At Wilson Elser, we are redefining what it means to work at a national law firm. With more than 1,400 attorneys across 46 offices nationwide, we are recognized among the top 100 law firms by The American Lawyer and ranked #30 in the National Law Journal’s survey of the nation’s largest law firms.
Our continued success is built on a culture of collaboration, innovation, client service, and mutual respect. We are committed to fostering an environment where employees are empowered to grow their careers, contribute meaningfully, and thrive professionally.
Wilson Elser is seeking a Senior Manager, Information & Research Services to lead and manage the firm's Library function, overseeing the delivery of high-quality legal and business research, electronic resource management, as well as the information support attorneys and business professionals rely on across all practices.
Reporting to the Director of Knowledge Management, this position is responsible for the day-to-day operations and continuous improvement of the Library function, including service standards and workflows; vendor, contract, and budget management; as well as team supervision, engagement, and growth. This collaborative leader will ensure the firm’s attorneys and business professionals have access to the research resources they need today and in future, while championing innovation and the integration of emerging technologies.
This role is as much a build as a management assignment. There is opportunity to redesign and document workflows with AI in mind, while growing the team's capability alongside them.
Responsibilities
- Work as part of the firm's Knowledge Management leadership team, helping to inform and execute the overall Knowledge Management strategy, contributing an information and research services perspective to ensure KM initiatives meet the related needs of attorneys and business professionals.
- Supervise and mentor Information & Research Services staff members, including Electronic Resources Librarians and Research Librarians; foster their professional growth across both operational and research workflows, coordinate workload, and ensure the effective execution of research and library initiatives.
- Lead, manage, and continuously improve the firm's information and research services operations, including the development and implementation of policies, procedures, service standards, and workflows that support quality and consistency.
- Apply knowledge management discipline to the department's own documentation, so that how the work is done is updated regularly and reused for training, onboarding, change management, and AI workflows.
- Oversee the firm's portfolio of electronic research resources, including Lexis, Bloomberg Law, ALM, and other key platforms and databases, evaluating and renewing resources to meet the evolving needs of the firm’s attorneys and business professionals.
- Develop and maintain an electronic resource management (ERM) system covering subscriptions, license terms, costs, approvals, and vendor contacts, to inform contract lifecycle and budget management.
- Negotiate agreements and subscriptions, building and maintaining strategic relationships with the firm’s information vendors.
- Monitor licensing terms and seat compliance across the portfolio to mitigate risk.
- Act as the escalation point for access and service issues related to library resources and tools.
- Oversee the Information & Research Services budget in collaboration with the Director of Knowledge Management; control expenditures, track projections and variances against budget, and allocate resources cost-effectively.
- Track, analyze, and report usage across electronic resources and services to inform renewal, right-sizing, cancellation, and negotiation decisions, as well as effective practice group support.
- Ensure the delivery of legal and business research to attorneys and business professionals, contributing to the research work directly as needed.
- Develop and maintain research guides, tools, and self-service resources for efficient information retrieval.
- Build a research knowledge base and a record of research requests to improve work product consistency, strengthen knowledge capture, and support AI-enabled workflows.
- Further the firm’s AI and automation goals by identifying opportunities to integrate Generative AI capabilities, such as Lexis Protégé features and other emerging tools, into research workflows.
- Collaborate on the evaluation and implementation of new AI-enhanced research platforms.
- Set standards and guardrails for AI-assisted research, and develop the team’s judgment about when to use these tools and how to verify what they produce.
- Promote awareness, adoption, and proficient use of electronic resources across the firm, through training sessions, user guides, and other educational resources.
- Collaborate with KM colleagues so information and research resources are well-organized, easily discoverable, and integrated into the firm's knowledge systems, including intranet sites and knowledge repositories.
- Stay abreast of developments in legal technology, knowledge management, law firm business, and the legal research and information services field, and bring forward recommendations on the tools and practices the firm should adopt.
Qualifications
- Deep expertise in legal and business research, electronic resource management, and library operations within a law firm or professional services environment.
- Proven ability to lead, manage, and mentor a team of professionals, with a focus on fostering professional growth, accountability, and thoughtful service delivery.
- Strong knowledge of legal and business research platforms, including LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, ALM, PACER, and similar tools.
- Demonstrated experience managing vendor relationships, licensing agreements, and research services budgets.
- Aptitude for building collaborative relationships with internal and external clients across teams and departments.
- Ability to empathize and engage with attorneys to look at processes and service delivery through a business lens.
- Experience using and evaluating AI tools in a professional setting, including prompt engineering, designing workflows with AI in mind, and setting standards and guardrails for AI-assisted research.
- Familiarity with how large language models behave and where they fail; experience with context engineering is a plus.
- Strong project management and critical thinking skills with a focus on innovation and change management.
- Exceptional communication, collaboration, and team leadership skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to analyze resource usage and spend data and act on what it shows.
- Proven experience delivering training, live and virtual, and developing educational resources.
- Advanced knowledge of relevant technology systems and applications used in law firms and/or legal departments, such as: SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365, iManage Cloud.
Experience and Education
The ideal candidate will have at least 7 years of experience in legal research, library services, electronic resource management, or a related role in a law firm or professional services setting. Candidates with direct leadership experience managing a research or library team are strongly preferred.
Master of Library Science (MLS) or Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from an ALA-accredited institution is required. An additional advanced degree in a relevant field (JD, MBA) is a plus.
Wilson Elser offers a competitive salary and benefits package designed to support our attorneys both professionally and personally.
A variety of factors are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to experience, education, licensure and/or certifications, geographic location, market demands, other business and organizational needs, and other factors permitted by law. Final salary wages offered may be outside of this range based on other reasons and individual circumstances. This position is considered full-time and therefore qualifies for benefits including 401(k) retirement savings plan, medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.
Salary Range:
$170,000—$190,000 USD
Why Should You Apply?
- Benefits: Outstanding benefits package, including 401k match and generous PTO plan
- Career Growth: Ample opportunities for professional development and advancement
- Employee Perks: Access to corporate discount plans and other benefits
Wilson Elser welcomes submissions of candidates for our open positions exclusively from recruitment agencies with an active, signed fee agreement who have been granted access to a position through our dedicated Recruitment Agency Portal. We are unable to consider submissions from recruitment agencies without a current (dated as of 7/1/2024) agreement in place. We appreciate your understanding. For collaboration inquiries or to establish an agreement, please contact us at talentacquisition@wilsonelser.com.
Wilson Elser is committed to a collegial work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. It is the Firm's policy that employment will be based on merit, qualifications, and competence. Further, employment decisions will be made without regard to an applicants race, color, age, sex, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, physical or mental disability, status as a victim of domestic violence, sex offenses, or stalking, past or present service in the uniformed services or application or obligation to serve in the uniformed services, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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