About us
Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.
We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.
Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do. RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.
With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 42% of our partnership.
The team you will join
Reporting to the Chief People Officer, this role leads the strategic development and operational delivery of the firm’s knowledge management, learning & development, and IT training functions. It acts as a key enabler of the firm’s long-term strategy, shaping the capabilities, behaviours, and ways of working required to deliver legal excellence, scalable growth, and sustained competitive advantage in a legal sector being reshaped by digital transformation, AI-enabled tools, data-driven working, and evolving client expectations. The role will have overall responsibility for the Knowledge Management and Learning & Development teams, each led by a Head of responsible for daytoday delivery.
The Knowledge Management function comprises Professional Support Lawyers embedded within practice areas, alongside firmwide responsibility for the development and delivery of legal knowledge. The team plays a critical role in enabling legal excellence, risk management, efficiency, and consistency by making knowledge reusable, accessible, and aligned to the firm’s strategic priorities.
Learning & Development comprises a multidisciplinary team supporting leadership, professional, technical, and IT training across a geographically dispersed workforce. The function enables firm-wide capability uplift, cultural alignment, and enhanced performance through strategically aligned learning solutions.
The work you will be doing
Strategic Leadership
* Define and lead an integrated, firm-wide Knowledge and Development strategy that underpins legal excellence, client service, operational efficiency, and long-term business performance.

* Act as a strategic partner to senior leadership, shaping capability priorities that support the firm’s strategy, growth ambitions, and future service models.

* Champion a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across legal and business services teams.

* Ensure knowledge, learning, and capability investment is aligned with resource planning, regulatory requirements, and evolving client needs.

* Oversee the combined Knowledge and Development budget, ensuring resources are deployed effectively and deliver measurable value.

* Establish clear measures of impact, demonstrating how knowledge and development initiatives contribute to performance, efficiency, risk management, and client outcomes.

Knowledge Management
* Provide strategic leadership to the Professional Support Lawyer community, ensuring knowledge activity is aligned with firm-wide priorities and practice group strategies.

* Shape the firm’s approach to legal knowledge, focusing on efficiency, consistency, quality, and risk reduction.

* Oversee the firm’s knowledge infrastructure, ensuring systems, data, and content are designed to support scalable, efficient, and high-quality legal service delivery.

* Promote innovation in knowledge capture, creation, and application, including the effective use of digital and AI-enabled tools.

Learning & Development
* Set strategic priorities for legal and professional development aligned to the firm’s strategy, values, and future capability needs.

* Provide direction for the design and delivery of impactful learning interventions, including leadership development, coaching, mentoring, digital learning, and on-the-job development.

* Lead the continuous evolution of -career pathways to ensure rapid integration, capability building, and cultural alignment.

* Shape firm-wide talent and capability frameworks that support career progression, performance, and retention across legal and business services roles.

Business Systems and Technology Adoption
* Provide strategic leadership on capability and change associated with new systems, digital platforms, and AI-enabled tools.

* Ensure technology training is tightly aligned to business priorities, user needs, and adoption outcomes.

*Drive behavioural change and capability uplift to ensure technology investments deliver measurable improvements in productivity, quality, and client experience.
Stakeholder Engagement
* Build strong, trusted relationships with the senior leadership team, Partners and senior leaders to identify strategic knowledge and capability priorities.

* Act as a strategic advisor on legal talent, organisational learning, and knowledge strategy.

* Represent the firm externally across legal, knowledge, and learning networks, reinforcing the firm’s reputation for innovation and excellence.

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive li