UK

United Kingdom · Learning and development · Principal/Manager (12-16 years)

Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

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  • Experience bandPrincipal/Manager (12-16 years)
  • Direct reports5-8 reports
  • Reports toDirector of Knowledge Management & Learning Enablement
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Head of Learning Platforms · Senior Manager, Digital Learning & KM · Knowledge Systems Lead

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

CMI Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership Chartered Management Institute · Level 5 · covers 3 of 6 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma in Principles of Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
iCQ Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership iCan Qualifications Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Manage knowledge in an organisation CMI Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership
Knowledge and information management City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma in Principles of Leadership and Management
Managing Information and Knowledge iCQ Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
Systems Fluency seeing the whole picture
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Your Plan Illustration

Built for Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems

3 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Manage knowledge in an organisation Chartered Management Institute · covers 3 of 6 standards Level 5
  2. Knowledge and information management City & Guilds Limited · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
  3. Managing Information and Knowledge iCan Qualifications Limited · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • AI-Powered Content Curation & Synthesis
  • Ethical AI & Bias in KM/L&D
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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3What this role really is

This job is about building and running the systems that let an organisation find and share what it knows. You make sure people can get the answers they need without wasting time searching for them.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Confluence / Notion / SharePoint Online Strategic

You'll be defining the enterprise-wide information architecture, managing budget, and owning the platform selection and governance for our primary knowledge base. This means making sure it's the right tool for the job and used effectively.

Cornerstone OnDemand / Docebo / Degreed / Workday Learning Architect

You'll lead platform migration or integration projects (e.g., with Workday HCM), own the vendor relationship, and define our overall learning data strategy. You're not just configuring; you're shaping the future of our learning ecosystem.

Articulate 360 (Storyline, Rise) / Adobe Captivate / Camtasia Strategic

You'll set the content development standards for your team and any outsourced development partners, and you'll evaluate new authoring tools to ensure we're using the best tech to create engaging learning experiences.

WalkMe / Pendo / Whatfix Strategic

You'll own the Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) strategy to drive software adoption and reduce support tickets. This means building business cases for expansion and ensuring our in-app guidance is truly effective.

Tableau / Power BI Architect

You'll manage our Tableau Server or Power BI Premium workspace, ensuring data security and accessibility. You'll also be presenting learning impact dashboards to executive leadership, translating complex data into clear business insights.

Slack / MS Teams / Miro Strategic

You'll define the communication and collaboration governance strategy for knowledge sharing across the enterprise, ensuring these tools are used effectively to surface and share knowledge, not just for chat.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Team Hiring & Performance No authority; provides input on candidate fit. Provides detailed feedback on candidates; contributes to performance reviews. Leads interview process, makes hiring recommendations; conducts performance reviews and sets development plans.
Platform Roadmap & Features Suggests minor improvements or bug fixes. Proposes feature enhancements based on user feedback; helps prioritise backlog items. Designs and scopes new features; makes recommendations for platform improvements to leadership.
Budget Allocation No budget authority. Manages small project budgets (e.g., £5K for content creation). Manages workstream budgets up to £50K; recommends larger investments.
Vendor Selection & Management No authority; uses existing tools. Evaluates new features from existing vendors; provides feedback on vendor performance. Researches potential new vendors; contributes to RFPs and vendor evaluations.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Knowledge Base Findability Rate
The percentage of internal searches that result in a user clicking on a relevant, verified article within the top three results.
Target · Increase from 65% to 80% within 12 months

If 100 people search for 'expense policy' and 80 click on the official article, that's 80%. We track this through our knowledge base analytics.

Learning Platform Engagement & Completion
Average completion rates for critical learning paths (e.g., new hire onboarding, compliance training) and overall platform login frequency.
Target · 85% completion for critical paths; 20% weekly active users on LXP

Our Q3 data shows 78% completion for the 'New Sales Rep Onboarding' path. Your goal would be to get that to 85% by Q4, perhaps by improving content discoverability or in-app guidance.

Support Ticket Deflection Rate
The percentage of common questions (e.g., IT, HR, Sales Ops) that are answered by self-service knowledge articles, reducing the need for direct support tickets.
Target · Reduce repetitive support tickets by 15% across IT and HR

If IT receives 100 tickets about 'password reset' and 15 of those users found the answer in the knowledge base before submitting, that's 15% deflection. We want to see that number grow.

Content Freshness & Audit Compliance
The percentage of knowledge articles that are reviewed and updated (or archived) within their defined review cycle.
Target · 98% compliance with content review schedules

If we have 1,000 articles and 20 haven't been reviewed in the last 6 months (despite a 3-month cycle), that's a 98% compliance rate. You'll own the process to keep this high.

