Director of Data Curation & Knowledge Systems

iManage•Chicago, IL

4d•$180,000 - $270,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We offer a flexible working policy that supports a healthy balance between personal and professional well-being. This role requires in-office presence on Tuesdays & Thursdays to collaborate, connect, and learn from peers - while also maintaining the flexibility for meaningful work-life balance. Being a Director of Data Curation & Knowledge Systems at iManage Means… You will lead the transformation of legal content into reliable, AI-ready data assets that power next generation legal technology solutions. This role combines strategic leadership with deep technical expertise in data engineering, unstructured data, data-for-NLP principles, and knowledge systems within our document management ecosystem. You will improve and evolve existing data pipelines and systems to support AI-ready legal data, design semantic pipelines, and establish governance frameworks that ensure compliance and trust. Your team will directly enable AI-driven insights, intelligent search, and knowledge discovery for legal professionals worldwide. Additionally, your team will grow and curate the data repository that serves as ground truth for AI development, product, and engineering initiatives.

Requirements

8–10+ years in data engineering or knowledge management; 3-5 years in leadership.
Hands-on experience or strong working knowledge in NLP/text analytics (entity extraction, embeddings, semantic search).
Proficiency with modern data stacks
Exposure to data governance and compliance topics
Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop high-performing teams - building a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
Experience setting vision and strategy for data initiatives while mentoring team members to grow into leadership roles.
Worked on evaluating LLM outputs and task performance, with skills in fashioning and manipulating data.
Understanding of programming languages commonly used for text data, such as Python, and experience with text extraction, classification, or summarization.
Demonstrated success in influencing stakeholders and driving alignment across Product, Engineering, and AI teams.
A self-propelled, proactive leader who thrives in ambiguity and consistently drives initiatives from concept to execution.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with vector databases and RAG architectures (Milvus, Weaviate, Pinecone).
Knowledge of legal taxonomies, ontologies, and knowledge graphs.
Experience in legal tech, DMS, or regulated data environments.
Exposure to DMS platforms (iManage, NetDocuments) or eDiscovery systems.

Responsibilities

Owning the data curation roadmap and data standards adopted across product & R&D.
Building and operating scalable pipelines for ingesting, transforming, and storing unstructured legal content.
Developing entity extraction, embeddings, and semantic search workflows; managing annotation programs for AI training with measurable quality & throughput goals.
Evolving pragmatic taxonomies, schemas, and semantic structures that improve search, retrieval, and AI performance.
Implementing a data acquisition and ground-truth annotation program including quality assurance tooling and documentation.
Embedding governance, lineage, and privacy controls directly into data workflows rather than treating them as separate processes
Leading, developing, and inspiring a high-performing team of 8–10 engineers and specialists; This role combines people leadership with hands-on involvement in early wins, process repair, and system improvements; fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and growth. Driving team development through coaching and career progression.
Partnering with senior stakeholders across Product, Legal, Security, and R&D to shape data strategy and deliver integrated solutions; acting as a self-driven leader who proactively identifies opportunities and drives initiatives from concept to execution.

Benefits

Join a rapidly evolving, industry-leading SaaS company on an exciting journey of growth and scalability!
Take on meaningful, high-impact challenges by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and best-in-class protocols to drive innovation.
Own my career path with our internal development framework. Ask us more about this!
Expand my skill set and earn certifications with unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning courses and interactive Microsoft courses & training.
Be part of a supportive and experienced team within a dynamic, inclusive, and encouraging culture.
Enjoy flexible work hours that empower me to balance personal time with professional commitments.
Collaborate in a modern, open-plan workspace featuring a gaming area, free snacks and drinks, and regular social events.
Creating an inclusive environment where I can help shape the culture not just by fitting in, but by adding to it.
Providing a market competitive salary that is applied through a consistent process, equitable for all our employees, and regularly reviewed based on industry data.
Rewarding me with an annual performance-based bonus.
Offering comprehensive Health/Vision/Dental/Life Insurance, and a 401k Retirement Savings Plan with a company match up to 4%.
Granting enhanced leave for expecting parents; 20 weeks 100% paid for primary leave, and 10 weeks 100% paid for secondary leave.
Providing me with a flexible time off policy to take the time off that I need. Be it for vacation, volunteering, celebrating holidays, spending time with family, or simply taking time to recharge and reset.
Having multiple company wellness days each year to prioritize mental health and well-being.
Providing access to RethinkCare, a global behavioral health platform that enhances personal well-being, strengthens professional resilience, and empowers parental success through expert-led training and resources.