Library & Research Executive

Withers

Job title: Library & Research Executive

Reports to: Library & Research Manager

Location: London

What are we looking for?

The Withers Library and Knowledge Services team is an award winning, collaborative and high-performing team comprised of fourteen people globally. An exciting opportunity has arisen for a new member of our seven-person team based out of London. The Library and Research Executive role requires a strong team player who can work independently but also has the interpersonal skills to build relationships with people in different roles across the global firm. 

Areas of focus and responsibilities

Service Delivery

• Attending practice group meetings as required in order to publicise the activities of the Library and Research team and build relationships.
• Building relationships with colleagues in other support departments within the firm.
• Liaising with Library and Knowledge Services (LKS) team members in other offices as required to share best practice and deliver a top-quality service.
• Participating in and leading LKS team projects as required. 

Managing Resources

• Ordering books for physical library collections in London, Geneva and the BVI, including liaising with Knowledge Lawyers, fee-earners, and LKS team members in other offices about upcoming titles on a monthly basis.
• Assisting the Library and Research Advisor with the management of certain subscriptions, maintaining catalogue records, dealing with all aspects of the renewal process, and processing the invoices.
• Assisting with the budget management for physical and online books, including checking invoices against the monthly Budget Holders' Report.
• Processing new book arrivals for London and overseas offices as necessary, including cataloguing and amending existing catalogue records, labelling the books, and emailing the teams with new book information.
• Maintaining the London print library collection, which includes shelving, circulating, shifting, weeding and relocating library materials.
• Assisting the London "catalogue super user" in supporting the wider cataloguing team and promoting best practice. 

Administrative Tasks

• Responsible for managing the daily post, including checking-in looseleaf updates and journals and ensuring that information is correct on the library catalogue.
• Managing the procedure for the filing of loose-leaf updates.
• Managing the allocation, resetting or deletion of passwords and user accounts.
• Responsible for sending out and analysing monthly usage statistics for various online resources.
• Managing the leavers and joiners process including deleting leavers' database accounts, adding new joiners to relevant services, and updating the library catalogue.

Research and Training

• Running   the monthly new joiners' library induction sessions.
• Providing library induction sessions to new joiners and trainees within a specified division.
• Responsible for the administrative aspects of preparing for the trainee seat rotations.
• Assisting in the provision of a current awareness service to the firm.
• Assisting lawyers with their research enquiries as part of the three-person London library enquiries team.
• Researching and summarising information for use by the Business Development and Senior Management teams.

Knowledge Management

• Updating the library pages on the firm's intranet and assisting the teams and other offices in updating their library and knowledge pages
• Supporting the rest of the London LKS team with creating and maintaining relevant pages on Within, as well as assisting with the maintenance of standard email templates.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for the performance of this job, and as such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Technical experience required

• Minimum 2 years' experience in a law library.
• A qualification in Library or Information Science is essential.
• Proficiency with online resources including Westlaw, Practical Law, Lexis+, Lexis Newsdesk, PitchBook, Orbis, and other types of web-based services.
• Basic familiarity with the admin functionality of library catalogues (experience with Soutron is a bonus).
• Experience in competitive intelligence research, such as profiling companies or individuals for business development and strategic purposes.

Skills and attributes

• Highly PC literate, including strong Word and Excel skills.
• Strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills.
• Able to work independently as well as within a team, and to communicate with people at all levels of seniority.
• Strong service orientation with commitment to outstanding customer service.
• Able to meet deadlines, manage multiple projects and deliver under pressure.
• Skilled at using own initiative to find solutions to questions or problems and committed to seeing projects through to completion.

The Essentials

• 9.30am to 5.30pm but flexibility is a must
• Hybrid working policy with a minimum of 3 days per week worked in the office
• 4 week probation period
• 4 week notice period
• Flexible benefits package including pension, private medical, season ticket loan, subsidised gym memberships, lifestyle discount scheme, on site café.

About Withers 

A law firm focused on people, performance, and collaboration.

For the past 125 years, we have supported some of the world’s most remarkable people and organizations at defining moments in their lives.

As the global private client firm, we are trusted advisors to families, founders, fiduciaries and businesses – and more than this, to governments, charities and financial institutions. We structure, grow and preserve capital. We protect reputations and relationships, ideas and innovations. We secure our clients’ legacies across generations. We are united in our commitment to integrity, quality and collaboration. We have a culture of high performance and deliver excellent service consistently across the firm. We provide tailored solutions built on trust and partner with our clients to achieve their goals.

Many of our clients are shaping the future, and creating solutions to tackle many of the world’s problems. It makes for a fascinating and challenging practice. Our role is to get to know each individual client, find out where they want to be, and help them to get there – whether they are building a business, buying a home or protecting and defending their interests. To meet their unique needs we are exceptionally collaborative, working together across teams and time zones. And we are agile – focusing on strategy rather than rigid ideas and traditional hierarchy.

We are delighted that we have been awarded Mansfield Certification Plus in relation to our recruitment and leadership progression efforts in the US and UK. This certification is an encouraging milestone as we continue to champion diversity within our organization and in the wider legal sector.

Join us to be part of a team that is always looking to the future. Where initiative, big ideas and bold moves are always encouraged. Where you can truly be yourself.

Information for Recruitment Agencies

Withers endeavours to recruit and fill vacancies directly. However, when we do need to engage with agencies, Withers operates a preferred supplier list and will not be accepting unsolicited applications from non-PSL agencies for this role.

Equal Opportunities Employment Statement 

It is the policy of Withers to provide equal opportunities for all employees in relation to recruitment, training and promotion. Decisions in these areas will be made only by reference to the requirements of the job and shall not be influenced by any consideration of ethnic origin, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability.