Opportunities

Role purpose

To manage and execute legal content projects, training and knowledge initiatives for the Group within the context of the Firm's knowledge strategy

Main responsibilities:

To make first-class knowledge easily available to lawyers, increasing the quality, consistency and/or cost-effectiveness of the advice that the Firm gives its clients, including:

Knowledge and Expertise

• Precedents. Review, draft, develop and automate the Group's precedents and other legal content
• Current awareness and commercial/industry know-how. Deeply understand clients' industries and businesses and use that knowledge to optimize opportunities for knowhow creation, current awareness updates including client alerts and connecting business and industry knowledge relating to the Group to broader Firm initiatives. Monitor and spot forward-looking Group issues and trends and translate their legal impact to clients and lawyers in a commercial way. Possess a fundamental understanding of the work performed by the Firm's other practice and industry groups in order to connect their work to the Group and vice versa. Enhance internal awareness of Group-specific issues and equip lawyers to talk about them irrespective of their practice group
• Lawyer requests. Be a sounding board and trusted advisor to lawyers on complex legal issues and devise systems for capturing and analyzing lawyer enquiries in order to produce knowhow to address gaps
• Know-how development. Devise and implement a strategy to ensure that know-how is comprehensive and up to date across the Group. Ensure that know-how best practices are being followed throughout the Group and contribute to developing them
• Training. Devise and deliver a training plan linked to the Group's business strategy and identify opportunities for using different media and collaborate with the Learning and Development team. Link the Group's training program to broader Firm training initiatives
• Client-facing knowledge. Set the agenda for thought leadership campaigns after discussion with key stakeholders and alignment with the Group's strategy, advocating industry-focused analysis, not just "news." Create processes to ensure timely and relevant horizon scanning products are created across the Group. Identify ways to structure work and work output to produce tangible products, including training, for clients
• Policy initiatives and capacity-building. Work with the Group on policy
  initiatives and lobbying, including offering training and knowledge sharing sessions, responding to consultations and generally maintaining good channels for dialogue with political and governmental individuals and bodies

Service Orientation

• Relationships. Promote an integrated, "one global team" mind-set among the team and implement and influence the knowledge culture throughout the Group. Establish and nurture long-term relationships with key decision-makers across the Firm to help achieve results and coach and facilitate the building and establishment of long-term relationships by members of their team. Ensure that Knowledge work for the Group is recognized and rewarded. Connect the Group work with the work of Knowledge Lawyers in other practice and industry groups for wider benefit

Work Management

• Operations and innovation. Redefine the Group's Knowledge services and best practices and promote them among lawyers in the Group. Promote an innovative and quality-focused mind-set and challenge the team to consider how to deliver services more effectively and efficiently. Promote greater use of offshore Service Centers, integrated use of project managers and other technology tools to manage costs and improve efficiency in the Group
• Systems. Act as an internal champion for Knowledge systems, ensuring the engagement of all lawyers in the Group. Identify and implement Knowledge system changes (technological and behavioural) needed in order better to deliver legal content
• Strategy, alignment and integration. Build and implement a comprehensive Knowledge Plan for the Group. Align the Group's Knowledge Plan with its business plan, the Firm's strategic framework, the Knowledge strategy and the Industry Groups' strategy. Create a single joint community among fee-earning lawyers, Knowledge Lawyers and other Knowledge and business professionals within the Group and across countries and regions. Emphasize and illustrate the cross-practice group nature and impact of Group knowhow

Travel requirements: Some travel will be required, largely within the EMEA region

About the team

Function

The Knowledge function is a Firm-wide team of nearly 300 professionals, including Knowledge Lawyers, Information & Research professionals, and a variety of other functional specialists. The Knowledge function helps the Firm deliver better legal solutions by producing and providing easy access to high quality, relevant legal information for both lawyers and clients. The focus is on the following areas:

• Content - creating, collecting and providing access to market-leading precedents, sample documents, practice notes, training materials and other knowhow for our lawyers and clients, reviewing and updating regularly, to ensure that the content is current and market-leading.
• Systems - working with the Technology function to design, develop and build user-friendly and flexible platforms to store knowhow and deliver it intuitively to lawyers and clients, adopting common systems across all offices and practice/industry groups.
• Culture - striving to establish Knowledge as a core part of every lawyer's role, engaging actively with all lawyers in the firm and encouraging them to share their own knowhow and expertise with colleagues as openly as possible; embracing a "one team" culture within the Firm's Knowledge community ensuring that all team members create and develop high quality local content while being aligned with our global strategy and approach.

You will report to: Director of Knowledge (Practices)
Your direct reports, if any: N/A

Key relationships

Your clients are the Group's key partners and lawyers. You will receive day-to-day project assignments and overall direction from the Group's chair and steering committee, as well as the Director of Knowledge for Practices. You should ensure that you are highly visible, and have strong relationships with key stakeholders, in the market in which you are based as well as within the Group more broadly.

You must liaise closely with other members of the Professional and Business Services team - especially within the Knowledge function - to ensure that Knowledge projects and initiatives are carried out consistently with the Firm's overall business objectives and its Knowledge strategy.

About the candidate

Technical skills, qualifications and experience:

• Law degree
• Current license to practice law (or eligibility for one)
• Extensive post-qualification experience as a practicing lawyer with direct involvement in International, Commercial & Trade
• Excellent English language skills (verbal and written) and the confidence to communicate in a multi-cultural, multi-level environment
• Experience working directly with senior counterparts on strategy and execution
• Excellent time management and organizing skills; ability to prioritise and manage time to meet deadlines
• Strong word processing and spreadsheet skills
• Experience in or willingness to learn document automation and other legal technology

• Keeps across key developments in all relevant areas and demonstrates the ability to develop substantive authority about the Firm's specialist fields
• Demonstrates the ability to identify the real issue, and to anticipate requirements and potential consequences; distils a range of possibilities by thinking in a considered, prudent manner
• Able to move through a variety of tasks requiring different approaches, knowledge, and expertise, with the agility of mind and capacity for analysis and synthesis

Dedication

• Driven by a strong personal sense of integrity and upholds exemplary quality standards
• Prepares thoroughly, takes responsibility, uses initiative, and is self-reliant to ensure work progresses to the fullest extent possible
• Hardworking and diligent with a keen understanding of client demands
• Demonstrates composure when dealing with difficult situations

Personal Impact

• Creates a positive impression at all times; develops relationships through collaboration and reciprocity
• Negotiates to achieve mutually satisfactory outcomes; shows good judgement on when to stand strong and when to compromise
• Invests in, nurtures, and builds a network of productive relationships

Humanity

• Respectful to others, regardless of their position, and earns the respect of others by being transparent
• Has care and concern for others and a genuine interest in others as people
• Treats delicate or confidential issues with grace and discretion

About Baker McKenzie

Complex business challenges require an integrated response across different markets, sectors, and areas of law. Baker McKenzie's client solutions provide seamless advice, underpinned by deep practice and sector expertise, as well as first-rate local market knowledge. Across more than 70 offices globally, Baker McKenzie works alongside our clients to deliver solutions for a connected world.

We are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion for all. Our unique international culture is reflected in the drawing together of a worldwide family of individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds in all of our offices. We encourage the best people -- regardless of race, religion, or belief if any, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, or age -- to fulfill their professional aspirations with us.