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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Knowledge Operator

💰 $65,000 - $95,000

Knowledge ManagementData GovernanceInformation ArchitectureOperations

🎯 Role Definition

The Knowledge Operator is a vital role responsible for the day-to-day management, curation, and optimization of an organization's knowledge ecosystem. This individual acts as a bridge between people, processes, and technology, ensuring that valuable information and data are captured, structured, and made easily discoverable. The core mission of the Knowledge Operator is to empower employees by providing them with the right information at the right time, fostering a culture of learning and informed decision-making. They are the hands-on guardians of our collective intelligence, maintaining the health and integrity of knowledge bases, content repositories, and collaborative platforms.


📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Technical Writer or Content Strategist
  • Data Analyst or Business Analyst
  • Corporate Librarian or Archivist
  • IT Support Specialist (Tier 2/3)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Knowledge Manager or Knowledge Strategist
  • Information Architect
  • Data Governance Lead
  • Head of Knowledge and Collaboration

Lateral Moves:

  • Business Process Analyst
  • Communications Manager
  • Project Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, author, and maintain high-quality content for our internal knowledge base, including standard operating procedures (SOPs), how-to guides, and best practice articles.
  • Actively manage the entire content lifecycle, from creation and review to archival and deletion, ensuring all information remains current, relevant, and accurate.
  • Implement and manage a comprehensive taxonomy and metadata framework to organize and tag information, dramatically improving searchability and content discovery.
  • Conduct regular audits and health checks of the knowledge management system to identify and remediate outdated content, broken links, and information gaps.
  • Collaborate closely with subject matter experts (SMEs) across various departments to capture, validate, and document tacit and explicit institutional knowledge.
  • Champion and promote knowledge-sharing best practices and tools throughout the organization, acting as a primary advocate for building a knowledge-centric culture.
  • Analyze usage metrics and user feedback from knowledge platforms to identify trends, measure content effectiveness, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Provide training and ongoing support to employees on how to effectively use our knowledge management tools, search for information, and contribute new content.
  • Curate and structure content within collaborative platforms like Confluence or SharePoint to create intuitive and user-friendly information hubs for teams and projects.
  • Translate complex technical concepts and process documentation into clear, concise, and easily understandable language for a broad, non-technical audience.
  • Respond to and resolve user-submitted questions and feedback regarding knowledge content, acting as a first point of contact for information-related inquiries.
  • Proactively identify potential knowledge gaps by analyzing support tickets, project retrospectives, and business process changes, then develop plans to create the missing content.
  • Define and enforce content style guides and quality standards to ensure consistency, clarity, and a unified voice across all knowledge assets.
  • Facilitate the migration and integration of knowledge from disparate sources (e.g., legacy systems, shared drives, documents) into a centralized, single source of truth.
  • Monitor and optimize internal search engine performance, adjusting metadata, keywords, and content structure to improve the relevance and speed of search results.
  • Create and distribute regular communications, such as newsletters or updates, to highlight new and updated knowledge resources and encourage user engagement.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer specific business questions.
  • Contribute to the organization's broader data and knowledge strategy and its long-term roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate their unique information and data needs into concrete technical and content requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and other agile ceremonies as part of the data, IT, or operations teams.
  • Assist in the evaluation and testing of new knowledge management technologies, plugins, or collaboration tools.
  • Create short video tutorials and other multimedia training materials to support different learning styles.
  • Support change management initiatives by ensuring all related documentation and training materials are prepared and accessible.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Knowledge Management Systems: Deep, hands-on experience with platforms like Confluence, SharePoint, Zendesk Guide, or similar enterprise-level wikis.
  • Content Management: Proficiency in creating, formatting, and managing content within a structured Content Management System (CMS).
  • Taxonomy & Metadata Management: Practical understanding of how to build and apply classification schemes, tags, and metadata to organize large sets of information.
  • Information Architecture: Ability to structure and organize information in a logical, intuitive, and user-friendly way.
  • Data Analysis: Competency in using tools like Excel, Google Analytics, or built-in platform analytics to interpret usage data and generate actionable insights.
  • Basic HTML/CSS: Familiarity with basic web markup for formatting and troubleshooting content within knowledge platforms.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Knowledge of internal search optimization principles to improve content discoverability.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional Written Communication: The ability to write with clarity, precision, and empathy for a diverse audience.
  • Meticulous Attention to Detail: A sharp eye for accuracy, consistency, and quality in all content and data.
  • Stakeholder Management: Skill in building relationships and collaborating effectively with subject matter experts and colleagues at all levels.
  • Analytical & Problem-Solving Mindset: The capacity to diagnose issues, analyze feedback, and develop practical solutions to improve the knowledge ecosystem.
  • Strong Organizational Skills: The ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, and handle a large volume of information without getting overwhelmed.
  • Curiosity & Empathy: A genuine desire to understand user needs and a drive to make their work lives easier by providing better information access.
  • Proactive & Self-Motivated: A "get-it-done" attitude with the ability to work independently and take ownership of the knowledge base's health.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree or equivalent, demonstrable practical experience in a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's Degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS), Knowledge Management, or Communications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Library and Information Science
  • Communications or Technical Writing
  • Computer Science or Information Systems
  • Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2-5 years of direct experience in knowledge management, technical writing, content strategy, or a closely related role.

Preferred:

  • Proven experience successfully managing a knowledge base or corporate wiki in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment is highly valued. Experience training others and driving adoption of new processes is a significant plus.