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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Director, Practice Innovation - **Company:** K&L Gates - **Location:** Austin, TX, United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $170,000.0 - $300,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Metadata - **Published:** May 19, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=5438a531ec1a4ccf ## About the Role * 10+ years of experience in practice innovation, knowledge management, legal operations, technology, or related leadership roles within a law firm or professional services environment. * Demonstrated success delivering firmwide initiatives with measurable impact. * Deep understanding of law firm practice workflows and economics. * Proven ability to lead change and influence senior stakeholders. * Strong people leadership and communication skills., * Juris Doctor (JD) and prior legal practice experience strongly preferred. * Experience with AI-enabled legal tools and workflow automation. * Expertise in modern KM concepts including knowledge architecture and reuse. * Experience designing or scaling client-facing innovation initiatives. Compensation Salary $170,000 - $300,000 The compensation salary for this position will be determined during the interview process and will vary based on multiple factors, including but not limited to prior experience, relevant expertise, current business needs, and market factors. ## Description At K&L Gates, we are looking for smart, imaginative and hard-working people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas to join us. Perhaps our search for talented visionaries and your search for important and impactful work lead to the same place. The Director of Practice Innovation & Knowledge Management (Director) is a senior firmwide leader responsible for transforming how the Firm delivers legal services through innovation, knowledge, and technology. Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, the Director sets and executes the Firm's practice innovation and knowledge management strategy, with a mandate to improve attorney productivity, client value, and firm competitiveness. This role leads three tightly integrated priorities: (1) practice innovation and AI-enabled service delivery; (2) modern knowledge management and intellectual capital strategy; and (3) client- and practice-facing innovation that drives measurable business impact. The Director is a trusted partner to practice leadership, a bridge between lawyers and technology, and a hands-on change leader who ensures initiatives move from concept to scaled adoption. The role has firmwide remit and inherits existing Practice Support Lawyers (PSLs) and Knowledge Management professionals., * Set and execute the firmwide practice innovation and knowledge management strategy aligned to the Firm's strategic, commercial, and competitive objectives. * Develop and manage a multi-year innovation roadmap covering AI-enabled service delivery, legal process improvement, knowledge reuse, and differentiated client solutions. * Establish governance, intake, prioritization, and portfolio management processes to ensure focus, transparency, scalability, and return on investment across innovation and KM initiatives. * Partner with practice leadership, PSLs, and attorneys to identify high-value innovation and AI use cases and translate them into scalable solutions embedded in legal workflows. * Lead the design, piloting, and firmwide rollout of AI-enabled and practice-facing technology solutions, ensuring responsible, secure, and ethical deployment in collaboration firmwide IT. * Drive adoption and measurable impact of innovation and KM initiatives through training, enablement, engagement strategies, and ongoing tracking of usage, outcomes, and ROI. * Lead and modernize the Firm's knowledge management function, including defining the KM operating model, governance, standards, and integration with innovation and AI efforts. * Build and maintain the Firm's knowledge architecture and core intellectual capital assets, including taxonomies, metadata, precedents, playbooks, clause banks, practice guides, and experience content. * Lead legal design, process improvement, and automation initiatives to improve attorney efficiency, client experience, and day-to-day workflow effectiveness. * Act as a firmwide change leader, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and knowledge sharing across practices and offices. * Identify and support client-facing innovation opportunities and advise partners and clients on evolving legal service delivery models and market trends. * Lead, develop, and align PSLs and Knowledge Management professionals, setting clear priorities, expectations, and performance measures while partnering closely with cross-functional teams. ## Related Videos - [Coffee with Developers - Maria Apazoglou](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1209-coffee-with-developers-maria-apazoglou) - [A Data Mesh needs Open Metadata](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/505-a-data-mesh-needs-open-metadata) - [Same Tower, New Confusion: The Tower of Babel 2.0](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100101-same-tower-new-confusion-the-tower-of-babel-2-0) - [Edit Your Future: Queerverse Radical AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/909-edit-your-future-queerverse-radical-ai) - [AI is dead, long live AK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1093-ai-is-dead-long-live-ak) - [Building an AI-Ready Content Lake: Scaling RAG and Document AI Beyond Demos](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1977-building-an-ai-ready-content-lake-scaling-rag-and-document-ai-beyond-demos) ## Related Articles - [Coffee with Developers - Maria Apazoglou - Making AI understandable for all in production](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/475-coffee-with-developers-maria-apazoglou-making-ai-understandable-for-all-in-production) - [The Prompt Engineer ✍️](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/216-the-prompt-engineer) - [Got AI ideas but no money? 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