Knowledge & Information Officer (Financing Stream)

ROLE OVERVIEW //

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Knowledge & Information Officer (KIO) to join our Knowledge & Learning team (K&L) on a permanent basis. The successful candidate will be embedded in our highly respected, market-leading Financing Stream (comprising five groups: banking, debt capital markets (DCM), derivatives, securitisation & structured finance, and Restructuring & Insolvency). In particular, the KIO will support the DCM and Securitisation parts of the stream, and will work closely with a range of stakeholders, including Professional Support Lawyers (PSLs), Partners, Associates, Trainees, and other members of the wider K&L and Business Services community.

The successful candidate will support a broad range of knowledge management work, current awareness activity, and provide research support to the group’s lawyers and PSLs. The KIO will also be involved in organising, designing, and delivering a range of training sessions, supporting project work (as appropriate) and taking a lead on evaluating and suggesting appropriate online resources for the group.

The K&L department is a friendly, supportive, and collaborative function, comprising Information Services, Knowledge Management Systems, and Learning & Development; and the KIO role sits in the Information Services part of the team, but will be based in the Financing practice. The successful candidate will report into a Knowledge & Information Manager but will also have a reporting line to the DCM PSL Counsel.

Training and development opportunities are available to help team members to provide an excellent, professional, and expert service to the practice and the firm, as well as to support their ongoing personal and professional development.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES //

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Knowledge management & intranet support:

• Work collaboratively with the stream’s paralegals to collate, process and publish submitted know-how and precedents into the firm’s knowledge management database, (Search Me).
• Become the stream’s expert and primary point of contact on the use of Search Me, providing guidance, instruction, and training on its use.
• Liaise with the KM Systems Manager and other KIOs to develop and share Search Me best practice.
• Analyse Search Me statistical data and feedback to PSLs on usage and potential content gaps.
• Regularly review practice intranet sites to ensure currency, relevance, ease of use, and impact, amending and updating as required.
• Work with PSLs and paralegals to identify content gaps and design new intranet pages.

Current awareness & tracking services:

• Monitor and disseminate relevant information and current awareness on a broad range of topics of interest to the DCM and Securitisation practices in a timely manner.
• Track legislative developments, case law, regulatory materials, and other items of interest cascading as appropriate.
• Collate and compile material for regular stream newsletters under PSL guidance.
• Work with paralegals and Executive Assistants to manage distribution lists and send newsletters.

Research and Enquiries Management:

• Work closely with PSLs to deliver a comprehensive research service, supporting a broad range of legal, regulatory, and sector enquiries in a timely manner.
• Provide research support to fee earners and PSLs relating to stream BD initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with Research & Information colleagues and the Business Development team to create company profiles and country reports to support pitching/BD initiatives.

Resource Management:

• Keep up to date with developments in relevant Financing research resources available on the market.
• Work collaboratively with the Information Resources team to evaluate new and existing products and identify those that should be onboarded or, where appropriate, cancelled.
• Become an expert on existing Financing databases/resources and promote these within the stream to ensure lawyers are aware of, and appropriately using, the products available to them.
• Handle queries related to LaserForm and insolvency searches.

Training and knowledge sharing:

• Develop and deliver group-wide or more targeted training sessions on Search Me and on external resources that the firm has access to.
• Offer a blended range of training opportunities to lawyers, including providing support for trainee sessions, Newly Qualified lawyer training, and “deskside”/refresher sessions.

Project work:

• Be proactive in helping to identify knowledge projects that will benefit the stream and be prepared to lead on these as appropriate.

CANDIDATE PROFILE //

Candidates for this position should be a graduate and ideally have experience of working in a professional, financial, or legal services environment. An information/knowledge related qualification would be an advantage, but this is not essential where the candidate can demonstrate significant relevant experience. Full on-the-job training will be offered to the successful applicant.

• A background in Financing would be advantageous, but a willingness to acquire knowledge of, and show a keen interest in, this area of law is more important.
• Be a confident and articulate communicator, dealing effectively with a wide range of people at all levels of seniority and demonstrate an ability to keep stakeholders fully updated as to the progress of workflows and projects.
• Present clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and styles.
• Be a good team player, offering support to colleagues and sharing information and best practice freely.
• Have experience of delivering training.
• Be comfortable working with intranet sites, including creating, uploading, and maintaining content.
• Have excellent attention to detail.
• Be proactive, prepared to take a hands-on approach to managing workload and dealing with conflicting priorities, and using their own initiative.
• Be goal-focused and see projects through to timely completion.
• Take an active interest in Knowledge & Information management and ongoing developments impacting the industry, such as the increase of artificial intelligence.
• Have a high level of professionalism and integrity.
• Flexibility with working hours is necessary when the work of the firm requires it.
• Comfortable accepting feedback, instructions, and guidance from different angles.