Laura Collins

*** ********** *****, **********, ** 60563

630-***-****

ac2737@r.postjobfree.com

Professional Summary

Accomplished Technical Writer with a demonstrated history of creating, revising, and publishing clear, concise, and accurate documentation. Strong communicator that interacts with clients, business partners, subject matter experts and documentation team specialists. Organized and detail oriented writer with focus on optimizing efficiency while ensuring on time and high-quality product delivery.

Technical Writing Documentation Project Management Quality Assurance Process Improvement

Schedule Management Scope Analysis Problem Solving Business Process Documentation

Installation Instructions Maintenance Procedures Specifications User Guides Online Help

Career History

Coriant Operations Inc. 2013 – September 2017

Senior Manager Technical Publications

This role included working independently as a technical writer and as leader within the documentation project team.

As a Technical Writer:

Performed needs analysis to determine how best to document new features in existing materials or new publications.

Prioritized tasks and assignments to successfully manage multiple documentation publications with competing delivery schedules. Managed 16+ publications per quarter with 100% on time delivery.

Proactively managed risks and used problem solving skills to adapt plan and drive results. Used efficient and effective communications to provide status to key contacts.

Authored new or updated 16+ publications every quarter including Installation Instructions, Maintenance Procedures, Operating Procedures, Application Guides, System Conversion Procedures, Reference Manuals, Technical Specifications, User Manuals, Online Help, and Instructional Job Aids.

Developed content, prepared drafts for review, routed drafts for review, incorporated review edits and finalized production of descriptive, graphical, and procedural content following ISO-certified standards and processes with quality gate deliverables.

Collaborated with engineering development, testing, product development, sales, and customer services across multiple R&D locations to develop accurate content.

Interfaced with clients to develop customer-specific documents and branding changes for OEM projects.

Tested procedures with hands-on access to equipment or in a simulated environment.

Delivered technically and grammatically accurate documents that conform to documentation template and style guide.

Tracked content change requests using database tracking tools. Monitored requests for timely closure within current publication and ensured request is included in related publications.

Updated the internal documentation team project development methodology and document control procedures, including workflow from project kickoff through project completion and continuous improvement activities.

Edited, proofread and provided peer review comments for content authored by others.

Ensured all master data and source files are controlled under the business management system and stored in the publications technical data library.

Developed a strong teamwork environment to increase creativity and productivity within the documentation team.

Developed change requests to initially release or update a released publication. Utilized document control procedures to ensure current versions are maintained and distributed and older versions are available for reference.

As a Documentation Leader:

Oversaw global technical publications team including direct supervision of up to 16 technical documentation specialists in the USA, Portugal, and China.

Project managed large documentation projects from initial development to delivery for 7 top selling product lines. Each product line required 2-4 new development releases per year and minimally 2-6 updates per year. Each documentation set ranged in size from 7 documents (500 pages) to the largest with 185 documents (20,000 pages) per release.

Researched project requirements, tasks required for the project, and estimated task completion times, tracked project schedules, and prioritized tasks and deliverables to best meet customer needs within the project timelines.

Conducted in person and web conference project team meetings to review status to plan, ensure tasks and action items were being worked, perform risk analysis, and begin risk mitigation if necessary.

Proactively managed issues and used problem solving skills to adjusted resources for optimum efficiency in response to changes in project schedules, scope or resource availability.

Responded to all internal team and end user publication requests. Interacted with all job levels and organizations within the company and end users including operational executives from Verizon, AT&T, and CenturyLink.

Reduced product delivery expenses by 30% year-over-year reaching goal of 95% in 2017 through reducing paper and CD production, enhancing electronic content delivery, and streamlining delivery processes.

Decreased review evidence preparation time by 40% by implementing online sharing, collaboration, and commenting tools during informal and formal content reviews.

Tellabs Operations Inc. 2002 – 2013

Technical Documentation Manager

This role included working independently as a technical writer and as leader within the documentation project team.

As a Technical Writer:

Incorporated new features, customer requests, and last-minute updates into existing documents for multiple product lines within tight deadlines. Managed 12+ publications per quarter with 100% on time delivery.

Conducted formal and informal reviews of content with technical experts and verified procedures to verify usability and accuracy.

Authored new or updated 12+ publications per quarter including Release Notes, Data Sheets, Application Guides, Installation Manuals, Upgrade Procedures, Troubleshooting Manuals, User Guides, Online Help, and Quick Reference.

Wrote and tested instructions for converting documents from unstructured document format to DITA-based XML format including metadata rules for storing content in XML repository. Prepared and delivered status presentations to executives and training presentations to documentation specialists.

Trained and mentored team members on technical documentation processes, tools, and templates.

As a Documentation Leader:

Project managed documentation projects for 9 top selling product lines. Each product line required 2-4 new development releases per year and minimally 2-6 updates per year.

Coordinated documentation projects from inception through development, test, customer acceptance, and project closure following quality life cycle (SDLC) methodology.

Attended cross-functional product team meetings to provide technical publications project status per defined quality milestones/gates.

Key contact for technical documentation-related business operations including reviewing RFPs, representing technical documentation in all corporate business transformation activities, testing IT application upgrades, and corporate marketing and branding discussions.

Drove the corporate decision to move to an XML-based development tool and content management system for optimum reuse content. Managed this project from vendor quote to implementation, converting over 160 documents. The project resulted in 50% content reuse in one document delivery type.

Increased content development time by 30% while holding delivery deadline to align with Agile/SCRUM engineering and project environments.

Tellabs Operations Inc 1997 – 2002

Senior Technical Writer

Authored new and updated 7+ end user documents per quarter with 100% on time delivery for 2 top selling product lines including System Overviews, Technical Descriptions, Upgrade Procedures, Troubleshooting, Product Catalogs, and Quick Reference Job Aids.

Quickly learned complex technologies and tools in order to accurately document applications and procedures.

Researched and analyzed complex technical specifications and engineering design documents to determine new hardware and software features.

Validated procedures with hands-on access to software or with subject matter expert in engineering lab.

Collaborated closely with subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and usability of content.

Performed informal and formal reviews on new content, maintaining review comments and multiple draft revisions prior to final production of released content.

Assisted other writers to ensure all documents met critical release deadlines.

Responsible for publishing and maintaining documents in the technical documentation intranet site and customer Portal.

Technical Skills

Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Power Point, Excel, Project, Visio), Adobe Technical Communication Suite (FrameMaker, Robohelp, Acrobat, Illustrator), SnagIt, PTC Arbortext, PTC Windchill, XML, DITA, HTML, SAP, Agile, JIRA, ClearQuest, Salesforce, and EMC Documentum.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Technical Communications Eastern Michigan University

Certificate in Project Management DePaul University Management Development Center and Continuing and Professional Education

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