Most documentation today is passive: everyone sees the same documentation, and it could just as effectively be printed in an O’Reilly book and distributed that way.

We know so much about both the documentation and the user; we should be able to do better. “Reactive documentation” morphs and changes based on who the user is, and what their most recent actions were.

In addition to exploring strategies for reactive documentation, we’ll also explore ReadMe.io, and how it can help you with documenting APIs.

About the presenter

Gregory Koberger is the founder of ReadMe.io, which provides collaborative developer hubs for companies or projects. He has previously worked at Mozilla, Greylock, and numerous startups. You can learn more about Greg at gkoberger.net.

Meeting details

Date: January 12, 2015
Networking/social time: 6:00-7:00pm
Presentation time: 7:00-8:00pm+
Location: IHOP Restaurant, 4200 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Cost: Free

Note: You don’t have to be an official STC member to attend the meetings.

Slides and recording

Here are the slides and recording from the event.

Length: 76 min.

Download MP3 (right-click and select Save As)

For a summary of the presentation, see this post on reactive docs on Tom Johnson’s blog.

Workshop: API Technical Writing

Date:	Friday, January 23rd, 2015
Time:	9am to 4pm
Location:	Room “Araujo Tech Talk”, level 1, 1295 Charleston Rd, Mountain View, CA 94043 (Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/yW1hu). See the Parking Details section below.
Cost:	None. The course is given free of charge, sponsored by Google and the STC Silicon Valley Chapter.
Instructor:	Sarah Maddox
Registration:

Workshop Description

This is a practical course on API technical writing, consisting of lectures interspersed with hands-­on sessions where participants will apply what they have learned. The focus will be on APIs themselves as well as on documentation, since technical writers need to be able to understand and use a product before they can document it.

The course will include the following sessions:

• Lecture: Introduction to APIs, including a demo of some REST and JavaScript APIs.
• Hands-­on: Play with a REST API and a JavaScript API.
  Lecture: JavaScript essentials.
• Hands­-on: Use JavaScript to exercise the sample JavaScript API in a more in­depth manner.
  Lecture: The components of API documentation.
• Hands­-on: Generate reference documentation using Javadoc.
  Lecture: Beyond Javadoc ­ other doc generation tools.

Catering

We will provide lunch, and morning and afternoon refreshments. Please inform us of any dietary restrictions you may have.

What to bring

Bring your own laptop with a WiFi connection and power cable. Please install the following software before the workshop.

Install the Java JDK

You’ll need a current version of the Java SE JDK –­ the latest version of Java SE 7 is fine. (At time of writing, this is 7u71/72.) Make sure you have the JDK (development kit), not just the JRE (runtime environment).

To check whether you have Java, run the following in a command window:

• On Mac OS X, run:

  /usr/libexec/java_home

  You should see something like this, assuming your JDK is version 7 (also known as 1.7):

  /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_67.jdk/Contents/Home

• On Windows, run:

  echo %JAVA_HOME%

  You should see a directory path that includes the letters ‘JDK’, something like this:

  C:\Program Files\Java\JDK7

If you don’t have the JDK, download and install it. Useful guides:

A JDK installation guide on dummies.com.

The Atlassian Confluence guide to installing Java is applicable for general JDK installation too.

Oracle’s JDK installation instructions: Windows and Mac.

Install a text editor of your choice

If you don’t have a preference, try Komodo Edit. (Komodo Edit is a free, open source edition of the full Komodo IDE.)

Install Eclipse

It will be handy to have Eclipse, a free and open source IDE (integrated development environment). The “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers” is a good one to have.

Install Chrome

Chrome browser has some useful development tools. A different browser is fine too, if you’re comfortable with its web development tools.

Prerequisites

This course assumes that you have some experience as a technical writer in the software industry, and are interested in moving into API documentation. You’ll need a working knowledge of web pages and HTML, and an acquaintance with CSS. It will be useful if you have a basic understanding of programming. Recommended reading before the course:

For overviews of API technical writing: The September 2014 edition of the STC’s intercom magazine.

