Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Knowledge Planner

🎯 Role Definition

As a Knowledge Planner, you are the central nervous system of organizational intelligence. You don't just manage information; you strategically plan its entire lifecycle to empower our teams, enhance decision-making, and foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Your work involves mapping the flow of knowledge, identifying critical gaps, and designing the architecture—both human and technological—to bridge them. You'll be the go-to expert for how we capture, structure, find, and use our most valuable asset: our collective know-how. This is a highly collaborative role that sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and people, requiring you to be part analyst, part librarian, part strategist, and part change agent.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Knowledge Management Specialist
Content Strategist
Business Analyst with a focus on information systems
Corporate Librarian or Information Scientist

Advancement To:

Senior Knowledge Planner / Principal Knowledge Strategist
Director of Knowledge Management
Head of Information & Content Strategy
Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

Lateral Moves:

Senior Content Strategist
Information Architect
Product Manager (Internal Tools / Collaboration Platforms)
Learning and Development Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, articulate, and execute a comprehensive, long-term knowledge management strategy that is deeply aligned with the company's strategic objectives and growth plans.
Design, implement, and govern the organization’s enterprise-wide information architecture, including the development and maintenance of taxonomies, ontologies, and metadata frameworks to ensure content is discoverable and logically organized.
Conduct regular, in-depth knowledge audits and gap analyses across departments to identify critical knowledge assets, pinpoint areas of knowledge loss, and uncover opportunities for process improvement.
Partner proactively with subject matter experts, team leads, and executives to capture, codify, and translate complex tacit knowledge into explicit, reusable assets for the broader organization.
Lead the end-to-end process of evaluating, selecting, implementing, and managing new knowledge management technologies, platforms, and tools (e.g., enterprise wikis, intranets, expert locators, enterprise search).
Establish and oversee robust content lifecycle management processes, defining clear guidelines for content creation, review, updating, archiving, and eventual deletion to maintain a healthy information ecosystem.
Act as a key change agent to create and nurture a vibrant culture of knowledge sharing, championing best practices, recognizing contributions, and facilitating formal and informal communities of practice.
Define, track, and report on a suite of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to quantitatively measure the impact and effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives on business outcomes.
Perform deep-dive analysis on system usage data, search logs, and user feedback to derive actionable insights for continuously improving knowledge systems, content relevance, and overall user experience.
Design and deliver targeted training programs and create compelling documentation to educate employees on how to effectively use knowledge management tools and adhere to best practices.
Serve as the lead curator and product owner for the central knowledge base, taking ultimate responsibility for the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of its content.
Forge strong partnerships with IT, Data, and Engineering teams to ensure the seamless integration of knowledge systems with other critical business applications like CRM, HRIS, and project management tools.
Map critical knowledge and information flows throughout the organization's core business processes to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, and opportunities for significant optimization.
Develop strategic content plans and editorial calendars designed to proactively address identified knowledge gaps and support major business initiatives, product launches, or organizational changes.
Facilitate engaging workshops, stakeholder interviews, and focus groups to deeply understand user needs, elicit knowledge requirements, and co-create solutions to information-related pain points.
Serve as the internal thought leader on emerging trends, technologies, and methodologies in knowledge and information management, bringing innovative ideas and a forward-thinking perspective to the team.
Develop and enforce governance policies and quality control standards for all content contributed to the corporate knowledge ecosystem, ensuring consistency, clarity, and brand alignment.
Create and execute strategic communication plans to effectively promote new knowledge resources, system enhancements, and success stories to drive adoption and demonstrate value.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer specific business questions using information from our knowledge platforms.
Contribute to the organization's broader data and information strategy and roadmap, ensuring KM initiatives are aligned.
Collaborate with business units to translate their abstract data and knowledge needs into clear, actionable technical requirements for engineering teams.
Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies within the data and technology teams to represent knowledge management priorities.
Assist in crafting compelling business cases and ROI analyses for proposed investments in new knowledge management tools or large-scale initiatives.
Mentor a network of "knowledge champions" embedded within various departments to scale knowledge management best practices throughout the organization.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Knowledge Management Frameworks: Deep expertise in core KM principles, models, and methodologies (e.g., KCS - Knowledge-Centered Service, SECI model, Communities of Practice).
Information Architecture (IA): Proven ability to design and manage complex information structures, including enterprise taxonomies, ontologies, and metadata schemas.
KM Platform Proficiency: Hands-on experience administering and optimizing modern knowledge management systems like Confluence, SharePoint Online, Guru, Slab, or similar enterprise-level platforms.
Data Analysis & Interpretation: Strong analytical skills to interpret usage metrics, search analytics, and user behavior data to make data-driven decisions. Experience with tools like Google Analytics, Power BI, or Tableau is highly desirable.
Content Strategy & Governance: Expertise in creating and managing content lifecycle models, editorial standards, and governance workflows within a Content Management System (CMS) or knowledge base.
Enterprise Search Optimization: A solid understanding of how enterprise search engines work and the ability to apply SEO-like principles to improve the findability and relevance of internal content.

Soft Skills

Stakeholder Management & Influence: Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with a natural ability to build relationships, establish trust, and influence stakeholders at all levels without direct authority.
Strategic & Systems Thinking: The ability to see the big picture, understand how different parts of the organization connect, and translate high-level business strategy into a concrete, actionable knowledge plan.
Project & Program Management: Excellent organizational and planning skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional projects from initiation to completion, on time and within scope.
User Empathy & Design Thinking: A user-first mindset with the ability to step into the shoes of employees to understand their frustrations and design intuitive, valuable, and frictionless knowledge experiences.
Change Management: A skilled facilitator of change, capable of guiding teams and individuals through the adoption of new tools, processes, and cultural norms with patience and clear communication.
Facilitation & Training: The ability to confidently lead productive workshops, interview subject matter experts, and deliver engaging training sessions that drive understanding and adoption.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field.

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree in Library & Information Science (MLIS), Knowledge Management, or a related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Library & Information Science
Knowledge Management
Communications
Business Administration
Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5-8 years of progressive experience in a role focused on knowledge management, content strategy, information architecture, or corporate librarianship.

Preferred:

Demonstrated experience leading a significant knowledge management program or a major KM technology implementation from conception to launch within a medium-to-large, complex organization. Experience in a fast-paced tech, consulting, or professional services environment is a strong plus.