Knowledge Management & Innovation Manager

Fenwick & West LLP; Santa Monica (CA); Hybrid; USD 126,000 - 189,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Life Insurance

Wellbeing program

Job summary

Fenwick & West LLP seeks a KMI Manager to drive AI tool adoption, design scalable solutions, and deepen expertise across the firm's core AI platforms. The role partners with attorneys and paralegals to implement AI workflows, ensuring governance and risk awareness are embedded in daily practice.

The candidate will lead communications and training programs for legal AI tools, collaborating with Practice Support Lawyers and Attorney Training teams. Hybrid work arrangement offered.

Qualifications

• Law firm background or equivalent experience working with attorneys to translate workflows into AI-enabled solutions.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with ability to influence senior lawyers.
• Proven project management skills with multiple initiatives and stakeholders.
• Experience with AI governance, risk awareness, and training design is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Partner with attorneys and paralegals to implement firmwide AI solutions and scale workflows across matters.
• Develop deep expertise in core AI platforms and apply it to legal workflows and governance.
• Support governance and risk processes with compliance in mind and communicate implications to teams.
• Design and lead ongoing training for legal AI tools and resources, adapting content for different practice groups.

Skills

Legal tech experience

Project management

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

AI governance familiarity

Education

J.D. or paralegal certification

Tools

AI platforms

Job description

Job Description Summary

Fenwick is seeking a KMI Manager who will be responsible for driving the firm’s adoption of AI tools and workflows in direct partnership with attorneys. The core of this role is translating legal workflows into scalable, firmwide AI solutions. Additional responsibilities include deepening the firm’s expertise in its core AI platforms, supporting a governance structure that builds sound, repeatable practices around AI use, and designing a systematic communications and training program for AI tools and resources, each as described more fully below. This position can be based in any of our U.S. office locations and offers a hybrid work arrangement, allowing you to work both from home and at your designated Fenwick office. The frequency of in-office work will be determined by business needs and guided by your department’s directives.

Job Description

AI Implementation & Workflow Design Partner directly with attorneys and paralegals to implement AI solutions for their matters –beyond one-off support: identify patterns across matters, spot opportunities that would benefit the firm’s practices, and lead the resulting project from concept through firmwide rollout. This requires both a strong grasp of how attorneys work and technical depth with the underlying AI platforms. Partner with other technical teams within the firm as needed to execute more complex builds.

Platform Management Develop deep, hands‑on expertise in the firm’s core AI platforms –their features, strengths, and best use cases—and apply this expertise to legal workflows and platform management. Understand how platform configuration choices intersect with risk and the appropriate process for enabling them.

AI Governance & Risk Awareness Support the Associate Director of Knowledge Management & Innovation, and the Chief Compliance Officer, in developing governance for AI tools used across the firm. Governance here is broader than risk alone – it also means helping establish best practices as AI use expands. On the risk side, be attuned to legal and professional‑responsibility concerns for AI‑enabled workflows, know when and how to elevate such issues, and partner with compliance to identify how compliance processes translate to AI tools. This role is not expected to have technical security expertise; the focus is on critical thinking about legal and workflow risk in day‑to‑day interactions with attorneys.

Communications & Training Design and lead an ongoing, systematic communications and training program for legal AI tools and resources – both live/presented content and self‑serve materials. Tailor the program to different practice groups’ needs, and partner with the firm’s Practice Support Lawyers and Attorney Training team as appropriate on subject matter, scheduling, format, and audience.

Desired Skills and Qualifications

Law firm background as an attorney, paralegal, or legal operations professional; J.D. or paralegal certification a plus but not required for candidates with relevant law firm AI experience. Proven track record working directly with attorneys to translate real legal workflows into AI‑enabled solutions. Genuine technical depth with AI platforms, sufficient to dig into how they work and problem‑solve directly, plus the ability to partner effectively with other technical teams on more complex builds. Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, with the credibility and presence to build trust with partners and senior attorneys. Creative and resourceful, with the ability to operate effectively in a fast‑paced environment with limited structure and shifting priorities. Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives and stakeholders. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain AI features and use cases in a way that drives adoption and best practices for legal audiences. Sound legal judgment and critical thinking about the risks—and benefits--AI tools can introduce into legal work product, with the ability to identify concerns and elevate them as appropriate. Reporting to the Associate Director of Knowledge Management & Innovation, the ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience in a law firm or legal technology environment, with significant hands‑on experience implementing AI tools directly with attorneys, deep platform fluency, and a strong grasp of legal workflows. Experience with technical training and supporting AI governance is a plus.

Benefits and Compensation Details

At Fenwick, we believe that our partners and employees are our most important asset. Helping you and your families achieve and maintain good health - physical, emotional, and financial - is the reason we offer a comprehensive benefit program. We provide benefits to eligible employees under plans such as Healthcare, Life Insurance, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Wellbeing. Except as otherwise required by law, temporary employees are generally not entitled to these benefits. The anticipated range for this position is: $126,000 - $189,000 Depending on the role, the actual base salary offered may depend upon a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job. A discretionary bonus for eligible employees may also be available based on performance. Additional information about employee eligibility for benefits and discretionary bonus will be made available upon request.

Our Story

For more than five decades, Fenwick & West has helped some of the world’s most recognized companies become, and remain, market leaders. From emerging enterprises to large public corporations, our clients are leaders in the technology, life sciences and cleantech sectors and are fundamentally changing the world through rapid innovation. Having worked alongside such progressive and cutting edge companies for so long, our culture has come to reflect the entrepreneurial spirit of our client base. Unlike traditional law firms, we move at our clients’ speed and have earned the reputation as a go-to law firm for growing companies that need insightful, strategic counsel to help tackle the challenging issues that arise when the law cannot keep up with their pace of innovation. With the same passion for excellence and innovation reflected in our client base, our firm is making revolutionary changes to the practice of law through substantial investments in proprietary technology tools and processes. Our clients demand—and deserve—new ways to receive best‑in‑class legal services more effectively. At Fenwick, we are proud to be shaping our legal services to do just that. We are proud to have been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area for the twelfth year.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Fenwick & West LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and, as such, conducts all employment‑related activities without regard to unlawful consideration of race, religion, color, marital status, national origin, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, gender, genetic characteristics or any other classification protected by applicable local, state or federal employment discrimination laws. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre‑employment testing, or a job interview, please contact [e-mail] or [e-mail]. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.