For a quick introduction to JavaScript: The JavaScript Tutorial from w3schools.com.

Parking Details

Here are some details about parking near 1295 Charleston Rd, Mountain View (Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/yW1hu):

• There are several parking lots next to building 1295. You can park in any unmarked spot. Avoid spots that are marked for expectant mothers or other special requirements.
• If parking immediately near building 1295 is full, you can park in the lots near building SB50 (1350 Shorebird Way). See the image below.
• You can also make use of the valet parking between 1245 & 1225 Charleston Rd.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the workshop, contact Sarah Maddox (the instructor) at sarahmaddox@google.com.

About the instructor

Sarah Maddox is a technical writer in Google’s Developer Platforms team, writing the documentation for the Google Maps APIs and the Android Location APIs. She’s also worked at Atlassian and many other organisations around the world. With fifteen years’ experience as a technical writer and ten as a software developer, Sarah specialises in making words and code play nicely together. She also has a strong belief that chocolate solves many a tech comm problem.

Blog: ffeathers.wordpress.com
Twitter: @sarahmaddox
Google+: +sarahmaddox

Workshop Registration

Note that the workshop capacity is 110 people. Registration is first-come, first-served. Once we reach capacity, registration will be closed and a wait list will be enabled. If you register and wish to cancel later, log into EventBrite and cancel your order.

For questions, contact progmgr@stc-siliconvalley.org.

Organization: Embedded Resource Group
Contact Name: Kim Anderson
Address: 2105 S. Bascom Ave, Campbell CA
Phone Number: 408-260-2600 ext. 24
Email Address: kanderson@erginc.com
Web Site: www.erginc.com
Job Title: Technical Writer
Job Duration: Direct Hire
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Description:

As a Technical Writer, you will have the ability to take complex information and communicate it clearly and concisely. This is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of next-gen mobile engagement. Ideal candidates will have a passion for big data and analytics, and can read/write sample code.

Responsibilities:

• Write technical documentation for our external developer audience, such as API reference docs and developer guides
• Design and organize documentation sets for new APIs and developer products
• Edit, clarify, and proofread documents written by others and coach non-writers on ways to improve their writing skills
• Manage complex documentation projects
• Supplement developer documentation with relevant sample code

Qualifications:

• BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience
• Experience with: technical writing, product documentation, or online publishing, including experience with writing technical, customer-facing materials
• Experience reading and writing JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

Desired:

• Experience researching and writing documentation for developers (APIs, SDKs, web technologies)
• Knowledge of mobile application documentation or SaaS applications
• Proficiency in a UNIX environment and Github (or similar) version control tools

Organization: Yahoo! Inc.
Contact Name: Randall Luo
Address: 701 First Ave, Sunnyvale CA
Phone Number: 747-201-1190
Email Address: luor@yahoo-inc.com
Web Site: www.yahoo.com
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: Full time
Description:

Yahoo’s Advertising Products team is responsible for the technology platforms and products that power all aspects of digital advertising on Yahoo and partner sites. From planning advertising campaigns to serving advertising opportunities, we build and deploy cutting-edge solutions to optimize display advertising on Yahoo’s core platforms.

A Little About Us

Our technical writing team prides itself on upholding the quality bar for accurate and user centric content. We play a role in evolving how agile teams work with tech writers and continuously learn and improve how to scale quality and engaging content across a wide range of revenue generating products.

A Lot About You

As a Senior Technical Writer, you are a well-rounded communicator with deep experience in–and a passion for–writing for a diverse portfolio of enterprise products. Working in the Chief of Staff’s office for the SVP of Yahoo’s Ad Products, you will partner closely with with multiple product and engineering teams in an Agile development environment.

We will leverage your considerable knowledge of existing processes and tools to document and publish content, and drive process improvement at both the technical and organizational level. Your ability to gather, analyze, and interpret complex concepts and translate this into a concise, audience-focused writing style will position you for success in this demanding and exciting role.

