UK

United Kingdom · Knowledge management · Lead (8-12 years)

Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy

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 bandLead (8-12 years)
  • Direct reports3-8 reports
  • Reports toManager, Learning & Knowledge Systems (Level 005)
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Knowledge Architect · Senior Learning Systems Manager · Head of Knowledge Management · Learning & Development Lead

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in what real qualifications cover

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 2 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma in Principles of Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science NCC Education Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 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
Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy

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

  1. Manage knowledge in an organisation Chartered Management Institute · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 5
  2. Knowledge and information management City & Guilds Limited · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  3. Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Limited · covers 1 of 10 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 Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy?

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 Knowledge Curation & Synthesis
  • Data Storytelling with Advanced Analytics
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 Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy plan as you set up, starting with the free Automation Fluency module. No card.

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

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Keep this read. One email with what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for and where to start free. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

3What this role really is

This job involves working out how information and learning flow across a business. It means building systems so people can find answers quickly, whether through a short guide or a full course, and leading a small team to make it work.

4What you'd actually use

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

Confluence/Notion (or similar Knowledge Base) Expert

Designing space architecture, building templates, managing integrations with other tools (Jira, Slack), and running usage analytics to understand content effectiveness.

Degreed/EdCast (or similar LXP) Expert

Designing and building complex learning pathways, integrating skills taxonomies, and analysing engagement data to identify learning gaps and content needs.

Articulate 360 (Storyline/Rise) / Camtasia Advanced

Setting standards for content creation, reviewing complex interactive modules, and occasionally developing polished video tutorials or e-learning for critical projects.

Tableau/Power BI Advanced

Connecting to LMS/KB data sources, building and maintaining dashboards that track content usage, search query success rates, skill progression, and overall learning impact for leadership.

Slack/MS Teams Advanced

Administering knowledge-sharing channels, setting up bots/integrations (e.g., Guru bot), facilitating discussions, and synthesising key insights from conversations for the knowledge base.

WalkMe/Pendo (or similar DAP) Intermediate

Guiding your team in creating simple in-app guides and walkthroughs for key enterprise software, and contributing to the broader strategy for embedding performance support.

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
Project Scope & Methodology Follows defined methodology, escalates scope changes. Chooses methodology for routine projects, proposes scope adjustments. Designs methodology for complex projects, recommends scope changes with rationale.
Budget Allocation (within team/projects) No budget authority, flags spending needs to manager. Manages small project budgets (up to £5K) with manager approval. Recommends budget allocation for workstreams (up to £20K), consults on larger spends.
Hiring & Performance Management No hiring or performance management authority. Provides input on junior hires, contributes to performance reviews. Interviews candidates, provides detailed performance feedback for mentees.
Vendor Selection (minor tools/services) No vendor selection authority. Researches and recommends minor tools/services. Evaluates and recommends vendors for specific workstream needs (e.g., content creation tools up to £10K).

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 Adoption Rate
Percentage of target users actively engaging with the knowledge base at least once a week.
Target · Increase by 25% in target departments over 6 months.

If the Sales team's KB adoption is 40% in Q1, we'd expect it to hit 50% by Q3 after your targeted initiatives.

Time-to-Productivity Reduction
The average time it takes for a new hire in key roles to meet their performance benchmarks, directly linked to onboarding programs.
Target · Reduce new hire time-to-productivity by 15% for identified roles.

If it currently takes new Sales reps 12 weeks to hit quota, your goal is to get that down to 10.2 weeks.

Learning Content Engagement
Average completion rates and time spent on key learning pathways and modules within the LXP.
Target · Achieve 80% completion rate for mandatory pathways and 70% for recommended content.

If the 'Product Launch Fundamentals' pathway has a 65% completion rate, you'll need to figure out why and boost it.

Search Success Rate
The percentage of knowledge base searches that result in a user clicking on a relevant article within the top three results, indicating findability.
Target · Maintain a search success rate of 85% or higher.

If 100 people search for 'expense policy' and 88 click a relevant link, you're at 88%.

Team Productivity & Development
The ability of your direct reports to deliver on their projects, grow their skills, and meet their individual objectives.
Target · Achieve 90% project completion on time and positive feedback in direct report performance reviews.

Your team successfully launched three new performance support tools this quarter, and all your direct reports are progressing well on their development plans.

