Hello all. I just received a copy of the below job description and wanted to get it online today – World Youth Skills Day. Apologies in advance for the clunky formatting. The original JD was properly formatted but the formatting didn’t carry over to here. Anyway, do apply if you are qualified and interested. Deadline: 31 July 2025. See details at the bottom of this post.
WorldSkills Occupational Standards Specialist
About WorldSkills
WorldSkills International (WSI) is a movement that impacts the lives of young people through initial vocational development. The 89 Member countries and regions that are part of WSI reach two-thirds of the world’s
population and create measurable impact at every level through skills development and promotion. We inspire young people to develop a passion for skills and pursue excellence through competitions, projects, and
programmes.
Every two years we host the world’s largest technical and vocational skills event, the WorldSkills Competition, in which over 1,500 outstanding young practitioners vie to be “the best in the world” in one of around 60 global
occupations. To underpin this endeavour, the WorldSkills Occupational Standards (WSOS) are descriptions of the knowledge, skills, and behaviours that capture occupational mastery and excellence.
Over the last decade, WSI has become more engaged with global trends, pressures, and opportunities affecting both TVET and work. As a “tool with a vision”, the idea and practical manifestation of the WSOS now actively
contributes to the global search for common reference points and benchmarks for best practice in TVET and work. The WSOS and what they symbolise, entrain and enable, are now an embedded part of the WorldSkills brand.
The position
WorldSkills is looking for a WorldSkills Occupational Standards Specialist to join our global, diverse, and virtual team.
The postholder will be a member of the WorldSkills Secretariat and collaborate with colleagues within the WSOS development team and more widely, wherever their responsibilities combine or interact.
They will report to the Chief Executive Officer with close contact and accountability to the WSOS development team leadership.
Responsibilities and duties
WSOS research, policy, and strategy
- To systematically scan the international skills environment to identify potential opportunities and challenges
- To design strategic opportunities for initiatives and carry them through WSI’s and other organisations’ processes
- To monitor information relevant to global standards, sharing and providing digests as appropriate
- To respond to enquiries, conversations, and joint work with global partners and equivalent bodies
- To contribute as requested to WSI’s larger strategic development
- To make reasonable and helpful interventions as part of one’s contingency management
- To consult with business and industry and make use of other consultation processes.
Development of WSOS and growth- To support the (Skill) Competitions Portfolio Working Group/process by drafting, editing, and/or quality
assuring WSOS to help substantiate the case for new skill competitions that meet agreed principles - To contribute to colleagues’ projects where they are relevant to the WSOS.
WSOS management - To support the systematisation, development, and expansion of the biennial updating cycle, in line with the WSOS’ growing range of purposes globally and within the WorldSkills movement. This includes
- positioning the WSOS as representing an international core of technical and vocational mastery in occupations open to young adults among others
- ensuring the continuing validity and relevance of the WSOS as benchmarks for skill competitions through analyses of the WSOS, contributing to the biennial review of the skill competitions portfolio.
- To support the management and reputation of the “WSOS Brand” as benchmarks for skill competitions.
- To advance the WSOS brand and its growing wider application to the global skills agenda.
WSOS alignment- To support those responsible for reviewing and aligning regional competitions’ use of the WSOS, to
- enable them to be updated in line with the biennial review
- avoid reputational harm
- identify, quality assure, and align additional standards using the WSOS “brand”
- To support the development of coherent and effective regional standards and associated policies
- To support the coherent application of WSOS to TVET assessment and practice.
WSOS-TVET - To support those responsible for working with Members’ WSOS-TVET reforms with advice, boundary management, professional development, and guidance.
Skills, knowledge, and experience
Attributes
The person appointed will have these essential attributes:- A comparative understanding of technical and vocational education and training, systemically and
pedagogically - A strategic understanding of economies and labour markets across the world
- A comparative understanding of assessment and assessment systems
- Practical experience in the modern design of knowledge, skills, and behaviours in TVET systems
- A conceptual and practical understanding of quality assurance and control
- A commitment to informed and intelligence-led decision-making
- Proven ability to work across and between research and practitioner communities
- Advanced communication and presentation skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (additional languages are an advantage), including an ability to summarize complex information and present it in a simplified, accurate format
- The ability to work with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty
- A concern for order and precision where it matters
- Self-knowledge and metacognition (a reflective and creative practitioner)
- A willingness and capacity to “get the job done”, however routine or tedious
- An enjoyment of challenge
- A team player with the ability to be individually accountable
- Contingency management skills, with a willingness to take reasonable risks and learn from mistakes
- Discretion, dependability, integrity, and pragmatism.
Profile
The successful candidate is likely to have the following profile:
- A qualification or equivalent at ISCED level 6 or higher
- At least 15 years’ experience of working in TVET, business/industry, or ideally both
- A record of seeking continuing professional development, formally or informally
- A record of working autonomously and/or remotely
- A record of successful innovation
- Proven interest in innovation and “otherness” (people, places, ideas, phenomena)
- A record of designing and writing material and documents, in English, to publication standard.
A knowledge of WorldSkills International is less important than an informed outlook on the global skills agenda.
- To apply
Please send your CV and a statement sharing why you are interested in this role and evidencing your suitability for this role, to Cara McCormack cara.mccormack@worldskills.org. Please include in the subject line of the email:
Application – WorldSkills Occupational Standards Specialist.
All applications are strictly confidential between the applicant and WorldSkills International management.
Deadline: 31 July 2025.