Your Day

• Drive and influence the process, tools, and content through continuous engagement with product management, engineering, product marketing, operations, and other key functional teams
• Author, deliver, and improve user and developer content, ranging from online help articles to SDK, API documentation delivered through our online product help centers (https://help.yahoo.com/kb/helpcentral) and the Yahoo Developer Network (https://developer.yahoo.com/)
• Continue to learn and deepen your product, user, and industry knowledge of online advertising

You Must Have

• 8+ years as a technical writer for large scale enterprise products (advertising platforms preferred)
• Ability to gather, analyze, and interpret complex technical concepts with Engineering/Product teams in an Agile environment
• Strong understanding of document structuring, content communications, and presentation techniques (ex: diagrams, images, wireframes)
• Concise writing style that is multi audience-focused
• Experience with a content management system (CMS)
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, English, Technical Communications, or a related field

Click this link to apply online:
https://tas-yahoo.taleo.net/careersection/yahoo_global_cs/jobdetail.ftl?job=1542874&lang=en&ylng=en&yloc=us

Organization: Dolby
Contact Name: Katrena Meyer
Address: 100 Potrero, San Francisco CA
Phone Number: 415-357-7176
Email Address: lelli@dolby.com
Web Site: www.dolby.com
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: Full time position
Description:
Join the leader in entertainment innovation and help us design the future. At Dolby, science meets art, and high tech means more than computer code. As a member of the Dolby team, you’ll see and hear the results of your work everywhere, from movie theaters to smartphones. We continue to revolutionize how people create, deliver, and enjoy entertainment worldwide. To do that, we need the absolute best talent. We’re big enough to give you all the resources you need, and small enough so you can make a real difference and earn recognition for your work. We offer a collegial culture, challenging projects, and excellent compensation and benefits.

Overview
A Senior Technical Writer’s job functions include independent ownership of content creation for several, large, and/or complex projects.

Works with subject matter experts in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Beijing, Sydney, and other Dolby offices worldwide to develop and coordinate approval of task-based information that is structured to maximize reusability. Creates, revises, edits, and designs technical instructions, illustrations, and test documentation. Final deliverable formats include HTML, PDF, online help systems, XML consumed by automated systems, and fill-in forms. Serves as an interdepartmental point person on these activities.

This position is based in our San Francisco office.

Responsibilities:

• Writes and illustrates English-language technical documentation for distribution to Dolby licensees, partners, and end-user customers in collaboration with product development teams.
• Conducts up-front analysis, develops formal use cases, and develops task-based documentation.
• Influences the product development process to facilitate upstream content development and content quality.
• Develops documentation plans and manages related tasks in project management scheduling software.
• Establishes understanding and consistent use of processes, tools, inputs, and outputs among all contributors.
• Coordinates reviews, implements comments, facilitates discussion among stakeholders to resolve discrepancies, and secures approval of final documents.
• Conforms to and helps improve and extend standards and processes for content structure, stylistic conventions for writing and illustrating, publishing methodologies, and related tools and infrastructure.
• Communicates effectively in oral and written exchanges among internal and external clients, colleagues, and managers.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Five years global English-language technical writing experience.
• Experience using minimalist writing and structured authoring principles to maximize searchability, filtering, and content reusability across delivery types, products, and versions.
• Experience designing and writing content using XML, DITA, and content management systems. Further skills in information architecture, XSLT, XSL-FO, OT, HTML, and CSS are desirable.
• Experience in software/hardware user interface development environment.
• Experience in development environments using C, C++, object-oriented programming, scripting languages, integrated development environments, software source control, APIs.
• Experience in localization and internationalization of technical communications and software/hardware UIs.
• Coursework and/or professional experience with audio/video codecs and production, hardware, software, broadcast, streaming media technologies.
• Experience with OxygenXML; Adobe FrameMaker, Acrobat, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign; Microsoft Visio; Doxygen, Javadoc, project management software, and Perforce.

Dolby will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of San Francisco Police Code, Article 49, and Administrative Code, Article 12

Most documentation today is passive: everyone sees the same documentation, and it could just as effectively be printed in an O’Reilly book and distributed that way.

We know so much about both the documentation and the user; we should be able to do better. “Reactive documentation” morphs and changes based on who the user is, and what their most recent actions were.

