Knowledge Management Officer (Law Library)
Organizational Context
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is an intergovernmental organization based in Kingston, Jamaica, established under UNCLOS to regulate activities in the international seabed area. This role sits within the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), serving as the primary custodian of the organization’s legal memory and bridging traditional librarianship with modern digital knowledge management to support legal work.
Job Purpose
The Knowledge Management Officer (Law Library) is responsible for managing the ISA's legal memory, ensuring the preservation, searchability, and accessibility of international legal instruments, jurisprudence, internal legal opinions, and institutional records. This law-focused role within OLA supports the Secretariat's legal work, including regulatory development, compliance, and governance, by providing high-level research and maintaining the institutional archive of legal decisions. The position aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of legal operations through robust knowledge management practices and specialized research support for legal officers and Member States.
Responsibilities
Manage the specialized law library, including acquisition, organization, and digital archiving of legal materials and access to databases. Develop and maintain legal taxonomies, indexing systems, and standardization for legal documentation and online information services. Oversee the creation, management, and preservation of digital and audio archival records, ensuring accessibility in line with ISA/UN standards. Develop and implement a knowledge management plan for the legal department, including conducting knowledge audits and preparing Standard Operating Procedures for electronic records and legal work outputs. Manage records transfer and retention schedules. Act as the lead for legal research, retrieving and synthesizing international instruments, legislation, case law, and doctrine. Provide research memoranda to support legal drafting and maintain searchable collections of international jurisprudence and treaty texts. Provide training to staff on legal research methods and digital platforms, and liaise with other institutions for resource sharing and technological advancements.
Work Experience
A minimum of five years of progressive professional experience in knowledge management, modern library services, digital records management, or complex legal research within an international organization, government, law firm, or legal office is required. Experience in legal/policy research, supporting multilateral processes, managing metadata/taxonomies, digital library/knowledge management systems, and developing content management standards is desirable.
Skills
Professionalism, Technological Awareness, Teamwork, Knowledge Management, Library Science, Digital Archiving, Legal Research, Taxonomy Development, Records Management, Metadata Management, Inter-Agency Collaboration.