Sr Technical Writer

Overview

An advanced position for technical writers with excellent proven writing abilities. A Senior Technical writer produces user-friendly documentation to support Altera products. The documentation is directed at healthcare providers, patients, administrators, and practice staff.

A Senior Technical Writer has the ability to lead teams and manage projects. A Senior Technical Writer has all the skills of a Technical Writer and the ability to take on additional project management or Technical Publications technical projects. A Senior Technical Writer has the proven ability to take on more complex documentation issues and task assignments and to participate in team lead and project team lead decisions.

This person has superior editing and documentation style skills. A Senior Technical Writer works diplomatically and effectively with subject matter experts and various functional teams. This person works under the general direction of the Development Manager and may oversee other writers.

This is a remote role in the US.

Candidate may be asked to provide writing samples and perform a sample edit.

Responsibilities

• Fully understands the product delivery life cycle and monitors documentation progress within it.
• Plans, writes, and performs other development tasks for complex documentation deliverables and projects with the highest possible quality.
• Develops a wide range of guides for end users and administrators, including but not limited to feature guides, configuration guides, integration guides, interface documentation, and release notes. Applies all required standards and styles to documentation including copyrights and trademarks.
• Develops and documents application process workflows for assigned features.
• Has an intricate understanding of the features of the product(s). Understands the overall features of the product and has advanced comprehension of the application(s) to which they are assigned including the relationship to other applications.
• Uses the issue tracking system as required to organize and record documentation tasks. Monitors defect tracking for documentation defects; responds promptly to correct or reassign issues and report the outcome.
• Gathers information through various avenues such as research, interviewing, application testing, training, and product team meetings to develop accurate and complete product documentation. Facilitates documentation walkthrough meetings with solution leaders, product owners, implementation consultants, and scrum team members to gain a thorough understanding of the documentation needs.
• Participates in and/or facilitates Technical Publication team committees and task forces.
• Mentors and trains less experienced writers in technical communication skills.
• Follows best practices for documentation user experience and quality assurance and finds ways to incorporate those practices throughout the department.
• Prepares special reports and knowledge shares.
• Shows leadership skills by working as a Team Lead, project lead, or a recognized resource in a technical documentation capacity.
• Keeps the release coordinator informed of progress or is a release coordinator and manages projects to completion.

Qualifications

Academic and Professional Qualifications:

• BA/BS or MA/MS degree preferably in one of the following disciplines: Technical Communication, English, Journalism, Instructional Design, or equivalent experience.
• Technical Communication certification offered by an educational institution.
• Evidence of continuing education courses in current and advanced technical communication areas, software language, and competitive healthcare software data.

Experience:

• Six to ten years of full-time technical writing in a software development environment preferably in Healthcare, Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Biotechnology or Medical Industry.
• Understanding of US healthcare vocabulary and associated healthcare regulations, such as HIPAA, HHS, CMS, FDA, Medicare, Medicaid, state regulated bodies, etc, is preferred. Familiarity with US healthcare is required.

• Experience with enterprise-level content management systems such as Ixiasoft Classic CMS/DRM and version control. In addition, the successful candidate will possess a passion for exploring and utilizing new and innovative toolsets, research, and technologies to enhance their work and stay ahead of industry trends.

• Structured authoring tools such oXygen with knowledge of markup languages (XML with DITA standard strongly preferred).
• Create relevant, useful, comprehensive, and accurate documentation for the end user. Achieve relevant knowledge of documentation tools, and style guides. Use objectivity, conciseness and clarity for delivery and targeted audience.
• Functional and technical understanding of assigned line of products. Knowledge of products’ benefits to customers.
• Seeks input and involvement from others to ensure all views are inputted, captured, objections handled, and an agreeable outcome planned.
• Excellent organizational, decision-making, and time management skills.
• Ability to proactively identify potential issues/risks, consider solutions, and raise risks in a timely manner. 
• Effectively presents information in a manner that is clear, fluent, and to the point; demonstrates ability to adapt communication to different audiences and engage the audience.
• Uses systematic approaches for evaluating current Technical Publication processes and developing and implementing integrated solutions that benefit the team, Altera, or our clients.

Travel Requirements:

• Occasional travel might be required

Working Arrangements:

• Work is performed in a remote environment with minimal exposure to health or safety hazards.