Lead, Health Security

World Economic Forum LLC; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The World Economic Forum LLC in New York is seeking a professional to lead engagement in pandemic preparedness initiatives, specifically regarding the Pandemic Preparedness Engine (PPX). This role requires an advanced degree in public health and a minimum of 8 years' experience in biotechnology or health security.

The position involves significant responsibilities, including strategic development, engagement with pharmaceutical partners, and contributing to governance models. The salary range is $120,000-140,000 annually.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in biotechnology, pandemic preparedness, or health security.
• Strong understanding of vaccine development lifecycle and key decision points.
• Experience driving AI-enabled platforms in life sciences.

Responsibilities

• Support strategic development of the Pandemic Preparedness Engine as an AI-enabled platform.
• Lead engagement with pharmaceutical and biotech partners.
• Contribute to governance and sustainability models for PPX.

Skills

Project management skills

AI-enabled platforms experience

Ability to engage senior leaders

Translating scientific concepts

Vaccine or therapeutic development

Education

Advanced degree in public health or related field

Job description

Job Overview

Please note: This role requires the ability to work on site 3 days per week per company policy. The annual salary range for this role is $120,000-140,000 in New York. This is a grant funded position that ends on January 31 2029. 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 shape global, regional and industry agendas. Why we are recruiting The Forum’s Centre for Health & Healthcare (CHH) helps identify and scale up solutions for more resilient, efficient, and equitable healthcare systems to deliver the best possible care and keep global populations healthy. The CHH community brings together global leaders to engage in key global issues. At the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026, the CHH launched the Pandemic Preparedness Engine (PPX), an ambitious global initiative designed to accelerate how the world prepares for biological threats. PPX is the world’s first global, AI-factory-based platform designed to identify infectious disease risk and accelerate the G7-endorsed 100 Days Mission to develop vaccines against viral threats within 100 days of identification.

Reporting lines and interactions

This position will report to the Head, Resilient Healthcare, and sit within a core project team of three, with additional subject matter expertise provided by a network of secondees.

Main responsibilities

• Support the strategic development and positioning of the Pandemic Preparedness Engine (PPX) as an AI-enabled platform linking disease intelligence to vaccine development.
• Lead engagement with pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics, and scientific partners to translate platform capabilities (e.g., AI, federated data systems) into practical R&D and decision-making applications aligned with real-world development workflow.
• Advance end-to-end vaccine and therapeutic R&D use cases, translating platform capabilities into practical applications from discovery and design through regulatory submission.
• Contribute to the development of governance structures, sustainability models, and operating frameworks to support the long-term scale and institutionalization of PPX.
• Establish and manage high-level Expert Advisory Committees and an Executive Board to provide strategic guidance, and ensure PPX is embedded into national, regional and global agendas and systems.
• Contribute to strategic communications and high-level engagements (e.g., Davos, ministerial dialogues) to position PPX as a scalable, industry-relevant global public good.

Preferred requirements and experience

• Advanced degree in public health, life sciences, biomedical engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 8+ years of experience in biotechnology, pandemic preparedness, health security, AI-enabled life sciences, or related fields.
• Strong understanding of the vaccine or therapeutic development lifecycle, and the key decision points from discovery through clinical development and deployment.
• Experience driving deployment of AI-enabled platforms in life sciences/health security (e.g., agentic AI, federated systems) into workflows.
• Demonstrated experience engaging senior leaders across sectors and navigating complex global partnerships.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex scientific or technical concepts into strategic or operational initiatives.
• Proven project management skills and experience translating vision into action through workshop design and adult learning practices.
• Operate effectively within a highly matrixed, globally distributed team.
• A flexible, agile mindset, with a demonstrated ability to operate in fast-paced, evolving environments, taking initiative to build and refine approaches while executing.