Stakeholder Trust & Collaboration
How well you build relationships with key department heads and get them to actively contribute to and champion knowledge sharing.
  • Departmental SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) actively participating in content creation and review. Other teams proactively asking for your team's input on new initiatives. Positive feedback from department heads during quarterly business reviews about the value of shared knowledge.
Team Development & Coaching
The growth and effectiveness of your direct reports. Are they developing new skills? Are they feeling supported and challenged?
  • Regular 1:1s with clear development goals. Team members taking on more complex projects independently. Positive feedback from team members in engagement surveys. Low attrition within your team.
Platform Optimisation & Innovation
Your ability to continuously improve our learning and knowledge platforms, identifying new features or integrations that genuinely add value.
  • Regular updates to platform configurations based on user feedback or analytics. Successful implementation of new features (e.g., AI search, new integrations). Proactive proposals for platform enhancements that tie back to business goals. You're not just maintaining
  • you're advancing.
Strategic Alignment of KM/L&D Roadmap
Ensuring your team's work and platform roadmap directly supports broader L&D and organisational goals, not just 'busy work'.
  • Clear, documented links between KM/L&D projects and company OKRs. Your quarterly plans are clearly understood and supported by your Director. You can articulate how a specific platform feature helps us hit a business target.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Building Order from Chaos

You'll get a real kick out of taking a messy, disorganised pile of information and turning it into a structured, searchable, and genuinely useful resource. Seeing a clear taxonomy emerge from disparate content will bring you joy.

Taking 20 different versions of a sales playbook from various regional drives and consolidating them into one, clear, searchable 'Single Source of Truth' in Confluence.

Empowering Others Through Information

You're driven by the idea that if people have the right information, they can do their jobs better, faster, and with less frustration. You'll love hearing stories about how your team's work saved someone hours or helped them close a deal.

Receiving feedback from a new hire that they felt confident on their first customer call because they could quickly find answers in the knowledge base you designed.

Optimising Systems and Processes

You enjoy figuring out how to make things work more smoothly and efficiently. This means constantly looking for ways to automate, streamline, and improve the tools and workflows your team uses and supports.

Implementing an AI tool that automatically flags outdated content, saving your team hours of manual auditing each week.

What frustrates people
  • The SME Paradox: The people with the most valuable knowledge are always the busiest. You'll spend half your time chasing SMEs who are 'too busy' to document their process, only to have them complain that they're 'constantly interrupted' by people asking questions about that same process.
  • The 'Wiki Janitor' Perception: Fighting the organisational view that your job is simply administrative—tidying up pages and fixing links—rather than the strategic architecture of the company's intellectual capital.
  • 'Single Source of Truth' Politics: Everyone agrees there should be a single source of truth, as long as it's their source. You will be the UN peacekeeper between departments who all have their own 'official' version of a document.
  • The Adoption Cliff: You'll launch a beautiful, intuitive, perfectly organised knowledge platform, see a big spike in usage for two weeks, and then watch in despair as everyone reverts to asking their neighbour or saving files to their desktop.
  • Content Orphanage: You are the custodian of the system, but not the owner of the content. You will be blamed when a sales policy is out of date, even though the Head of Sales hasn't reviewed it in two years despite your 14 reminders.
  • The Search Log of Despair: Looking at your analytics and seeing the same five basic questions being searched for hundreds of times, despite the answer being on the homepage of the knowledge base.
What this role does not give you
  • A static, 'set it and forget it' environment. This is a continuous improvement role.
  • A role where you're solely focused on content creation; this is more about systems and strategy.
  • A role where everyone immediately understands and values the strategic importance of knowledge management.
  • A role with minimal stakeholder negotiation or influencing.

8Who you work with

This role directly impacts our operational efficiency, employee productivity, and overall learning culture. You'll be building the infrastructure that allows us to scale knowledge sharing, reduce redundant work, and ensure everyone has access to the right information at the right time. Your work means we're not constantly reinventing the wheel, and our people can focus on actual problem-solving, not just information hunting.

