Macfarlanes
Knowledge and Information Assistant
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Knowledge and Information Assistant
About Macfarlanes
Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.
We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.
What this means for you
Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, approachable team who want you to succeed. You’ll be encouraged to get involved and recognised for your contribution.
We take your development seriously. Our learning and development programmes are second to none and are designed to help you strengthen your skills.
Above all, you’ll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, value your efforts and help you to thrive.
Role and background
The Knowledge and Information Services teams sit within the Knowledge and Data pillar in the Innovation & AI department, and supports the firm through knowledge, information, AI, and data technologies, working closely with Partners, Knowledge Lawyers and staff on knowledge sharing and collaboration initiatives. They are responsible for developing, maintaining and promoting our:
- firm’s culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration;
- knowledge management systems, related practices and processes, including ensuring compliance with GDPR and other relevant law and regulation;
- firm’s know-how and precedent collections, architecture and taxonomies;
- firm’s intranet and internal collaboration solutions;
- enterprise and legal search engines and associated AI integrations;
- firm's library, information resources and research services; and
- firm’s culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration.
We are looking for a proactive, collaborative and enthusiastic Knowledge and Information Assistant to support our Knowledge and Information Services teams, reporting to the Senior Information Manager and Senior Knowledge Manager.
This role combines two key areas of focus: supporting and assisting the knowledge team with the management and curation of the firm's legal and technical know-how collections - with a focus on AI-enabled curation, innovation and structuring data to drive optimal AI and search outcomes - and providing day-to-day support and assistance to the firm's library and information services, including the maintenance and development of the firm’s hardcopy collection.
Key responsibilities
The Knowledge and Information Assistant will be required to carry out a broad range of good quality work to support the teams. Key duties will include:
Knowledge Management
- Assisting with keeping our internal intranet content up to date and answering day-to-day enquiries from the intranet’s content editors to ensure they are posting, editing and tagging correctly so it is optimised for browse, search and AI;
- Assisting with the creation and updating of intranet pages and team sites on our enterprise collaboration / content management portals;
- Monitoring content / data / taxonomies stored in the firm’s knowledge systems and reporting any discrepancies to help optimise the delivery of high quality and consistent content to the rest of the firm;
- Providing input to help improve the rules which facilitate automated / AI-driven processes and classification of legal content;
- Supporting the team with quality assurance, e.g. testing new features, workflows etc; and helping to deliver statistical usage reports and analysis of the firm’s knowledge systems;
- Assisting with training, new joiner inductions, and communications; and
- Creating and updating key documentation, e.g. user guides, FAQs etc to drive engagement with and use of the firm’s knowledge systems.
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Library and Information Services
- Maintaining a tidy and professional appearance of the departmental libraries and the archive, including, shelving books and journals and assisting with periodic stock checks and withdrawal of out-of-date stock;
- Managing the circulation of library books, sending out overdue notices to borrowers and checking offices for missing books and journals; assisting with the distribution of permanent loan copies to fee earners;
- Filing hardcopy loose-leaf updates and assisting in maintaining the online library management system with accurate records of serials holdings;
- Managing the check-in and circulation of periodicals, including receiving and claiming for print journals and maintaining up-to-date circulation lists for both hardcopy and online journals;
- Assisting users with requests for journal articles;
- Undertaking some basic enquiry work, including legal queries for cases and legislation;
- Producing company information reports and research; and
- Conducting regular press searching and alerts.
This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the team.
During the first six months of employment, you may be required to attend the office four days per week to support onboarding, training and collaboration. Your line manager may adjust this requirement based on your progress and business needs.
The candidate
The successful candidate will be committed to providing high-quality support and will thrive on collaborating closely with stakeholders across the business to help drive the delivery of knowledge management and information services projects and programmes. This role suits someone at the start of their career or studying for a postgraduate degree in Library and Information Science, who is seeking to build up their experience across both areas. The individual will be personable with the ability to quickly build trust and confidence with colleagues within the team and across the firm.
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The successful candidate will ideally possess the following:
- An undergraduate degree, similar higher education or equivalent experience;
- A qualification in Information/Library Science or currently studying for a similar postgraduate degree;
- An organised, meticulous and methodical approach to work and high attention to detail;
- Some experience using AI tools;
- An aptitude for using technology and be highly computer literate, including knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and database software;
- An awareness of metadata, taxonomies, ontologies and knowledge graphs and how they can be used to classify and structure data;
- Being a team player who supports their colleagues and a willingness to participate as part of a small and multitasking team;
- Displaying initiative and a pro-active approach to resolving problems; and
- Excellent inter-personal communication skills (both written and verbal).
Application screening
Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These checks will be initiated with your consent, and your CV will be sent to the provider by us. The screening will include but is not limited to your employment references, professional and academic qualifications including grades and any criminal records. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.
Our commitment to inclusion
Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.
As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.
Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).
We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.
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