Stakeholder Trust & Influence
How much business leaders and SMEs rely on your team for knowledge and learning solutions, often shown by proactive consultation.
  • You're regularly invited to departmental planning meetings. People seek your advice on how to solve knowledge gaps. You get positive, unsolicited feedback from senior leaders about your team's impact.
Quality of Knowledge Architecture
The logical structure and organisation of our knowledge systems, ensuring content is easy to find, understand, and keeps up-to-date.
  • Knowledge audits show low rates of content decay. Users consistently report positive experiences with content findability. New content creators easily understand and apply the established taxonomy and templates.
Team Leadership & Mentorship
Your effectiveness in guiding, coaching, and developing your direct reports, fostering a high-performing and engaged team.
  • Your team members report high job satisfaction and feel supported in their growth. You successfully delegate complex tasks and empower your team. You're seen as a fair and effective leader.
Strategic Alignment
How well your learning and knowledge initiatives support the broader business objectives and strategic priorities.
  • Your quarterly plans directly tie into company-wide goals. You can clearly articulate the business value of your projects to senior leadership. You're able to adapt your strategy when business priorities shift.

7Would you like it

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

What people enjoy
Solving Complex Organisational Puzzles

You'll be constantly figuring out how to connect disparate pieces of information, bridge communication gaps between teams, and design systems that make sense out of chaos.

Taking a messy, unorganised collection of departmental documents and transforming it into a searchable, intuitive knowledge base that everyone actually uses.

Empowering Others to Succeed

Your core mission is to make everyone else's job easier and more effective. You'll get satisfaction from seeing your learning programmes boost productivity or your knowledge solutions prevent costly mistakes.

Receiving feedback that a new onboarding pathway you designed dramatically cut down the time it took for new hires to feel confident in their role.

Building & Leading a High-Impact Team

You'll be directly responsible for guiding and developing your team, helping them grow their skills and deliver meaningful projects. Seeing your team thrive and deliver great work will be a major source of satisfaction.

Mentoring a junior specialist through a complex project, helping them overcome challenges, and seeing them successfully present their work to a senior audience.

What frustrates people
  • The 'Too Busy' SME: The people with the most valuable knowledge are always the ones with the least amount of time to share it.
  • The Content Graveyard: You'll spend ages building a brilliant knowledge base, only for usage to flatline after the initial launch.
  • Lip Service Leadership: Executives who talk about a 'learning culture' but don't always back it up with funding or by rewarding knowledge sharing.
  • Tool Sprawl: Critical information living in 10 different places (Slack, Teams, SharePoint, Google Docs, etc.) and trying to bring it all together.
  • Measuring the Ghost: Proving the ROI of a problem that didn't happen because someone found an answer is incredibly difficult and often goes unrecognised.
  • The 'Not Invented Here' Syndrome: Getting one department to trust and use a knowledge asset or process created by another can be a political battle.
What this role does not give you
  • A quiet, solitary role where you just build content in isolation.
  • A role where every single initiative you launch is immediately adopted by everyone.
  • Unlimited budget for all the latest tools and technologies.
  • A job where you never have to deal with legacy systems or imperfect data.

8Who you work with

This role is crucial for our operational efficiency and employee development. You'll directly influence how quickly we can onboard new talent, how well our existing staff can adapt to new products or processes, and how effectively we capture and retain critical company knowledge. Get it right, and we're a smarter, more agile business. Get it wrong, and we're constantly reinventing the wheel and losing institutional memory.

Inside the business
  • Department Heads (Sales, Product, Operations)
  • IT Leadership (for system integrations and security)
  • HR Business Partners (for learning needs identification)
  • Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across all teams
  • Your direct team of Learning & Knowledge Specialists
Outside the business
  • Learning Experience Platform (LXP) vendors
  • Knowledge Base platform providers
  • Content authoring tool suppliers
  • External training providers (occasionally)

9What you need before you start

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

  • Proven experience (at least 5 years) in a Senior Learning & Knowledge Specialist or Instructional Designer role, where you owned complete workstreams.
  • Demonstrable experience leading projects from conception through to delivery, including stakeholder management and impact measurement.
  • A strong portfolio of learning content, knowledge base architecture, or analytics dashboards you've personally designed or led the creation of.
  • Experience managing or mentoring junior team members, including providing structured feedback and development support.
  • A solid grasp of at least one major LXP (e.g., Degreed, EdCast) and one major knowledge base platform (e.g., Confluence, Notion) at an advanced level.
  • Experience presenting to mid-level management and effectively influencing decisions based on data and strategic rationale.