Inside the business
  • Learning & Development Team (peers and leadership)
  • IT Department (for platform integrations and security)
  • Product & Engineering Teams (for product knowledge and documentation)
  • Sales & Marketing (for customer-facing knowledge and training)
  • HR & People Operations (for onboarding and policy knowledge)
  • Legal & Compliance (for policy and regulatory knowledge)
Outside the business
  • LMS/LXP Vendors (Cornerstone, Docebo, Degreed)
  • Knowledge Base Vendors (Confluence, SharePoint)
  • Digital Adoption Platform Vendors (WalkMe, Pendo)
  • Content Authoring Tool Vendors (Articulate, Adobe Captivate)
  • Industry peers and professional KM networks

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven experience (at least 5-8 years) leading complex knowledge management or learning technology projects, ideally in a fast-growing environment.
  • Demonstrable experience managing a small team, including coaching, performance management, and career development.
  • Hands-on experience with at least two major knowledge base systems (e.g., Confluence, SharePoint) and two major LMS/LXP platforms (e.g., Cornerstone, Degreed).
  • A strong portfolio of successful projects where you've designed and implemented information architecture or content governance frameworks.
  • Experience managing vendor relationships, including contract negotiation and performance monitoring.
  • A solid understanding of learning analytics and how to use data to demonstrate the impact of knowledge and learning initiatives.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Advanced Learning Ecosystem Integration

The days of siloed LMS, KM, and HR systems are ending. We'll need seamless data flow and single sign-on across all platforms to create a truly unified learning and knowledge experience for employees. You'll be the one making that happen.

API Management & Orchestration · Identity & Access Management (IAM) · Data Warehousing for Learning Data · Event-Driven Architectures (e.g., xAPI)

  • This month: Review the API documentation for our current LMS and knowledge base. What integrations are possible?
  • Next quarter: Talk to our IT team about our current integration strategy and any upcoming projects that involve data flow between systems.
  • Within 6 months: Map out the ideal data flow for a new hire's learning journey, from HR system to LMS to knowledge base.
  • Within 12 months: Lead a project to integrate a new data source into our learning analytics dashboard, demonstrating its value.

Quick win: Identify one small, manual data transfer between two systems your team uses and explore if a simple API integration could automate it. Even a small win builds confidence.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attending industry conferences (e.g., Learning Technologies, KMWorld, DevLearn) to stay current on trends and network with peers.
  • Participating in online forums or communities of practice dedicated to knowledge management or learning technology.
  • Subscribing to leading industry publications and research papers to keep abreast of new methodologies and tools.
  • Taking advanced courses in data analytics, AI applications in L&D, or change management.
  • Mentoring junior professionals in the KM or L&D space, which helps solidify your own knowledge and leadership skills.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

AI-Powered Content Curation & Synthesis

AI isn't just for generating content; it's getting incredibly good at finding, summarising, and synthesising information from vast, disparate sources. This will transform how we keep our knowledge bases fresh and how quickly we can answer complex questions.

  • Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
  • Semantic Search
  • Automated Content Summarisation
  • Knowledge Graph Integration

Ethical AI & Bias in KM/L&D

As AI becomes more embedded in our knowledge and learning systems, we need to be acutely aware of potential biases in the data it's trained on, and how that might impact fairness, accuracy, and equity in information access and learning recommendations. This isn't just an IT problem; it's a KM/L&D problem.

  • Algorithmic Bias
  • Data Privacy & Security in AI
  • Transparency & Explainability (XAI)
  • Responsible AI Frameworks

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Knowledge Taxonomy & Ontology Design
  • Instructional Design (ADDIE/SAM/Action Mapping)
  • Learning Analytics & Measurement (xAPI/SCORM)
  • Performance Consulting & Needs Analysis
  • Content Curation & Lifecycle Management
  • Community of Practice (CoP) Facilitation

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Senior KM Specialist / Instructional Designer (L3)

    5-7 years of experience in that role, plus 2-3 years as a Lead KM Strategist (L4)

    Skills to master

    • Deep expertise in content lifecycle management, advanced instructional design, leading small projects end-to-end, and mentoring junior colleagues. You'd then need to step up to architecting systems and influencing broader strategy.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully owned and improved a major KM process (e.g., content review cycle).
    • Consistently mentored 1-2 junior team members, helping them grow.
    • Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority.
    • Took initiative to design and implement a new, impactful knowledge asset or system component.
  2. 2

    Learning Technology Lead / Architect from another organisation (L4 equivalent)

    8-12 years of overall experience, with 3-5 years leading a significant part of a learning tech stack.

    Skills to master

    • Strong technical foundation in LMS/LXP administration, data architecture, and vendor management. You'd need to layer on team leadership and broader KM strategy.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Managed a significant portion of a learning tech budget (£100K+).
    • Led a major platform integration or migration project.
    • Built and maintained complex learning analytics dashboards.
    • Proven ability to manage vendor relationships effectively.
  3. 3

    Consultant specialising in Knowledge Management or Learning Systems

    Roughly 10-15 years in consulting, with a focus on implementing KM/L&D solutions for various clients.

