Senior Associate, Centre for Experience Economy and Cities

World Economic Forum Geneva; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

World Economic Forum Geneva is seeking a Senior Associate for City Strategy and Ecosystem Engagement to identify and develop strategic opportunities with cities. The role sits in the Yes/Cities team and connects city priorities with Forum programmes, industries, partners and initiatives, while supporting a coordinated city engagement approach across the Forum.

The position involves working with mayors and city leaders, coordinating with regional ecosystem leads and account managers to ensure

Qualifications

• 4+ years of relevant experience in city strategy, government engagement, PPP, ecosystem development, or related field.
• Experience working with cities, governments, public institutions, and place-based partnerships.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication; ability to translate complex information.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain a prioritized list of approximately 20–30 cities for engagement with clear criteria.
• Build relationships with mayors and city leaders; map government priorities and decision processes.
• Connect city priorities to Forum programmes and initiatives; develop compelling briefs.
• Assess city readiness, leadership, funding, and partner presence for engagement and governance.
• Coordinate with regional leads to transition opportunities into regional city engagement.
• Identify cross-city learning opportunities and integrate them into Forum programming.

Skills

City strategy

Government engagement

Public-private partnerships

Ecosystem development

Consulting

Job description

The annual salary for this role is $100,000-115,000 in New York. This is a fixed term role through 30 June 2027 in the Forum’s New York or Geneva offices with three days of onsite work required per week.

Why we are recruiting Yes/Cities is the Forum’s platform for city engagement, partner activation and place-based growth.

As the Centre expands its city-facing work, it needs a stronger, coordinated view of priority cities, city-level opportunities and existing Forum relationships.

The Senior Associate, City Strategy and Ecosystem Engagement, will help the Centre identify, assess and develop strategic opportunities with cities.

Sitting within the Yes/Cities team, the role will connect city priorities with relevant Forum programmes, industries, partners and initiatives, while supporting a coordinated approach to city engagement across the organization.

This is a Centre-wide role with a city-facing mandate. It will contribute to Yes/Cities’ work while also supporting broader city engagement across the Centre, including in areas such as infrastructure, the built environment, innovation, sports, travel and tourism, health, workforce and economic development, resilience and related priorities.

Reporting lines and interactions This is a Centre-wide hire that sits within the Yes/Cities team and reports to the Senior Manager, Yes/Cities. The role will maintain a working relationship with Centre for Regions, Trade, and Geopolitics and collaborate across the Forum. The role will work closely with the Senior Associate, Global Network; regional ecosystem leads; Forum industries, Centres and initiatives; and account managers to coordinate intelligence, identify opportunities and support effective handover. Externally, the role will support engagement with mayors, senior city leaders, government departments, local anchors, businesses, investors, innovators, civil-society organizations and other city stakeholders. Senior relationship ownership will remain with the relevant senior or regional lead.

Key responsibilities

1. City Prioritization and Portfolio Development Establish and maintain a prioritized list of approximately 20–30 cities for potential Yes/Cities engagement, using agreed criteria and evidence, such as city priorities, development plans, institutional structures, challenges and opportunities Maintain visibility of city opportunities, owners, next steps and handovers across the Centre.
2. City Relationships and Government Engagement Build relationships with mayors, senior city leaders and relevant government departments. Develop an understanding of local government priorities, institutional structures and decision-making processes. Map existing Forum relationships and activities across priority cities
3. Forum Alignment and City-Level Opportunity Development Connect city priorities to relevant Forum industries, Centres and initiatives and serve as a conduit accordingly Support partner proposals and business cases where city-level alignment is central to the value proposition. Feed city intelligence into the evolution of the Yes/Cities product offering, engagement model and business plan.
4. Yes/Cities Qualification and Engagement Pathways Assess city readiness, government commitment, local leadership, partner presence, local anchor capacity and potential funding. Support the development of city qualification criteria and engagement standards. Prepare evidence-based recommendations for the Senior Manager, Yes/Cities and relevant regional leads on whether and how an opportunity should progress.
5. Opportunity Handover and Regional Coordination Coordinate with the Senior Associate, Yes/Cities responsible for the Global Network to transition cities suited to entry-point engagement documenting context, contacts, next steps and ownership. Coordinate with regional ecosystem leads to transition qualified opportunities into regional or city-level engagement, ensuring relevant materials and intelligence are complete. Maintain clarity on ownership, next steps and accountabilities for each priority city.
6. Cross-Forum and Global Integration Support connections between city priorities and global Forum programming. Identify opportunities for cross-city learning and replication.

Profile and experience

4+ years of relevant experience in city strategy, government engagement, public-private partnerships, ecosystem development, consulting or a related field. Experience working with cities, governments, public institutions, economic development organizations or place-based partnerships. Strong understanding of how economic development, infrastructure, innovation, workforce, resilience and public-sector decision-making shape city priorities. Ability to assess cities and ecosystems and translate complex information into clear profiles, recommendations, opportunity briefs and business cases. Strong stakeholder-management and project-management skills, with experience coordinating across teams, organizations and sectors and managing multiple workstreams. Sound judgement and diplomacy, and the ability to connect local priorities with broader strategies, partnerships and investment opportunities in an international, matrixed organization. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

Why join us?

Join an independent and impartial organization with over 55 years of connecting leaders to make sense of global challenges and move the world forward together. Join an independent and impartial organization with over 55 years of connecting leaders to make sense of global challenges and move the world forward together. Be part of a global team that brings leaders together through dialogue, to build trust, and turn shared understanding of complex global issues to collective solutions. Our culture is grounded in care, curiosity and respect, encouraging genuine dialogue and meaningful collaboration. By investing in trust and understanding, we create an environment where everyone can contribute fully to our shared mission. Work in an environment that values shared learning, diverse perspectives, and real-world collaboration, helping you grow through challenge, not routine. At the Forum, every role contributes to global progress. We advance together and help our partners shape solutions that make a lasting impact.