Forum Officer

The IUCN Leaders Forum is an annual event, designed to complement the 4-year cycle of the IUCN Congress with more regular inputs into the international agenda. The event gathers leaders and changemakers (including government, civil society, private sector, sub-national authorities and other) from around the world, in-person, to discuss innovative solutions to critical global challenges, make bold commitments, build partnerships and catalyse action for impactful change in nature conservation and sustainability.
Specific Duties And Responsibilities:
Design and planning phases:

• Support the Forum Manager in the design of event types and the development of the narrative for the IUCN Leaders Forum Programme and the IUCN Congress – Forum Programme;
• Conceptualise the submission form for the IUCN Congress – Forum Call for Proposals and coordinate technical development with internal and external IT partners;
• Develop guidelines for the IUCN Congress – Forum Call for Proposals and for the different event types, and ensure appropriate communication to session organisers during the entire pre-event phase;
• Organise the technical review of the IUCN Congress – Forum Call for Proposals;
• Design and curate the Programme and Speaker Management Systems for the IUCN Leaders Forum and the IUCN Congress; ensure that the programme and speakers are continually updated across internal and external IT systems and event websites;
• Support the Forum Manager in the development of the actual event programme for the IUCN Leaders Forum 2024 and the IUCN Congress 2025;
• Ensure that session organisers are working closely with facilitators in the design of their sessions to deliver interactive and outcome-oriented sessions;
• Design an innovative programme of events for the IUCN Congress – Exhibition, and work with thematic leads, the Event Partnerships Officer and IUCN Centres in the development of the sessions for the Exhibition, ensuring they are in line with the overall narratives and complement other IUCN Congress – Forum and Members Assembly events;
• Ensure overall coordination of both content and operational issues related to the programme of events for the IUCN Leaders Forum and IUCN Congress – Forum;
• Coordinate logistical needs, with the Global Convenings and Events Unit, for the implementation and smooth running of IUCN Leaders Forum and IUCN Congress – Forum and Exhibition events, as necessary;
• Support the Forum Manager in liaising with other Secretariat teams providing support to the organisation of the IUCN Leaders Forum and the IUCN Congress;
• Respond to general queries and specific questions from event organisers in relation to preparation for the IUCN Leaders Forum and the IUCN Congress – Forum and Exhibition, or ensure that any helpdesk team handling such questions has adequate information to perform such a task;
• Act as procurement focal point for all IUCN Congress – Forum-related events;
• Support the Forum Manager in his/her daily tasks.

Event delivery (On-site and hybrid):

• Support the Forum Manager in the efficient delivery of the programme of events for the IUCN Leaders Forum 2024 and the IUCN Congress 2025 – Forum;
• Coordinate the delivery of the programme for the IUCN Congress 2025 – Exhibition;
• Handle any last-minute changes to the programme and speaker line-ups, and ensure that logistics and suppliers are promptly informed of these changes;
• Ensure that the Programme and Speaker Management Systems as well as event websites reflect the latest changes to the programme and speaker line-ups and are up-to-date at all times during the events;
• Participate in programme management meetings on-site as well as other relevant meetings including daily staff meetings;
• Coordinate other aspects of the event programmes as tasked by the Forum Manager;
• Assist in the troubleshooting of any on-site problems and issues related to programme and speakers;
• Maintain effective communication with relevant organising staff in other functional areas.

Post-event phase:

• Prepare an event lessons learned report with concrete suggestions for areas of improvement in the future;
• Work with organising team and relevant staff to ensure all planned outputs and actions are completed on time;
• Contribute to IUCN Leaders Forum and IUCN Congress evaluations as necessary;
• Contribute to the Outputs publication of the IUCN Leaders Forum and the IUCN Congress as necessary;
• Contribute to the production of post-event documents for communication purposes;
• Ensure all key documentation is properly archived including templates and / or guidelines for future events.
• The above job description contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in a small organisation such as IUCN, staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them but which are not part of their regular job description.
• Where any task becomes a regular part of a staff member’s responsibilities, the job description will be changed in consultation with the manager, the staff member and the Human Resources Management Group. Anyone of the three may initiate the consultation.

Requirements:
Education:

• Bachelors’ degree in relevant field;
• Academic background and / or experience working in the fields of nature conservation, biodiversity, sustainable development, climate change, and international environmental governance highly desirable.

Experience & Technical Skills:

• Minimum of 4 years of experience working on content and programme design, development, and management for events of a similar scale;
• Extensive experience with different abstract, programme and speaker management systems for events / conferences;
• Experience in IUCN Congresses is a plus;
• Proficiency in English at a native or near-native level is essential. Proficiency in Spanish and/or French would be advantageous;
• Tech savvy, proficient in Microsoft Office applications (critically Excel) and web-based management systems;
• Ability to conceptualise, test and handle IT systems (front- and back-end) for programme and speaker management.

Other Skills:

• Exceptional organisational abilities, strong oral and written communication skills, and a keen attention to detail are required;
• Fast learner with ability to quickly adapt to new systems and tools;
• Team player with can-do attitude and ability to interact with people of all levels and functional areas;
• Ability to work independently and take initiative to problem-solve and trouble-shoot;
• Demonstrated ability to handle stress and work under tight deadlines with competing priorities;
• Ability to undertake occasional short-term travels and participate in various IUCN events globally, notably including the IUCN Leaders Forum 2024 and the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025.

Source: https://hrms.iucn.org/iresy/index.cfm?event=vac.show&vacId=10759&lang=en