    Skills to master

    • Project management, client relationship management, solution design, and a broad understanding of different KM/L&D tools and best practices. The transition involves moving from project-based work to long-term ownership and team leadership.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully delivered multiple KM/L&D implementation projects.
    • Managed client expectations and project scope effectively.
    • Developed strong expertise in solution architecture and change management.
    • Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into technical requirements.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead to roles shaping how a whole organisation learns, such as VP of Talent and Organisational Development or Chief Learning Officer.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Manage knowledge in an organisation, worked against Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems.

Manage knowledge in an organisation Level 5

Applied to your work in Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems

This unit aims to provide learners with an understanding of knowledge management principles, strategies, and the role of technology within organisations. Upon completion, learners will be able to identify, assess, and effectively manage knowledge assets to support organisational objectives.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

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See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems
  • Knowledge Taxonomy & Ontology Design
  • Instructional Design (ADDIE/SAM/Action Mapping)
  • Learning Analytics & Measurement (xAPI/SCORM)
  • Performance Consulting & Needs Analysis
  • Content Curation & Lifecycle Management
  • Community of Practice (CoP) Facilitation
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Director of Knowledge Management & Learning Enablement (L6)

    3-5 years in the Manager role

    This is the next natural step, moving from managing the team and tech stack to owning the entire KM strategy for the organisation.

    • M&A Integration (KM/L&D aspects) Leading the integration of knowledge and learning systems during mergers or acquisitions.
    • External Thought Leadership Representing the company at industry events and shaping the broader KM/L&D conversation.
    • Advanced Vendor Strategy Developing long-term strategic partnerships with key technology providers.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, knowledge management can sometimes feel like an endless game of whack-a-mole. But what if you could offload the repetitive, time-consuming tasks to AI, freeing you up for the strategic work that really matters? Our AI Productivity Hub is designed to do just that.

As the Manager for Knowledge & Learning Systems, you're not just managing people; you're managing an entire ecosystem of information. AI isn't here to replace you or your team, but to supercharge your efforts, making your knowledge base smarter, your content fresher, and your team more efficient. Imagine spending less time on manual audits and more time on strategic design.

Automated Knowledge Triage & Tagging

An AI engine that reads all new documents (e.g., in SharePoint, Google Drive) and automatically suggests metadata tags based on the content. It'll also identify potential duplicates and flag content that appears outdated, saving your team hours of manual classification and clean-up.

Generative Q&A Search Engine

Instead of just returning a list of links, an AI-powered search that synthesises information from multiple trusted sources within your knowledge base to provide a direct, conversational answer to a user's question, complete with citations. This dramatically reduces time-to-answer for employees and builds trust in the knowledge system.

AI-Powered SME Interviewer

A tool that guides a Subject Matter Expert (SME) through a structured interview, asking probing questions to turn their tacit knowledge into explicit documentation. It can transcribe the conversation and generate a first draft of an SOP or guide, cutting down on the most time-consuming part of knowledge harvesting.

Content Freshness & Gap Analysis

An AI model that scans the entire knowledge base to identify content gaps (e.g., high search volume for terms with no matching content) and flags articles that are likely outdated based on product release notes or changes in other related documents. This helps you proactively manage content decay and ensures your team focuses on high-impact knowledge assets.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems?

Common routes in include Senior KM Specialist / Instructional Designer (5-7 years of experience in that role, plus 2-3 years as a Lead KM Strategist (L4)), Learning Technology Lead / Architect from another organisation (L4 equivalent) (8-12 years of overall experience, with 3-5 years leading a significant part of a learning tech stack.) and Consultant specialising in Knowledge Management or Learning Systems (Roughly 10-15 years in consulting, with a focus on implementing KM/L&D solutions for various clients.). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems progress to?

This role can lead on to Director of Knowledge Management & Learning Enablement (3-5 years in the Manager role), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems?

Increasingly, AI-Powered Content Curation & Synthesis and Ethical AI & Bias in KM/L&D. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

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Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 5

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in learning and development

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

Skills built in this role, such as platform management, team leadership, information architecture and leading change through knowledge, transfer across sectors. You could move into similar leadership roles in FinTech, healthcare or consulting, or specialise further in AI-driven learning solutions or enterprise content strategy.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my Manager, Knowledge & Learning Systems plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.