10What to practise next

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

Advanced LXP/Knowledge Base Administration & Integration

As our ecosystem grows, you'll need to understand how to make our core platforms talk to each other seamlessly. This means getting into the weeds of APIs, data flows, and security protocols to ensure a truly integrated experience.

API Fundamentals · SSO (Single Sign-On) & User Provisioning · Data Schema & Mapping · Troubleshooting Integrations

  • This month: Review the API documentation for our primary LXP and knowledge base. Understand what data can be pulled and pushed.
  • Next 3 months: Work with IT to understand our current SSO setup and user provisioning processes for these platforms.
  • Month 4-6: Lead a small project to integrate a new, minor tool with our LXP, leveraging existing APIs.
  • Ongoing: Participate in vendor user groups and forums to learn about new integration capabilities and best practices.

Quick win: Map out the current data flow between our LXP, knowledge base, and HRIS. Identify any manual steps or potential points of failure.

Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) Strategy

Learning is increasingly moving 'in the flow of work.' DAPs like WalkMe or Pendo are becoming critical for providing contextual support and guidance directly within our enterprise software. You'll need to lead the strategic deployment of these tools.

Performance Support Design · User Journey Mapping · Contextual Learning · DAP Analytics

  • This month: Research leading DAP platforms (WalkMe, Pendo, Appcues). Understand their core functionalities and use cases.
  • Next 3 months: Identify one critical enterprise software application where users frequently struggle. Map out a user journey and potential DAP interventions.
  • Month 4-6: Work with a vendor or internal team to pilot a small DAP project for a specific use case.
  • Ongoing: Engage with product teams to understand their roadmap for in-app guidance and how your DAP strategy can complement it.

Quick win: Identify 3-5 common 'how-to' questions users ask about a specific software tool. Could these be answered with a simple in-app guide?

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Actively participate in industry forums and professional bodies for Knowledge Management or Learning & Development (e.g., CIPD, KMWorld).
  • Attend webinars and conferences focused on learning technologies, AI in L&D, and knowledge sharing best practices.
  • Read leading industry publications and research papers to stay abreast of emerging trends and methodologies.
  • Seek out mentorship from senior leaders within or outside the organisation who have expertise in strategic learning and knowledge initiatives.
  • Take online courses or workshops on advanced data analytics, AI prompt engineering, or organisational change management.

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 Knowledge Curation & Synthesis

Generative AI can now summarise vast amounts of information, identify key themes, and even draft content. Competitors are already using this to create knowledge assets much faster. Your value will shift from manual curation to guiding AI and validating its outputs.

  • Prompt Engineering for Knowledge
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
  • Automated Content Tagging & Categorisation
  • AI-Driven Content Refresh

Data Storytelling with Advanced Analytics

Simply presenting numbers isn't enough anymore. Senior leaders need compelling narratives that explain what the data means, why it matters, and what action they should take. You'll need to connect learning metrics to actual business outcomes in a clear, persuasive way.

  • Narrative Structure for Data
  • Visualisation Best Practices
  • Connecting Learning to Business KPIs
  • Audience-Centric Reporting

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Knowledge Taxonomy & Ontology Design
  • Performance Consulting & Needs Analysis
  • Learning Analytics (Kirkpatrick & Phillips ROI Models)
  • Content Curation & Management Strategy
  • Instructional Design (Agile/SAM Models)
  • Community of Practice (CoP) Management

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 Learning & Knowledge Specialist / Instructional Designer (L3)

    3-5 years in this role

    Skills to master

    • Deep expertise in instructional design, content creation, and a specific area of knowledge management (e.g., taxonomy design for a particular domain). Proven ability to lead projects independently and mentor junior colleagues.

    You're ready to move on when

    • You consistently deliver high-quality learning programmes or knowledge solutions that meet business needs.
    • You're the go-to person for complex design challenges within your area of expertise.
    • You've successfully mentored at least two junior team members and helped them grow.
    • You proactively identify and propose solutions to broader systemic knowledge problems, not just your own projects.
  2. 2

    Senior L&D Consultant (from external consultancy)

    Roughly 8-10 years consulting experience

    Skills to master

    • Strong client-facing skills, ability to diagnose organisational learning needs, design strategic interventions, and manage complex projects across various industries. You'll need to adapt those skills to an internal, long-term strategic role.

