Operations Specialist – UpLink (Temporary)

This is a 9 month temporary assignment.

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organisation for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

UpLink is the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative that builds ecosystems enabling purpose-driven, early-stage entrepreneurs to scale their business for the markets and economies that are essential for a net-zero, nature-positive, equitable future. By fostering ecosystems of collaboration, alongside the World Economic Forum’s public-private initiatives, UpLink accelerates market-changing innovations that are creating a future that is not just sustainable but thriving.

Why We Are Recruiting:

As UpLink evolves, robust operations are essential to our ecosystem. We are seeking an Operations Specialist to support processes across our teams with an emphasis on sourcing and selecting the innovators, investors and ecosystem partners we engage with.

Reporting Structure:

This role reports to the Head of Technology & Operations collaborating closely with our three other sub-teams within UpLink : Growth, Partnerships & Innovation Ecosystems; Marketing & Communications; Engagement & Programming.

Responsibilities:

60% Innovation Sourcing and Selection

• Contribute to sourcing, review, and selection processes for the companies UpLink engages, supporting the development of scalable systems and robust  infrastructure to improve efficiency, transparency, and alignment across sub-teams.

• Implement inclusive, data-informed workflows to identify early-stage innovators, investors, and ecosystem partners, with a focus on scalability, automation, and effective stakeholder engagement. Manage submission communications, logistics, and the coordination of internal and external reviewers throughout the lifecycle.

• Serve as a point of contact for data quality and maintenance of the UpLink Innovation Ecosystem and its memberships, supporting current databases and identifying opportunities for efficiency.

• Collaborate closely with Ecosystem, Engagement, and Marcomms sub-teams to align on timelines, facilitate seamless onboarding, and communicate project milestones.

• Assist with research, data gathering, and onboarding of new team members and external partners, ensuring the right tools and processes are in place.

20% Service Design

• Help design and improve technology tools and processes to support data quality during all stages of operations across teams.

• Regularly look for ways to make workflows and systems better, fixing problems and suggesting simple, scalable improvements.

• Create and test easy-to-use process changes that save time and make work smoother for both our team and partners.

• Evaluate AI features and automation tools to make services more efficient and ready for the future.

20% Global Operations

• Enable smooth onboarding/offboarding of sub-team members, ensuring access to tools, documentation, and systems.

• Champion operational innovation by applying AI tools and strategic playbooks to automate workflows and improve data practices across sub-teams.

• Support vendor management and operational tools.

• Support sub-teams with global operations and other related activities.

Requirements:

• University degree in business, economics, data science, statistics or related field.

• 3+ years of experience in research, outreach, customer success or program support roles.

• Proficiency with a variety of AI-enabled digital tools (e.g. Jira, Airtable, Salesforce, Qualtrics, Tableau, Databricks).

• Experience with online databases of company data (e.g. Crunchbase, Dealroom, Pitchbook)

• Strong communication and organizational skills.

• Experience with online platforms and stakeholder engagement.

• Fluency in English; additional languages are an asset.

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!