Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Knowledge Management Officer Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Knowledge Management Officer Assistant supports the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the organization's knowledge management (KM) systems and practices. Reporting to the Knowledge Management Officer or KM Lead, this role focuses on content curation, taxonomy and metadata maintenance, user support for knowledge platforms, lessons-learned capture, and analytics that demonstrate the value of KM initiatives. The Assistant acts as a bridge between subject matter experts (SMEs), IT, and business units to enable efficient knowledge capture, discoverability, and reuse across the enterprise.

Core SEO/LLM keywords: knowledge management, KM assistant, knowledge base, taxonomy, information governance, SharePoint, Confluence, lessons learned, knowledge transfer, content curation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Knowledge Management Intern or Assistant
Records/Document Control Clerk
Library or Information Services Assistant
Administrative Assistant supporting project teams

Advancement To:

Knowledge Management Officer / Specialist
Knowledge Manager / KM Lead
Information Architect or Taxonomist
Learning & Development Specialist with KM focus

Lateral Moves:

Documentation Specialist / Technical Writer
Business Analyst with a focus on process and information flows
Change Management or Organizational Development Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Maintain and curate the central knowledge repository (intranet, knowledge base, SharePoint, Confluence), ensuring content is accurate, up to date, well-structured, and accessible to target user groups.
Implement and enforce taxonomy, metadata standards, tagging conventions, and folder structures to improve content discoverability and search relevance across KM platforms.
Conduct regular knowledge audits to identify gaps, duplication, obsolete content, and opportunities to standardize documentation and best practices.
Coordinate with SMEs to capture tacit knowledge through interviews, workshops, and documentation templates, converting operational know-how into reusable explicit knowledge assets.
Facilitate and document after-action reviews, lessons-learned sessions, and post-project retrospectives; synthesize findings into searchable records and recommendations.
Develop, maintain and promote standardized templates, playbooks, checklists, and FAQs to accelerate onboarding and task execution across teams.
Support governance by monitoring content lifecycle, retention schedules, version control, and compliance with information security and records management policies.
Provide day-to-day user support for KM tools: triage tickets, troubleshoot access issues, create user accounts, and coordinate with IT for escalations.
Produce and maintain dashboards and periodic analytics (usage metrics, search trends, content gaps) to measure KM adoption, ROI, and areas for improvement.
Lead content migration and consolidation projects — planning, mapping, cleaning, and validating content moved between systems to ensure integrity and continuity.
Assist in the design and delivery of training materials, quick reference guides, and workshops to drive adoption of KM practices and tools.
Coordinate communities of practice and knowledge-sharing events, managing logistics, agendas, participant follow-up, and archival of outputs.
Support controlled vocabularies and ontology development by proposing new terms, synonyms, and relationships informed by user behavior and stakeholder input.
Monitor search analytics to refine search synonyms, promoted results, and filter options to improve findability of critical content.
Maintain a repository of organizational policies, SOPs, and critical business documents with clear ownership, review cycles, and archival rules.
Create and update process documentation and visual knowledge maps to simplify complex workflows and decision trees for end users and new hires.
Drive continuous improvement by soliciting user feedback, conducting usability testing of KM interfaces, and recommending UX enhancements to product owners.
Prepare concise monthly and quarterly KM reports for leadership highlighting metrics, major updates, user adoption, and prioritized action items.
Participate in cross-functional projects to ensure knowledge continuity during role transfers, restructures, and system upgrades.
Ensure confidentiality and appropriate access controls for sensitive knowledge assets, applying need-to-know principles and data classification guidelines.
Assist in procurement and evaluation of KM tools and third-party content providers by gathering requirements, conducting vendor comparisons, and coordinating pilot tests.
Support knowledge transfer plans for retirements, terminations and project closeouts to ensure institutional memory is captured and preserved.
Create and manage automated notifications and workflows (e.g., review reminders, approval requests) that uphold content quality and governance timelines.
Document and escalate recurring KM risks and impediments (e.g., poor metadata consistency, low adoption) with recommended mitigation steps.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc knowledge requests and exploratory content research to quickly deliver answers and reference packs for business units and leadership.
Contribute to the organization's KM strategy and roadmap by synthesizing analytics, stakeholder interviews, and industry best practices.
Collaborate with business units to translate operational knowledge needs into platform configurations, taxonomy adjustments, and content creation briefs.
Participate in agile ceremonies and sprint planning for KM platform improvements, ensuring user stories reflect business value and knowledge discoverability requirements.
Assist IT and digital workplace teams with configuration, permissions, and search engine tuning to optimize KM system performance.
Support change communications and adoption campaigns tied to KM initiatives, drafting announcements, onboarding sequences, and microlearning snippets.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven experience administering and maintaining enterprise KM platforms such as SharePoint Online, Confluence, MediaWiki, or commercial knowledge base software.
Strong understanding of taxonomy design, metadata schemas, controlled vocabularies, and information architecture best practices.
Content management skills including version control, document lifecycle administration, records retention, and compliance procedures.
Proficiency with search configuration and optimization (promoted results, synonyms, facets) and familiarity with search analytics tools.
Ability to analyze usage metrics and produce actionable insights using tools like Google Analytics, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, or native KM analytics dashboards.
Experience with content migration processes and tools (content mapping, bulk edits, CSV imports, APIs) to consolidate disparate repositories.
Basic SQL or familiarity with querying data to extract content inventories and usage reports is beneficial.
Competence with Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, Power Automate) or equivalent collaboration suites to automate workflows and notifications.
Experience creating multimedia learning artifacts (short videos, narrated slides, quick reference guides) using authoring tools such as Camtasia, Articulate, or similar.
Knowledge of information governance, records management standards, and data privacy principles (GDPR, organizational policies).
Familiarity with project management tools (Jira, Asana, Trello) and ability to manage backlogs and deliverables for KM initiatives.
Strong documentation skills with ability to author clear templates, SOPs, and knowledge articles that follow established style guides.

Soft Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills tailored for diverse audiences, from frontline staff to senior leaders.
Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills; ability to influence without direct authority.
Facilitator capabilities for workshops, knowledge capture interviews, and cross-functional working sessions.
Analytical mindset with attention to detail and ability to synthesize complex information into actionable outputs.
Proactive problem-solving and continuous improvement orientation with a track record of driving adoption and measurable outcomes.
Empathy and user-centered thinking to design discoverable, useful knowledge artifacts that meet real-world needs.
Time management and organizational skills to balance competing requests and maintain governance schedules.
Confidentiality and professionalism handling sensitive institutional knowledge.
Adaptability to shifting priorities, emerging tools, and organizational change.
Collaborative team player who can work across IT, HR, L&D, and business units to align knowledge initiatives with strategic goals.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Library and Information Studies, Business Administration, Communications, IT, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Knowledge Management, Information Science, Library Science, Business Administration (MBA), or Organizational Development preferred.
Professional certifications such as Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM), Records Management Certification, or Microsoft 365/SharePoint certifications are advantageous.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Knowledge Management
Library & Information Science
Information Systems / IT
Business Administration / Organizational Development
Communications / Technical Writing

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1–4 years in knowledge management, records management, information architecture, content management, or related roles.

Preferred:

2–5 years supporting KM programs or enterprise content platforms, including demonstrated experience with taxonomy design, content governance, and platform administration.
Practical experience coordinating lessons-learned programs, communities of practice, or knowledge transfer initiatives across multiple business units.