Lead, Social Innovation

This is a fixed-term contract with a maximum duration of 12 months.

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, working in partnership with the World Economic Forum, is looking for a Lead, Social Innovation (Public Sector), with a target start date of 1 July 2025. The position is a full-time, on-site role in a growing team.

Why are we hiring

In partnership with the World Economic Forum, the

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

is the foremost global community of pioneering social innovators driving systemic change. Since 1998, it has recognized leading social innovators through its annual awards with the categories of Social Entrepreneurs, Corporate Social Innovators, Public Social Innovators and Collectives.

In 2021, the foundation launched the Social Economy Working Group which evolved into the

Policy Leadership Council

(PLC) to increase engagement with the public sector on the topic of social economy and social innovation. The council brings together 30+ policy leaders and has introduced numerous initiatives, including a series of insights reports on Unlocking the Social Economy, a global coalition on data collection, and national policy roundtables.

Duties and responsibilities

The Lead, Social Innovation (Public Sector) will report directly to the Head of Social Innovation and enable the Schwab Foundation’s mission to advance social innovation in the public sector by supporting the following activities:

- Public Sector Engagement: Coordination of the activities of the Policy Leadership Council (annual activity planning, agenda preparation for meetings, content development, coordination with co-chairs, etc.)
- Public Social Innovation Awards: Engagement management of the community of Public Social Innovators (PSIs), including the coordination of the annual selection cycle of PSIs for the Schwab Foundation awards;
- Thought leadership: Lead a portfolio of insights and thought leadership activities, focusing on key emerging themes in (public) social innovation. This might include flagship reports, thematic surveys, white papers, outlooks and toolkits.
- Data Harmonization and Sector-Wide Sharing: Coordinate the foundation’s efforts to harmonize data collection and sector-wide data sharing on social enterprises.

Public sector engagement
- Coordinate the activities of the Policy Leadership Council in coordination with the Co-Chairs of the council, the Head of Social Innovation, and the Director of the Schwab Foundation. This includes annual activity planning, coordination of opportunities for public sector engagement, and alignment of activities with other ecosystem organizations and public sector organizations.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key partners, predominantly public sector organisations.
- Prepare the quarterly meetings of the Policy Leadership Council, in coordination with the co-chairs.
- Represent the Foundation at conferences, public forums, and stakeholder meetings.
- Prepare the Foundation’s programming related to social innovation in the public sector at key Forum events, including the development of content and engagement of speakers.
- Lead on the organization of national-level policy roundtables convening public sector representatives as well as national experts on social innovation, with the support of the events team.

Public social innovation awards and community
- Onboard newly awarded Public Social Innovators into the Schwab Foundation community and define and communicate the value proposition to public awardees, enhancing engagement and recognition within the Foundation's initiatives.
- Act as primary engagement manager for some of the world’s most renowned public social innovators, implementing engagement plans for each.
- Conduct research and assessments to identify potential new awardees and provide informed recommendations for community inclusion.

Thought leadership
- Lead a portfolio of insights and thought leadership activities, focusing on key emerging themes in (public) social innovation. This might include flagship reports, thematic surveys, white papers, outlooks and toolkits.
- Draw upon the rich insights that is to be found within the Schwab Foundation community, and engage social innovators in producing insights in line with the Foundation’s focus and the World Economic Forum’s overall guidelines.
- Manage partnerships with a wide range of insights partners, including consulting firms, research and academic institutions, and other partners.
- Use qualitative and quantitative skills to produce new insights.
- Coordinate ad-hoc advisory groups including experts from the public sector, private sector, industry and academia to contribute to the development of Insights Reports and White Papers.

Data Harmonization and Sector-Wide Sharing
- Coordinate the foundation’s efforts to harmonize data collection in the social enterprise sector and explore data standards, exchanges, or platforms that allow for sector-wide data sharing acro