Information Resource Procurement Service Manager

The opportunity: The Information Resource Manager will be an owner and business lead for all the Information Product Management and library services, and their design, adoption, performance, and continuous improvement, acting as the 'face' of the services at all levels of the organization.

Baker McKenzie is the world’s leading law firm with offices all over the world. Our Belfast Centre is home to over 400 colleagues in both legal and professional services. We offer one of the best workplace benefits packages in the business with comprehensive private health cover, income protection, life assurance and a full employee assistance plan. These and a host of other benefits make us one of the most desirable companies to work for in Belfast. We are committed to promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity for all and are confident we can provide a career as individual and as exceptional as you.

Responsibilities:

• Service Orientation: Act as the 'face' of the service Firm-wide, and lead on adoption, representing the service at all levels of the organization, in project teams, transition teams, and at the leadership level.
• Work closely with the Information Product Management Lead, Knowledge Directors and Partners, Procurement, Finance, Technology, and Operations teams, the Director of Knowledge, Markets & Research, Regional I&R Leads, Manager for Research & Information Alerts and where appropriate with external suppliers for key strategic resources, products and support, to define and implement the information product management services, ensuring alignment with the Firm and Knowledge strategies so that information product management services continue to evolve, meet the needs of stakeholders and add clear value to the business.
• Work closely with the Director of Knowledge Operations and the relevant Knowledge Specialists to design and sign off on all the information product management service materials; Define KPIs and SLAs and other service metrics, monitor and manage the performance and quality of the services and manage all operational aspects of the services.
• Work closely with the Senior Manager for Knowledge Centers and Services and other Knowledge Service Owners to ensure a seamless and consistent approach to high-quality technical output, customer service and operational management of the services.
• Engage with internal and external clients and key stakeholders to proactively capture the 'voice of the customer', manage feedback requests, understand and capture business requirements and identify continuous improvement opportunities for the services and implement improvements.
• Work collaboratively with the Director of Knowledge, Markets & Research and In-Market Knowledge teams to ensure they leverage and adopt the IPM services appropriately, ensuring ROI of priority subscriptions, helping manage demand using appropriate change management strategies and advising on best practices for subscription management for In-market teams.
• Lead information product management service design and improvement projects, and support and participate in other appropriate global Knowledge projects.
• Contribute substantively by managing and supporting information products and complex requests, acting as supervisor/team lead in the relevant Center and leading Knowledge projects as required.

People Management:

• Lead and manage the Center Information Product Management teams, monitoring their progress, quality of output and delivery of service. Monitor and manage the Information product management teams' capacity and pipeline of work, and identify resourcing issues.
• Ensure the Center Information Product Management teams are high-performing and agile teams, capable of meeting the various and changing demands of the business and markets, as well as adapting to the impact of technology on law firms and information product management and delivery.
• Ensure there is appropriate development and training in place for the Center Information Product Management teams, both in respect of the services, general skills and any specialist and/or subject matter expertise training and support required.
• As a manager in a Center, support other line management needs of the Knowledge teams as required.

Knowledge & Expertise:

• Maintain and continually develop subject matter expertise with high levels of practical customer engagement and customer service delivery, be actively aware of developments internally and within the market on Information product management services, new practices and approaches, actioning any relevant implications and maintaining an active network of Service Owners in and outside the Function.
• Support managing the procurement of key strategic resources and set best practice standards for the procurement of local products and resources, in alignment with Procurement, Product Management, and Collection Development policies and consultation with the Regional I&R Leads; Strategically manages relationships with key vendors at a global and regional level.
• Maintain and continually develop subject matter expertise on GenAI products for research, drafting, document analysis and other lawyer efficiencies; Be actively aware of developments internally and within the market on GenAI, information product management services, new practices and approaches.
• Understand and document the complex and evolving business requirements for information product management services of attorneys and Knowledge professionals across the Baker McKenzie network.
• Be known in the Firm as the business lead and go-to person for the resolution of issues and business solutions for information product management services, including services, teams, processes, and solutions.

Operational Efficiencies, Quality and Risk Mitigation:

• Manage service-related issues and customer feedback to maintain quality assurance and minimize business impact and risk, escalating any challenges promptly where appropriate.
• Leverage GenAI tools to enhance productivity, drive innovation and improve the quality of outputs across practice groups, sectors and business functions.
• Oversee and ensure internal and external communications regarding information product management services and ensure the development of training content relating to the provision and use of information product management services.
• Define processes, policies, best practice and guidance for content management services, analysing best practice compliance and adoption regularly through robust audit and reporting processes, identifying underlying trends, gaps and opportunities for improving the services and service adoption and presenting these to key stakeholders.
• Work with In-Market and Technology teams to manage service-related support, training, feedback and inquiries from customers, troubleshooting and delivering continual services improvements and upgrades to content management services and tools, including workflow tools, reporting dashboards and use of ServiceNow for information product management services.

Skills and Experience:

• Relevant undergraduate degree (post-graduate qualifications also advantageous), preferably in library, information science or legal information management, is desirable.
• Relevant experience of global and regional library, knowledge, information and research, and global procurement in a professional services environment and extensive experience in dealing with major information suppliers and vendors, negotiating pricing and contracts at a regional and global level, and centralizing the management of information products and subscriptions.
• Proficient and experienced in utilizing and managing AI tools and platforms, as well as proficiency with data analysis.
• Experience in a complex service delivery environment involving liaison with diverse and multiple stakeholders. Experience in service and process design and improvement is highly desirable.
• Proven people management skills, including virtual teams, ideally with service delivery teams.
• Good understanding of Knowledge strategy and driving implementation of knowledge and information services and best practice in a professional services environment.
• Proven ability to effect behavioral change across an organization and drive adoption of new services and business processes.
• Experience in managing customer feedback and appreciation of excellent customer experience.
• Comfortable working within a large and complex, matrixed environment with multiple stakeholders and interest groups, as well as managing virtual teams.
• Strong project management skills to enable the management of day-to-day responsibilities as well as specific projects, coupled with the ability to leverage available resources.
• Strong technical skills, ideally including experience with Knowledge or Information Management solutions such as contract or library management systems. Keen interest in technology-driven innovation in the legal industry.
• Able to work well with others and to build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders quickly. Experience of facilitating stakeholder groups.
• An outstanding communicator who can deal confidently, tactfully and appropriately with people at all levels of the organization; Credible and persuasive.
• Able to make effective, accurate decisions and judgment calls, including when to escalate issues, and to solve problems creatively and proactively.
• Willing to be flexible with working hours, given the global nature of the business and the fact that many customers and teams will be in different time zones.