Director of Knowledge and Development in Ipswich

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.

The team you will join reports to the Chief People Officer and 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 responsible for day‑to‑day 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 list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

What we are looking for

• Experience designing and leading sophisticated knowledge and development strategies within legal or professional services environments.
• Advanced insight into how digital transformation, AI‑enabled legal tools, data‑driven decision‑making, and evolving client expectations are reshaping legal practice.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into high‑impact learning and capability initiatives that deliver measurable outcomes.
• Strong record of leading complex, multi‑stream programmes with competing priorities and diverse senior stakeholders.
• Credibility and influence at senior level, with the ability to operate as a trusted advisor to partners and senior executives.
• Experience building and leading high‑performing, engaged teams with a focus on sustained capability and performance.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively.
• Experience as a qualified solicitor is advantageous, providing insight into legal practice and its development needs.

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week. We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part‑time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

As a Director at Birketts, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• Car parking expenses
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Annual health assessment
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance – 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Dress for your Day Policy

Inclusivity and Culture

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.