Lead, Health Security, Geneva

Lead, Health Security The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is an international organization for public‑private cooperation. The Forum engages leaders across sectors to shape global agendas. The Forum’s Centre for Health&Healthcare (CHH) works to make healthcare systems more resilient, efficient and equitable. At the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026, CHH launched the Pandemic Preparedness Engine (PPX), a global AI‑factory‑based platform that identifies infectious disease risk and accelerates vaccine development within 100 days of identification. This role sits at the intersection of science, strategy and partnership, translating health‑security priorities into actionable applications with pharmaceutical, biotech and AI partners, designing and scaling the PPX platform and accelerating counter‑measure R&D.

Reporting Lines and Interactions This position reports to the Head, Resilient Healthcare, and sits within a core project team of three, with additional expertise provided by a network of secondees.

Main Responsibilities

Support the strategic development and positioning of PPX as an AI‑enabled platform linking disease intelligence to vaccine development

Lead engagement with pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics, and scientific partners to translate platform capabilities (AI, federated data systems) into practical R&D and decision‑making applications aligned with real‑world development workflows

Advance end‑to‑end vaccine and therapeutic R&D use cases, translating platform capabilities into practical applications from discovery and design through regulatory submission

Contribute to the development of governance structures, sustainability models, and operating frameworks to support the long‑term scale and institutionalisation of PPX

Establish and manage high‑level Expert Advisory Committees and an Executive Board to provide strategic guidance, ensuring PPX is embedded into national, regional and global agendas and systems

Contribute to strategic communications and high‑level engagements (e.g., Davos, ministerial dialogues) to position PPX as a scalable, industry‑relevant global public good

The Successful Candidate Will Be Assessed on

Ability to navigate the complexity of a matrix organization and leverage synergies across functional competences and thematic content

Agile coordination of Forum communities and partners, integrating multiple views and innovating within a rapidly shifting context

Capacity to support the development and management of strategic partnerships with leading businesses, governments and international organisations

Preferred Requirements and Experience

Advanced degree in public health, life sciences, biomedical engineering or related field

Minimum of 8+ years’ experience in biotechnology, pandemic preparedness, health security, AI‑enabled life sciences or related fields

Strong understanding of the vaccine or therapeutic development lifecycle and key decision points from discovery through clinical development and deployment

Experience driving deployment of AI‑enabled platforms in life sciences/health security (e.g., agentic AI, federated systems) into workflows

Demonstrated experience engaging senior leaders across sectors and navigating complex global partnerships

Demonstrated ability to translate complex scientific or technical concepts into strategic or operational initiatives

Proven project management skills and experience translating vision into action through workshop design and adult learning practices

Operates effectively within a highly matrixed, globally distributed team

A flexible, agile mindset with a demonstrated ability to operate in fast‑paced, evolving environments, taking initiative to build and refine approaches while executing

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