Knowledge Management Director

Client Services Santa Barbara, California

AppFolio is more than a company. We’re a community of dreamers, big thinkers, problem solvers, active listeners, and multipliers. At every opportunity, we set the pace while delivering innovation built to carry real estate into the future. One in which every experience feels effortless, yet meaningful. Where customers are empowered to take on any opportunity. We show up as one team, connected by our values to be a force for good. Because together, we have the power to create extraordinary outcomes for our customers, our communities, and ourselves.
The Knowledge Management Director will lead and mature the Knowledge Management (KM) practice within the Revenue organization (Sales, Onboarding, Support, and Customer Success), reporting into Customer Experience & Care (CxC).
This leader will focus on strengthening how knowledge is created, governed, maintained, and activated across the Revenue customer lifecycle from enablement and onboarding through support and growth. This role establishes standards, governance frameworks, and operating rhythms to ensure Revenue-facing knowledge is consistent, trusted, reusable, and AI-ready. The Director will work in close partnership with Marketing, Product, and IT to align on shared standards and reduce duplication, while functional teams retain ownership of their content domains and systems.
The goal of this role is to:
  • Improve frontline effectiveness and time-to-proficiency
  • Increase knowledge reuse across Revenue teams
  • Reduce duplication and fragmentation of Revenue-facing content
  • Strengthen the integrity and discoverability of knowledge assets
  • Enable AI and self-service initiatives with high-quality knowledge inputs

Your impact
 
  • Lead Revenue KM Strategy & Program Execution: Define and execute a multi-year KM strategy, embedding Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) practices, and improving knowledge quality and discoverability within Revenue systems.

  • Establish Governance & Operating Model: Establish a robust governance and operating model by defining ownership, creating shared standards (metadata, taxonomy), and implementing measurement frameworks to address knowledge gaps.

  • Partner Cross-Functionally to Align Standards: Partner with Marketing, Product, and IT to align on documentation standards, support "author once, reuse" workflows, and represent Revenue requirements in enterprise initiatives.

  • Improve Knowledge Activation Across the Revenue Lifecycle: Strengthen knowledge flow across the entire Revenue lifecycle (from Enablement to Digital Success) and ensure knowledge is structured to support AI, self-service, onboarding acceleration, and customer adoption.

  • Measure and Demonstrate Impact: Measure and demonstrate impact by establishing KPIs focused on time-to-proficiency, knowledge reuse and contribution rates, search effectiveness, and the impact of quality on support efficiency and adoption.

  • Partner with IT and system owners to: Partner with IT to evaluate and improve Revenue knowledge tooling and search experiences, define requirements for KM platforms, and ensure systems support scalability and AI readiness. This role does not own enterprise IT systems but ensures that Revenue needs are clearly defined and prioritized.

 

Qualifications 
  • Strategic and innovative thinker with the ability to connect knowledge to business outcomes.
  • Proactive self-starter with ability to manage short- and long-term priorities.
  • Strong relationship builder and facilitator across teams.
  • Skilled communicator with the ability to create compelling presentations and executive-ready communications.
  • Results-oriented, data-driven, and comfortable with executive-level visibility.

Must have
  • 7–10+ years of experience specifically within Knowledge Management, Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS), or Information Strategy, with a proven track record of building internal-facing knowledge ecosystems.
  • Advanced technical proficiency in internal discovery and KM platforms (e.g., Glean, Guru, or internal Salesforce Knowledge implementations) and experience leveraging AI/LLMs to enhance internal search and productivity.
  • Knowledge Management certifications highly preferred (e.g., KCS, KMI, APQC, or similar).
  • Deep expertise in Information Architecture, taxonomy development, and content lifecycle management within an enterprise SaaS environment.
  • Proven Change Management skills, with the ability to influence executive stakeholders and embed new documentation behaviors into the daily workflows of disparate teams.
  • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.

 

Location
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Compensation & Benefits
The compensation that we reasonably expect to pay for this role is: $138,400.00 - $173,000.00 [base pay]. The actual compensation for this role will be determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s skills, education, experience, and internal equity.

Please note that compensation is just one aspect of a comprehensive Total Rewards package. The compensation range listed here does not include additional benefits or any discretionary bonuses you may be eligible for based on your role and/or employment type.

Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits - see here.