Knowledge Management & Training
The Return Path Experience
Don’t get us wrong, it’s not easy to land a gig at RP. You’re going to have to learn the ins and outs of our business before you even get here. Here’s the good news: only the best and brightest minds in email work here. So, once you’re in, this is a place where you’ll be challenged, inspired, rewarded and transformed. Really, you ask? Yes, really. The Return Path experience is a two-way exchange. We ask you to give us your very best every day. We expect a lot from you. We challenge you with interesting work, stretch assignments, a collaborative work environment and a ton of learning and growth. The pace is fast and furious. In exchange, we give you everything you need to live a happy, balanced life. This includes great pay, open vacation (yup, you heard that right!), great benefits, flexibility and, well, whatever else you need. Everyone is unique and we pride ourselves on not having one-size-fits-all solutions. At Return Path you’re a person, not a title. What’s important in your life right now? Kids, pets, triathlons, tango, karate, yoga, parents, Pilates, pre-natal—we will support you through it all. Give and take. That’s a Return Path career path.
The impact you’ll have at RP
The Director of Knowledge Management is a newly created position. This person will be responsible for facilitating the development of a best-in-class knowledge management function, organization-wide processes, and supporting services that allow RP to capture, manage, distribute and apply information in support of the strategic and operational goals and objectives of the company. This is an influential role, touching nearly all aspects of the organization, and will require an individual with solid expertise in knowledge management strategy for a global technology company. This person will:
•Conduct initial knowledge audits and needs analysis of the company
•Identify and own the technology initiatives required to support a knowledge management program
•Create, implement and evangelize a knowledge management strategy including defining goals and metrics, demonstrating return on investment where possible
•Develop and manage a global knowledge management function that is designed to capture, organize, analyze and distribute critical business intelligence throughout the company, including coordinating all content creation and maintenance efforts
•Collaborate closely with IT to ensure that enterprise-wide knowledge management tools are implemented, maintained and accessible, and in coordination with the People Team understand staff priorities and challenges
•Keep current on developments in knowledge management practices and technologies; serve as the company’s presence in the knowledge management arena through participation in conferences and peer group activities
•Champion knowledge-sharing behaviors: communicate and market internally, drive culture change, connect people, encourage enterprise-wide sharing, and appropriately leverage existing collateral
•Develop organizational plan and then recruit, train and manage the knowledge management team
Competencies & Behaviors
•Subject matter expertise: understands duties and responsibilities, has necessary professional knowledge and competencies, has necessary technical skills for position, keeps job knowledge current, seeks out and implements best practices in industry and area of specialty
•Relationship builder: develops formal and informal relationships across the company; nurtures existing and potential relationships to help achieve strategic goals
•Proactive: identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners; displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments, leads by example
•Customer focus: builds customer confidence, is committed to increasing customer satisfaction, sets achievable customer expectations, takes a proactive approach to customer service; assumes responsibility for solving customer problems, ensures commitments to customers are met, solicits opinions and ideas from customers, responds to internal customers
•Project management: establishes project goals, milestones and procedures, defines roles and responsibilities, acquires project resources, coordinates projects throughout company, monitors project progress, manages multiple projects and communicates effectively with key stakeholders
•Quality: is attentive to detail and accuracy, committed to excellence, looks for improvements continuously, monitors quality levels, finds root cause of problems, owns/acts on problems
•Superb communication skills: sets the standard for excellent communication and collaboration across the organization
In addition to the above, you must be a good fit at Return Path. To be successful here, you must demonstrate Personal/Professional Growth, Professionalism, Flawless Execution, and Strategic Thinking; have a Positive Impact and a great sense of humor. Visit our website to read detailed descriptions of expectations at each of the 4 levels at RP: (1) Learning, (2) Applying, (3) Guiding and (4) Shaping. This position is categorized at the Guiding level.
What you’ve done
•At least eight years of professional experience and at least two years of further experience in knowledge management in a professional services or client serving environment
•Technology literate and demonstrated interest in IT
•Track record recruiting and leading a small team of knowledge management professionals
•Strong communication, persuasion and interpersonal skills; advanced skills in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
•Track record of successful project management, including designing, planning and implementing knowledge-related initiatives, coordinating/collaborating with other teams and executing/facilitating programs involving knowledge creation, management and/or sharing
•Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM) a plus
What it’s like to work here
It's great! From the CEO and senior management team to the newest entry-level employee, we are a company that cares a lot about fostering a great work environment and a fun, energetic, success-oriented culture. We have a strong philosophical believe that our people are our most important assets. And we don’t just pay lip service to that phrase—we incorporate it into our policies, and we live it every day. Yes, that philosophy means we have generous “traditional” benefits, but it also means we take a lot of time to focus on high quality management and leadership, and time to make sure everyone in the company is in the right job, knows how his or her job contributes to the overall company mission, and has a clear sense of learning and career growth. We have great employee retention because people love coming to work here and really feel like they’re part of something special. For more information visit www.returnpath.net.