Lead, Grant Governance and Donor Relations

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, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Who are we and why we are recruiting?

All of the Forum’s Centres currently manage grants and funding arrangements with a range of philanthropic, corporate and government donors, housing numerous platforms and initiatives on a range of topics. The Forum is increasing on an annual basis the pool of grant funding that it receives with more than 160+M active grants today.

The role will be part of the Forum’s Grant Governance team, positioned as the institutional function supporting teams in grants management and fundraising. As a relatively new function in the Forum, the incumbent will support in the shaping of the function and co-implementing a number of key transformation projects. This includes leading the development of internal processes and policies to advance the Forum’s growing grant operating model and supporting fundraising strategies in coordination with the Forum’s Centres.

The Lead, Grant Governance and Donor Relations will be an integral part of this team, working to support the continuous management of key grant related governance processes and play a key role in supporting platforms across the lifecycle of the grant.

What will you be responsible for?
- Grant Governance Polices, Procedures and Guidance_- Partner with Legal & Compliance, People & Culture, and Finance & Controlling teams to ensure fit-for-purpose governance and compliance related policies and procedures are in place and all grant conditionalities and restrictions are met and aligned with donor requirements- Contribute to the development of a Grant Governance and Management Guidelines to support efficient fundraising and grants management- Support teams across all the Centres of the Forum in adhering to institutional grant related governance processes, including to vet and support quality assurance for grant proposals, budgets and ensuring that the key parameters of the grant are aligned with internal standards and requirements- Review and perform risk assessments on grant conditionalities and restrictions, providing advisory support to the teams on mitigation measures related to grant agreements- Act in close coordination with Finance, Legal & Compliance, Centre teams, and other key stakeholders across the Forum on all grant related matters, including collaborating with them to develop new processes, policies and tools to support the wider grant funding business model
- Capability Building, Training and Support_- Develop training programmes to empower teams within Centres to excel in fundraising, grants management and provide coaching to understand internal processes and requirements for skills building and on spot guidance as needed- Build the capabilities of teams to effectively manage funding through the Forum’s grants lifecycle through internal communication, knowledge sharing, and dissemination of templates and support tools- Provide support in helping teams to record the Forum’s grant opportunity pipeline in Salesforce, overseeing data quality from opportunity to agreement signature and ensuring accurate recording of relevant grant commitments from agreement to grant closure.
- Digital Solutions and Data Governance_- Support the implementation of the Forum’s institutional grant management solution to support the digitization of compliance and finance related controls and streamlined impact reporting standards and requirements across all the Forum’s grant funded initiatives,- Support new process improvements to the Forum’s grant management digital solution in SF to ensure centralized, efficient and comprehensive oversight of grant funding opportunities, funder information and reporting requirements, with a focus on driving self-service- Ensure centralized filing of grant related documents in Salesforce, ensuring streamlined and effective management of DF opportunities and grants

How is this role embedded in the wider team?

This role will report to the Head of Risk, Assurance and Process Improvement and work closely with the other colleagues of the team implementing grants across all the Forum’s Centres. Beyond this, you will work with counterparts across the Forum’s support functions including, but not limited to, Finance & Controlling, Legal & Compliance, and People & Culture.

What are the core skills and experience we are looking to add to our team?
- Qualification, Experience and Domain Knowledge_- Bachelor’s degree in business, international relations, public administration or other relevant field- 5-7 years of professional experience in grant/project management support, preferably in a grant-receiving organization or impact fund- Experience in working on transformation related projects or in strategic planning and org