Head of Knowledge & Innovation

Bristows is a market leading law firm with a global client base across our core sectors of Life Sciences and technology.

Despite being smaller in terms of overall size than our competitors, the firm has maintained its position by the exceptional quality of our lawyers and the depth of legal expertise available to clients. We have an all equity partnership that has remained stable over many years.

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Bristows LLP is seeking an innovative Head of Knowledge and Innovation to lead the firm’s knowledge management function. This is a new, and pivotal leadership role responsible for establishing firmwide knowledge function, and designing and implementing a firmwide knowledge strategy, embedding a culture of knowledge sharing and innovation, and ensuring Bristows remains at the forefront of legal service delivery in the Technology and Life Sciences sectors.

This role will support the efficiency, quality, and innovation of our legal services by embedding best practices in knowledge capture, sharing, and application. Reporting to the Joint Managing Partners and working closely with other Partners, Heads of Department, and Business Services, the Head of Knowledge will champion a collaborative, technology-enabled knowledge culture across the firm.

Key Responsibilities

Knowledge Strategy & Culture

• Designing and establishing a firmwide knowledge management (“KM”) function.
• Design and deliver a firmwide knowledge management strategy aligned with Bristows’ strategic goals, brand, and culture.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing across practice areas and support functions.
• Work with practice leaders to identify key knowledge priorities, pain points, and opportunities for innovation.
• Establish and lead a cross-practice knowledge group to support KM initiatives and collaboration.
• Act as a champion for knowledge sharing and innovation, sharing cultural knowledge across the firm.
• Represent Bristows at external KM and legal innovation events and forums.

Client-Facing & Business Development

• Develop and implement client-facing knowledge products to support Bristows’ position as a thought leader in IP, Technology, and Life Sciences.
• Work in partnership with the Business Development team, Sector Leads and Client Relationship Partners to create differentiating knowledge-based content and services.
• Develop processes to capture tacit knowledge from partners, secondees, lateral hires, and matter debriefs
• Identify knowledge initiatives that add demonstrable value to client relationships and service delivery, including market intelligence relating to client and potential clients.

Technology & Innovation

• Design and oversee the implementation of core KM systems, including document management, intranet, enterprise search, and collaboration platforms (e.g., SharePoint, iManage, MS Teams).
• Lead the audit, selection, implementation, and optimisation of existing KM tools and platforms, and subscriptions (including responsibility for renewals), ensuring they meet current and future needs.
• Lead the firm’s legal tech pilots and any subsequent roll out (e.g., BristowsGPT, Copilot), including design, implementation, and evaluation.
• Establish an internal innovation forum open to all staff.

Knowledge Infrastructure

• Design and oversee the implementation of a central knowledge repository (likely built on SharePoint), including taxonomy, metadata, and usage analytics.
• Establish and maintain submission guidelines, governance policies, and document lifecycle management
• Lead the migration and consolidation of existing knowledge collections.

Implementation & Impact

• Develop and execute a change management plan for the implementation of the knowledge strategy.
• Develop and oversee processes for knowledge capture, codification (e.g., precedents, checklists, playbooks), and retrieval.
• Design a comprehensive legal training programme for fee earners and collaborate with Learning & Development to align legal training with knowledge initiatives and maintain the quality of legal learning content.
• Set, monitor, and report on key performance indicators to track and demonstrate the impact of KM initiatives.

Leadership & Team Management

• Recruit, manage, and develop a team of Professional Support Lawyers (PSLs) or Knowledge Managers.
• Formalise and support the Knowledge Partner (KP) role within each practice group
• Ensure all KM activities promote diversity, inclusion, and accessibility
• Lead and rebrand the Information Centre (IC), aligning it with the broader Knowledge & Innovation function.

Skills & experience

• Proven experience leading a Knowledge Management and Innovation function in a law firm or professional services organisation.
• Ideally legally qualified (UK solicitor or equivalent), or with a strong understanding of legal practice, knowledge systems and client service delivery in an IP/technology/life sciences context.
• Demonstrated ability to create and deliver firmwide KM strategies that have resulted in measurable efficiencies and improvements.
• Experienced in the selection and implementation of KM-related technologies and platforms.
• Successful track record of change management, leading cross functional teams and working with senior leadership to influence culture and behavioural change.
• Familiarity with platforms such as iManage, SharePoint, and legal tech tools like Contract Express, DraftWise, Henchman, or Spellbook.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to inspire trust and collaboration across fee earners, business services, and clients.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, capable of articulating technical and strategic concepts to diverse audiences.
• Commercial acumen and ability to align KM initiatives with business priorities and client needs, and managing budgets.
• Highly organised, analytical, and solutions-focused with a strong delivery mindset.
• A natural change agent with the gravitas to lead firmwide transformation initiatives.

Our values & culture

With around 300 staff and partners in total and one UK location, we are able to maintain a friendly atmosphere where everyone is able to get to know each other and many policies and practices can operate on a trust basis.

We are based in modern offices at Blackfriars and very much value face to face collaboration and the social element of working relationships. We have introduced a Remote Working Policy which enables staff to work in an agile way – we do not monitor attendance but ask that everyone spends more time in the office than out of it, typically three days a week for full time staff.

Our firm values, which we very much “live”, are Ambition, Bravery, Curiosity and Friendliness. These underpin all that we do across both our client work and our internal strategic decision making. None of our lawyers have billing targets which means we can focus on doing the best for our clients while also having the time and capacity to assist each other in a genuinely collaborative working culture.

Training & career progression

We aim to have a coaching culture with regular informal feedback to supplement the formal appraisal process. Mentoring schemes are available for fee earners while members of the HR team can provide personal coaching and guidance in non-legal and personal management skills.

Personal and professional development is much valued at all levels so we have a generous budget which enables us to meet most ad hoc requests for additional training.

Reward & benefits

Our salary and bonus structure reflects our absence of billing targets and collaborative culture and any bonus is paid as a simple percentage bonus across the whole firm. We have a flexible benefits package that is kept under regular review and is designed with the wellbeing of our staff and their families.

Diversity & inclusion

At Bristows we are committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion for all, and we are a proud signatory of the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter. As a firm, and as individuals, we do all we can to treat people fairly and with mutual respect. This commitment enriches our work and our working lives and has played a key part in our success over the years.

We have an active, partner-led Diversity & Inclusion group which runs awareness raising and educational initiatives in addition to ensuring that our policies and procedures remain inclusive.

It is our policy to provide equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants in relation to recruitment, selection, pay, training, working conditions and promotion opportunities regardless of age, disability, gender, gender affirmation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. For more information about EDI policies and practices at the firm, please see here .

For more information on our firm values, see here .

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