Manager, Reference & Research Services

Job Description

At K&L Gates, we are looking for smart, imaginative and hard-working people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas to join us.  Perhaps our search for talented visionaries and your search for important and impactful work lead to the same place.

K&L Gates is seeking a Manager, Reference & Research Services to join its Seattle office. The position oversees all aspects of research service delivery to K&L Gates lawyers and allied professionals across its global platform, including the management and mentoring of a highly-skilled team of research professionals working cooperatively across a centralized and virtual request management platform. The successful candidate will be a natural leader with excellent communication skills, and a commitment to providing high-quality work product and customer-oriented service. 

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

The Manager, Reference & Research Services reports to the Director, Library & Research Services and directly supervises a team of Legal & Business Research Analysts and the Team Lead, Legal & Business Research Analyst. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Partner with the Director, Library & Research Services in developing the department’s short and long-range strategic mission and goals, such as the research services offered and the hours they will be provided, and how to best resource those services.

• Promote the firm’s reference and research services and manage customer expectations with regard to the services provided and the timing of their delivery.

• Serve as the leader of the department’s research services function, which includes monitoring its research management platform (ServiceNow) to ensure all service requests are being handled in a timely fashion and to the highest standards.

• Supervise the library’s Legal & Business Research Analysts and their Team Lead in the United States and provide ongoing professional development and feedback, corrective oversight, scheduling, staffing, etc.

• Assist the Associate Director, Practice Engagement in product testing, evaluation, and ultimately the selection of needed tools and/or cancellation of existing ones.

• Serve as the library’s lead research and subject matter expert and perform quality control oversight of our work product to ensure consistency in our responses and the timeliness of our service delivery.

• Assist with the creation, upkeep, and editorial oversight of the library’s knowledge base within ServiceNow, which serves as the library’s main knowledge management repository and the foundation of our self-service customer portal.

• Remain current on technological applications relevant to the provision of sophisticated library and research services to ensure the department and firm have industry-leading research tools that allow for effective, efficient, comprehensive and authoritative legal practice.

• Advise and collaborate with the Team Lead, Legal & Business Research Analyst to manage the Research Team’s work load, provide guidance, and organize training programs to enhance the team’s professional development.

• Actively participate in appropriate library team efforts to achieve department goals.

• Actively participate as a practice group liaison to market library tools and services and assess practice group needs.

• Perform other related projects as required and assigned by the Director, Library & Research Services. 

EXPERIENCE & SKILLS REQUIRED

• Qualified applicants should have a Masters in Library & Information Science from an ALA accredited program with course work in law librarianship and/or a J.D. degree.

• Minimum of 5 years of previous law library professional experience with responsibilities for reference, research, educational and training outreach and/or library management.

• Outstanding reference and research project planning and implementation skills, and a demonstrated record of research service accomplishments.

• Previous experience mentoring, coaching and leading a team.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and an ability to meet obligations with confidentiality, integrity, and sensitivity.

• Deep knowledge of core legal and business research products and platforms.

• Previous experience managing in a virtual team environment.

• Excellent customer service attitude and skills. 

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES REQUIRED

• Work in fast paced environment with unscheduled interruptions.

• Carry out responsibilities in an honest, ethical, and professional manner.

• Occasionally work an adjusted schedule, overtime, and evening/weekend hours in order to meet deadlines.

• Operate in an office setting that is largely sedentary, requiring the routine use of a computer and other standard office equipment. 

ABOUT THE FIRM

K&L Gates is a fully integrated global law firm with approximately 2,000 lawyers across five continents. We have experienced dramatic growth in the past decade and now rank among the largest U.S. based law firms in the world.  We take pride in constantly striving for innovation, imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit. We come up with big ideas and then roll up our sleeves to get the job done, guiding our clients through their most complex issues in a variety of industry sectors and across multiple regions of the world.

The industry recognition the firm has garnered in the past five years emanates from the foundation of a global community aligned on behalf of our clients. The people at K&L Gates are committed to working together to create a legacy for each other, the firm, our clients, and the communities in which we serve. We thrive in an inclusive and socially conscious environment that embraces diversity and takes a holistic approach to the career evolution of all our professionals.

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Notice: We participate in E-Verify in certain Firm locations for purposes of verifying employment eligibility.

BENEFITS

We offer a dynamic work environment and excellent benefits.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The Firm is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the Firm that employment decisions shall be based on merit, qualifications and competence. Employment practices shall not be influenced or affected by virtue of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, military status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. This policy governs all aspects of employment including, without limitation, recruiting, hiring, compensation, benefits, promotion, assignment and dismissal. In addition, it is the Firm’s policy to provide an environment that is free of unlawful harassment of any kind including, without limitation, that which is sexual, racial, age-related, disability-related or ethnic background-related.