Senior Technical Writer

Senior Technical Writer / Editor

User-oriented and objective-driven senior technical communication strategist seeks to support the innovative spirit of a progressive company by developing and curating procedural and strategic documentation critical to user success.

Profile Summary

Experienced communication strategist passionate about translating complex technical information into user-friendly assets. Energetic project and team leader. Enthusiastic collaborator with cross-functional teams. Driven self-starter who thrives in fast-paced and agile environments. Fearless learner of new technologies. Certified copyeditor with excellent attention to detail.

Education

MA, Linguistics: Discourse analysis (cum laude), University of Stellenbosch, 2011

BA, English: Literature (summa cum laude), California State University Bakersfield, 2008

Skills & Technology

Technical writing and editing • Project and team management • Knowledge architecture • Software and usability testing • Documentation control • Search engine optimization (SEO) • Web analytics • Data collection and analysis • Research • Desktop publishing • Image and graphic optimization • Microsoft Office • JIRA • Confluence • ShareCenter • MindTouch • Salesforce • Jama • Adobe Creative suite • Windows • Mac • HTML (basic) • CSS (basic) • German (fluent) • Security clearance

Professional Experience

Documentation Architect (08/2015–03/2017)

MindTouch, San Diego, CA

•Affected a 30% increase in new visitors to an online support site by planning and executing an information architecture restructure and by reworking content for usability and online visibility.

•Ensured successful user adoption by developing and managing all documentation processes for new product features in collaboration with Product, Engineering, Support, and Success teams.

•Contributed to over 70% of all user documentation by writing and editing web content such as blogs, best practices, and technical documentation.

Improved content usability by translating complex technical manuals and procedures into user-friendly content for a variety of audiences

•Collected, analyzed, and addressed user feedback to decrease help desk tickets by 5%.

•Consulted on feature usability improvements with Engineering and Product teams.

•Collaborated with the Product team on developing a new major feature (MindTouch Paths).

Technical Writer and Editor (04/2012–08/2015)

Northrop Grumman, San Diego, CA

•Managed end-to-end documentation process, including configuration, version, and change request control.

•Met industry and government standards of technical documentation 100% of the time by meticulously following editorial and formatting guidelines.

•Increased collaboration and productivity by transitioning over 300 deliverables to a new content management system without loss of access or productivity.

•Transitioned over 100 test cases from a legacy system into a new requirements management system.

Enhanced software inventory and tracking by independently creating and maintain a software library database.

•Collaborated with client subject matter experts and participated in usability evaluations to improve user documentation and training materials.

Supported program proposal efforts as requested.

Family Readiness Group Coordinator (full-time volunteer) (10/2009–11/2011)

B Company, 250th MI Battalion, National Guard

•Established, developed and managed the Family Readiness Group, a DoD-mandated program, to support families of National Guard members.

•Recruited volunteers, planned events, spoke at functions, and managed budgets.

•Conducted surveys and briefed command on suggestions for program improvement.

•Designed, produced, and published the Family Readiness Group quarterly newsletter.

Technical Editor (09/2008–06/2010)

ITT TSS (for Apollo Professional Solutions)

•Principal editor and team leader to four documentation specialists supporting a critical air defense program.

•Edited complex technical hardware and software manuals, procedures, and specifications.

•Affected closer collaboration with engineers by restructured the editing process, including transitioning the editing process from an on-paper process to an electronic process.

Prior Positions Held

•Literary Editor

•Documentation Specialist

•Securities Compliance Specialist

•Newspaper Production Assistant

•Print Production Manager

•Provisioning Department Manager

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