Director, Knowledge Management (KM) 33 views

Director, Knowledge Management (KM)
About Palladium:
Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.
This Opportunity:
The Director, Knowledge Management (KM) leads the Company’s knowledge management function and oversees the management of the Company’s knowledge assets. The Director, KM ensures that user needs for access to and sharing of Company knowledge, know-how, information and experience are met effectively and efficiently and that quality content is delivered.
In the last five years, Palladium has built several tools, processes, and a governance model to capture and share our experience with internal stakeholders. Our main global project knowledge system is the Project Registry, a global database which includes descriptions and key documents from 1,200+ projects. The Director, KM will play an important role in the content delivery for Our Global Impact annual report and will engage regularly with project teams to compile relevant capes [PG1] or project data around key topics (e.g. project adaptations-pivots- to COVID-19 pandemic).
Building on the current KM base, the Director, KM will be responsible for the successful launch and execution of Sophia, Palladium’s new plan to take our global KM to the next level. In this new phase of our KM journey, we want to better leverage and capitalize our knowledge. The expected benefits of Sophia include:
Reduced Costs: Less time socializing ideas; Reduced staff attrition through more effective engagement; Less repeated effort; reduced research time, etc.
Increased Revenues: More expeditious offering development; Expanded access to new clients; More effective proposal preparation
Improved Operating Performance and Brand Value: Enhanced reputation for speed, accuracy, expertise, and cutting-edge thinking
The Sophia plan is organized around the following main areas:
Creating a Dynamic Environment for Human-based Knowledge Generation and Sharing: This includes initiatives for meritocratic ideation and efficient decision making; using expertise marketplace methods for maximizing our internal knowledge utilization; and designing internal training programs based on our projects’ knowledge
Harnessing the Knowledge Embedded in Our Systems: This includes initiatives such as upgrading Our Global Impact reporting framework for more robust and contextualized information; and using AI tools for unlocking and connecting insights from across our systems
Engaging External Expertise: This includes initiatives such as building partnerships with talent marketplaces to broaden access to surge capacity and expertise; activating our local beneficiary footprint for unique demand-side information; integrating web-scraper technologies to provide staff with real-time, low-effort intelligence on their markets and clients
Location:
The position is based in Palladium’s Washington, D.C. office.
You and Your Career:
If you are an innovator, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in corporate strategies surrounding all aspects of knowledge management, we are interested in hearing from you.
We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!
Reporting and Supervision:
The role reports to Managing Director, Strategy and Corporate Development
The role directs and supervises the work of the Regional Knowledge Management leads
The role liaises closely with Organizational Effectiveness MD, Global ICT, Communications & Marketing, and other potential internal areas as required, as well as with project teams, practice area teams, business development teams, and other stakeholders as required
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The primary responsibilities are KM Strategy & Solutions Design, with a focus on the Sophia plan
The Director, KM will work together with the Strategy and Corporate Development MD and Organizational Effectiveness MD to allocate resources, refine scopes, and plan and launch the initiatives prioritized from Sophia Plan. Once launched, the Director, KM will perform coordination, oversight, guidance, and review tasks to ensure the appropriate progression of the Sophia initiatives. Sophia is the recently defined KM strategy, and as such it embeds the following responsibilities of the Director, KM with regards to the KM strategy and solutions design:
Lead, plan and support the design and implementation of the KM function
Develop the knowledge management plan, goals and priorities for knowledge acquisition, contribution, and deployment
Lead the design of knowledge management solutions to meet the prioritized needs, with enough consultation with all the relevant stakeholders
Work with leaders, staff across regions and functions, and the knowledge team to monitor knowledge management performance and value creation
Engage regularly with the Regional Business Partners and the Leadership Team to ensure alignment to business needs and get their sign-off on key decisions (e.g., access rights to knowledge assets)
Determine budget and resourcing model for Knowledge Management
In collaboration with Information Technology, assess and decide on robust but cost-effective approaches to implement technology solutions for knowledge management; and supervise the implementation of those
KM Governance & Processes
Direct and supervise the tracking of completeness and quality of the knowledge management systems (currently the Project Registry, and others that follow as per Sophia plan); and make recommendations for changes to knowledge management tools and processes as appropriate
Design, launch and coordinate the annual update process of Project Registry, which informs our Global Impact Report, in close collaboration with the KM Regional Leads
Direct and supervise the collation, appraisal and classification of legacy and new knowledge assets
Supervise the gathering of legacy and new knowledge assets (e.g., integration of acquired companies in our KM systems)
Lead the formulation and periodic update of knowledge management policies, guidelines, and business processes
Content Generation for Marketing and Business Development
Contribute effectively to the development of corporate level knowledge pieces (e.g., Global Impact Report, Project Pivots in response to covid-19, Climate Change Insights page, etc.)
Partner effectively with other corporate functions to carry out joint initiatives
Support business development teams in their requests for information for bids preparation (e.g., finding relevant experiences or similar documentation for reuse)
Contribute effectively to global and regional initiatives where knowledge management is requested to participate
Awareness and Capacity Building
Ensure appropriate awareness about knowledge management solutions and processes through training and internal communications
Provide advice to employees and projects on matters related to knowledge management
Direct and supervise the work of the Regional KM Leads
Key Competencies Required:
Demonstrable experience in the design, implementation and deployment of knowledge management solutions and processes in a global professional services business
Strong project management and problem-solving skills
Strong writing and presentation skills with attention to detail and quality
Adaptability, including the proven ability to advocate for and lead change, adapt to change personally and to overcome setbacks in the change process
Critical thinking, including the proven ability to think creatively, conceptually, and analytically, and to gather and use evidence
Relationship skills, including the proven ability influence others, recognize others’ contributions, develop talent in others and collaborate with colleagues, valuing diversity and inclusion
Accountability, including the proven ability to develop own expertise, respond to feedback, drive quality, and learn from experience
Business acumen, including proven ability to align with business goals, focus on internal and external client needs, deliver stakeholder value and effectively manage risks and resources
Team growth, provide opportunities to for team members to grow professionally, and coach as needed
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.
Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.
Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.

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