Forum ecosystem and relevant engagements, in collaboration with relevant colleagues




• Monitoring Partner news and health, and quality and depth of engagement across Industries, Centres and Forum events (on a recurrent basis) to identify risks for engagement; communicating detected risks and taking preventive measures to address them by mobilising the relevant teams as needed and in collaboration with Partner Services Team




• Managing Partners’ and prospective Partners’ approach, preparation, and on-site participation in Forum events

To be successful, a Partner Lead should:

• Build strategic relationships with senior executives to develop and tailor Partner engagement plans based on their business priorities and relevant trends for their regions of incorporation and industry sectors




• Monitor and proactively manage Partner engagement metrics and resulting actions to ensure retention




• Build and close a pipeline of potential Forum Partners to support the growth of the portfolio in the region




• Ensure Scorecard and opportunities are duly updated in the system and contributing to a year-round pipeline of new partnership contracts




• Ensure a ‘One-Forum’ approach by working closely with all internal stakeholders and relevant teams to guarantee an optimal Partner engagement experience.

Preferred Requirements and Experience:

• Master’s degree or equivalent




• 5+ years of relevant professional experience in a business development or relationship management role in a fast-changing professional environment. Working knowledge and experience of sales cycle management, pipeline management, market research is a must.




• Proven experience engaging with business leaders at senior executive level in India & South Asia, to understand business strategy and to translate business requirements into concrete business solution proposals




• Proven track record and ability to steer conversations and influence engagement at the highest senior executive level




• Strong capacity to influence partnership and engagement decisions and negotiate with potential partners, with proven track record in building and converting partnership pipelines




• Capacity to apply critical thinking, synthesize various viewpoints, consult broadly and work collaboratively across matrix organizations




• Outstanding communication skills and command of English; fluency in another predominant language in the region of operation is a plus.




• Strong service orientation and entrepreneurial attitude




• Knowledge of the business and political landscape of South Asia




• Ability to travel up to 40% for Partners and Potentials visits

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!