Portfolio Specialist (Strategic Foresight)

Houston Foresight; United States; Remote; USD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Portfolio Specialist to catalyze transformation through strategic foresight. This role involves designing and delivering foresight experiments, facilitating workshops, and integrating insights into decision-making processes. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with foresight tools and methods, strong collaboration skills, and a relevant advanced degree. Join a dynamic team dedicated to innovation and organizational change, where your expertise will help shape the future of the organization and its impact on global challenges.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in futures and foresight tools.
• Master's degree in international development or related field.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver foresight experiments and processes.
• Facilitate workshops and integrate foresight insights into decision-making.

Skills

Foresight tools and methods

Collaboration with stakeholders

Research and analysis

Workshop facilitation

Education

Master’s Degree in relevant field

Bachelor’s Degree in related field

Tools

Data analysis software

Multimedia communication tools

Job description

Deadline to apply: 26 June 2022

Duties and Responsibilities

To achieve its goals, UN Global Pulse Finland is recruiting a Portfolio Specialist (Strategic Foresight) for a duration of below 100 days on a consultant agreement.

Under the supervision of the Strategic Foresight Lead, the consultant will perform the following functions:

To contribute to catalyzing transformation in the UN by supporting innovation and new ways of working as a part of the strategic foresight team. The consultant will design and elaborate foresight processes and experiments and oversee their delivery. Besides the core team, the consultant will collaborate with internal colleagues and a broader group of partners in the UN system. The consultant will support the strategic foresight workstream in the following ways:

I) Designing and delivering foresight experiments and processes.

The consultant will help kick-start a series of foresight experiments, including rapid scoping and design of experiments, identification and adaptation of foresight methods to fit the needs of particular experiments, and identifying partners for implementation. The consultant will also support the delivery, including coordination of experiments and supporting the delivery leads in other UN organizations. The tasks may also include contracting and procurement activities as required.

II) Supporting the foresight capacity development and multidisciplinary approaches.

The consultant will design and facilitate foresight workshops and training as an integral part of the foresight activities to build ownership with the participants. The consultant will also support the integration of foresight insights and products into existing decision-making, planning, and strategy processes to drive lasting impact and organizational change. Finally, the consultant drives the application of cross-disciplinary approaches with data and behavioral scientists, service design, and policy experts.

III) Reporting and documenting of portfolio and Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) impact framework: Contribute to knowledge transfer and exchange, including the development of guidelines and document process. Contribute to the monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework by providing project status and lessons learned.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) preferably in international development, futures studies, computational social sciences, social sciences, behavioral sciences, economics, interaction design, or another relevant discipline is required.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) in a related field in combination with two (2) additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

Required:

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in using a diversity of futures and foresight tools and methods preferably in organizational or government contexts.

Desirable: (The following experience is optional. Candidates who do not have it are welcome to apply)

• Experience working in diverse country contexts and/or with multilateral organizations
• Proven ability to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders such as government, private sector, or civil society
• Extensive experience developing speculative scenarios, horizon scanning, or trend analysis
• Experience in delivering high-quality research and analysis (preferably quantitative and qualitative approaches) and communicating the insights through accessible multimedia formats.

Language

• Fluency in written and oral English is required.
• Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

How to apply:

Send your CV, cover letter, and portfolio (optional) to [e-mail]

We will be directly in touch with applicants; however, due to high volume, we will only be contacting shortlisted applicants.