Senior Associate, Experience Economy and Cities

World Economic Forum

. Establish and maintain a prioritized list of approximately 20–30 cities for potential Yes/Cities engagement using agreed criteria and evidence .

Posted 10/30/2026contractNew York City • New York • United StatesSenior💰 $100,000 - $115,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in city strategy and government engagement, with a strong ability to assess city readiness and connect local priorities to broader initiatives. Proficient in stakeholder management and project management, ensuring effective collaboration across teams and sectors.

Highest-signal resume keywords

City Strategy DevelopmentGovernment EngagementStakeholder ManagementProject ManagementPublic-Private Partnerships

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

City AssessmentEconomic DevelopmentInfrastructure AnalysisOpportunity Brief DevelopmentBusiness Case Preparation

Soft Skills

Strong JudgementDiplomacyExcellent Communication

Industry Keywords

Public InstitutionsEcosystem DevelopmentPlace-Based PartnershipsLocal Government PrioritiesCross-City Learning

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Establish and maintain a prioritized list of approximately 20–30 cities for potential Yes/Cities engagement using agreed criteria and evidence
Maintain visibility of city opportunities, owners, next steps and handovers across the Centre
Build relationships with mayors, senior city leaders and relevant government departments
Develop understanding of local government priorities, institutional structures and decision-making processes
Map existing Forum relationships and activities across priority cities
Connect city priorities to relevant Forum industries, Centres and initiatives
Support partner proposals and business cases where city-level alignment is central to the value proposition
Feed city intelligence into the Yes/Cities product offering, engagement model and business plan
Assess city readiness, government commitment, local leadership, partner presence, local anchor capacity and potential funding
Support development of city qualification criteria and engagement standards
Prepare evidence-based recommendations on whether and how opportunities should progress
Coordinate city handovers to global network and regional or city-level engagement teams
Maintain clarity on ownership, next steps and accountabilities for each priority city
Support connections between city priorities and global Forum programming
Identify opportunities for cross-city learning and replication
Collaborate with Centre teams, regional ecosystem leads, Forum industries, Centres, initiatives and account managers
Engage with mayors, senior city leaders, government departments, local anchors, businesses, investors, innovators and civil-society organizations

Requirements

What you’ll need

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

Benefits

Comp & perks

Independent and impartial organization with over 55 years of connecting leaders to address global challenges
Three days of onsite work per week in the Forum’s New York or Geneva offices