    You're ready to move on when

    • You have a track record of successfully advising clients on learning and knowledge strategy.
    • You're comfortable translating high-level business problems into actionable learning or knowledge solutions.
    • You can demonstrate experience leading a small team or project group.
    • You're keen to move from project-based work to building and owning a continuous capability within one organisation.
  3. 3

    Senior Project Manager (with L&D/KM focus)

    Roughly 5-7 years in project management, with a significant portion in L&D/KM.

    Skills to master

    • Exceptional project planning, execution, and stakeholder management skills. Experience managing budgets and cross-functional teams. You'll need to develop deeper expertise in learning theory and knowledge architecture.

    You're ready to move on when

    • You've successfully managed several large-scale learning or knowledge management implementation projects.
    • You're adept at managing project risks, timelines, and resources.
    • You have a genuine interest in the 'what' and 'why' of learning and knowledge, not just the 'how' of project delivery.
    • You're ready to take on people leadership responsibilities beyond just project coordination.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead to director-level roles shaping learning strategy across a whole business, or to senior leadership roles setting the direction for how an organisation learns and builds capability.

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 Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

The record names a next step, but the catalogue has no page for it yet:

  • Manager, Learning & Knowledge Systems (L5)

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 Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy.

Manage knowledge in an organisation Level 5

Applied to your work in Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy

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.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy
  • Knowledge Taxonomy & Ontology Design
  • Performance Consulting & Needs Analysis
  • Learning Analytics (Kirkpatrick & Phillips ROI Models)
  • Content Curation & Management Strategy
  • Instructional Design (Agile/SAM Models)
  • Community of Practice (CoP) Management
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

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

  1. Manager, Learning & Knowledge Systems (L5)

    3-5 years in the Lead role

    This is a direct step up, moving from leading a team and specific systems to directing the entire Learning & Knowledge function, including managing the full team and budget.

    • Enterprise LXP/Knowledge Base Strategy Defining the long-term vision and roadmap for all core platforms.
    • Strategic Workforce Planning Linking learning programmes to broader talent development and succession planning.
    • Change Leadership Driving significant organisational shifts in how we learn and share knowledge.
    • External Representation Representing the organisation at industry events and with external partners.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, a big chunk of your day is probably spent on tasks that could be automated. Imagine getting back hours every week to focus on the strategic stuff, the things that truly move the needle. Our AI Productivity Hub isn't just a buzzword; it's a collection of tools and techniques designed to genuinely free up your time.

For a Lead in Learning & Knowledge Strategy, AI isn't about replacing your job; it's about making you and your team exponentially more effective. From automatically tagging content to identifying knowledge gaps at scale, these tools let you focus on designing impact, not just managing data.

Automated Content Tagger

Use AI/NLP to automatically scan new documents, Slack threads, or meeting transcripts, suggesting relevant tags and knowledge base categories. This means less manual categorisation for your team and much better findability for everyone else. Think of the time saved by not having to manually tag hundreds of articles!

Knowledge Gap Analyst

Feed all internal search queries (especially the failed ones) into an AI model. It'll identify and cluster common themes, giving you a data-driven roadmap of the most urgent knowledge gaps to fill. No more guessing what people can't find; the AI tells you exactly where to focus your efforts.

First-Draft Creator

Got a messy expert interview transcript or a dense technical document? Use generative AI to convert it into a clean, well-structured first draft of a knowledge base article or a micro-learning script. Your team can then focus on refining and adding the human touch, not starting from scratch.

Personalised Learning Pathfinder

Use AI within our LXP to analyse an employee's role, current skills, and past content consumption. It can then proactively recommend the most relevant articles, courses, and even internal experts for their specific needs, making learning truly 'in the flow of work' and deeply personalised.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy?

Common routes in include Senior Learning & Knowledge Specialist / Instructional Designer (3-5 years in this role), Senior L&D Consultant (from external consultancy) (Roughly 8-10 years consulting experience) and Senior Project Manager (with L&D/KM focus) (Roughly 5-7 years in project management, with a significant portion in L&D/KM.). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy progress to?

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

What new skills matter most for a Lead, Learning & Knowledge Strategy?

Increasingly, AI-Powered Knowledge Curation & Synthesis and Data Storytelling with Advanced Analytics. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

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

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

Or try another one

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 knowledge management

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

The skills involved, strategic thinking, systems design, people leadership and using data to show impact, transfer well elsewhere. They can lead into broader HR leadership, organisational development, product management for learning technology, or consultancy work across different industries.

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 free Automation Fluency module 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.