Head of Knowledge in Manchester

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the largest provider of legal services across government, working with all the main Whitehall departments. From energy to security, and from roads and rivers to health and human rights, our work touches on most aspects of public life. Developing and drafting legislation, helping to secure economic and trade relationships, providing legal advice on policies and ensuring value from contracts, our work is as varied as it is stimulating.

The Knowledge and Innovation (KI) Division equips government lawyers with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to provide ministers and officials with a legal service of the highest quality, and our multi-disciplinary team provides a wide portfolio of services. These include Library and Information Services, Knowledge Systems, Knowledge Development, Legal Learning and Innovation. Sitting at the heart of the Government legal profession, we connect lawyers, support legal communities and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and collaboration. We support our lawyers’ development at every stage of their careers through an extensive programme of learning opportunities.

Your role involves delivering GLD’s knowledge strategy and content. As a key member of our senior leadership team, you’ll direct the strategic legal knowledge initiatives that help us deliver high quality services, and support cross-GLD engagement to ensure our knowledge products and services meet the needs of all our lawyers. You’ll have important line management responsibilities, including establishing clear priorities for the central KDL team, knowledge systems and legal information teams, and ensuring that structures are in place for the maintenance and development of legal induction and key KI-owned publications.

We expect you to ensure that technology systems and processes are in place to facilitate the sharing of expertise, provide oversight of business plans and the development of GLD’s legal knowledge product, represent initiatives to senior management and internal bodies, and keep up to speed with the latest developments in knowledge management. In order to carry out your work successfully, you’ll need to have security clearance to BPSS level. If you’re based in our London offices, you must hold or be willing to obtain CTC level clearance.

To be successful in this pivotal position, you’ll be highly motivated, possess significant experience in a senior knowledge role in the private or public sector, and have well-developed knowledge of electronic knowledge management systems, processes and concepts. Previous experience as a government lawyer would be desirable, and you should also have a good understanding of the application of culture and change management ideas, and the ability to influence stakeholders and cultivate dynamic knowledge-sharing behaviours.

You will also possess a high level of IT literacy, with a strong focus on document management and other collaborative tools, knowledge systems and enterprise search, database functionality, intranet, extranet and website technology. Highly motivated and with strong communications skills, you should also have an interest in the latest technological advances and their potential impact on knowledge systems, and a keen interest in Knowledge Management in a professional legal organisation and a career in the Civil Services and GLD, in particular.

You should be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales, and have completed a training contract, pupillage or qualifying employment, or been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx. You’ll also need a minimum of a 2.1 honours degree in any subject, or evidence of high-level academic or professional achievement, such as a Graduate Diploma in Law, Legal Practice Course or Bar Professional Training Course, all underpinned by practical experience. Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where a qualifying law degree is held or the Graduate Diploma in Law has been completed, or where CILEx Level 6 exams have been passed at 50% or above in Contract Law, Criminal Law, Equity and Trusts Law, European Union Law, Land Law, Public Law and the Law of Tort.

GLD encourages its people to develop their skills in a nurturing environment. Other benefits include access to a valuable civil service pension and flexible working arrangements. Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting-edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

Closing date for applications: Midday on Monday 29 June 2026.