In addition to exploring strategies for reactive documentation, we’ll also explore ReadMe.io, and how it can help you with documenting APIs.

About the presenter

Gregory Koberger is the founder of ReadMe.io, which provides collaborative developer hubs for companies or projects. He has previously worked at Mozilla, Greylock, and numerous startups. You can learn more about Greg at gkoberger.net.

Meeting details

Date: January 12, 2015
Networking/social time: 6:00-7:00pm
Presentation time: 7:00-8:00pm+
Location: IHOP Restaurant, 4200 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Cost: Free

Note: You don’t have to be an official STC member to attend the meetings.

Slides and recording

Here are the slides and recording from the event.

Length: 76 min.

Download MP3 (right-click and select Save As)

For a summary of the presentation, see this post on reactive docs on Tom Johnson’s blog.

Organization: Zuora
Contact Name: Julie Raizes
Address: 1051 E Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City CA
Phone Number: 650-241-4508
Email Address: julie.raizes@zuora.com
Web Site: www.zuora.com/about/careers/
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: Full Time
Description:

We’re Zuora. We’re changing the way people do business. And we’d like you to join us. We believe that to build a stellar product you need a stellar team. Zuora is chock-full of game changers, innovators, and leaders who want to be part of the next wave of successful tech companies.

Zuora is seeking a senior technical writer with great writing skills and a curiosity for figuring out how things work. Must be interested in testing software, getting inside the head of a typical user, and turning complex ideas into basic, easy-to-follow instructions and conceptual articles.

Responsibilities

• Write new product documentation and update existing ones.
• Work with SMEs to gather typical use cases.
• Test draft procedures using the Zuora Application.
• Conduct documentation reviews.
• Finalize/prepare the set of deliverable/articles for publication.
• Create a doc plan with a timeline that identifies deliverables and content types, such as workflow overviews, how to articles, conceptual information.
• Learn the Zuora application and how customers use our product.

Minimum Requirements

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience as technical writer or similar job experience, such as journalist, business analyst, or editor
• Curiosity for how things work and empathy for the user experience
• Interest in business operations, such as billing, pricing strategies, and basic accounting
• Familiar with web-based editing tools or wikis, such as Mindtouch, Confluence, WordPress
• Good organizational and time management skills
• Ability to work independently

Bonus

• Interest in learning or experience with reading and writing basic code samples with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, XML, and SQL queries
• Interest to producing videos using editing tools, such as Camtasia

Organization: Omnicell Inc.
Contact Name: Caleb Spaulding
Address: 590 E. Middlefield Road, Mountain View CA
Phone Number: 615-238-9179
Email Address: caleb.spaulding@omnicell.com
Web Site: http://chc.tbe.taleo.net/chc03/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=OMNICELL&cws=1&rid=6556
Job Title: Senior Information Developer
Job Duration: Permanent
Description:
The role of Senior Information Developer (Sr. ID) requires a passionate commitment to user experience, coupled with the ability to deliver quality product, on time.

The Information Development department mission is to provide the ultimate information experience for everyone who interacts with Omnicell products. The ID works with the product development team, SMEs, and ID leadership to obtain, analyze, and incorporate user feedback, as a routine standard of practice.

The ID employs effective methodologies for project management such as: performing task analyses; identifying and communicating project requirements; creating and maintaining effective project plans; collaborating with ID team members on potential reuse and timing.

Along with product expertise, the ID seeks to gain a thorough understanding of his/her audience groups as relates to their interaction with Omnicell products. This ultimately translates into intuitive, “right-sized”, content that best meets user needs. As an SME of his/her own content and product, the Sr. ID supports direct customer and employee information requests as a top priority.

Finally, this ID serves as a collaborative, cooperative member of the Information Development team. This team, together, ensures continual forward momentum toward our department mission.

Essential Functions:

• Author and revise product content for multiple audiences, applying DITA methodologies. May include both hardware and software tasks.
• Participate actively in all scrum activities, and manage TFS entries for assigned tasks; speak up and ensure that ID tasks are appropriately reflected in sprint planning.
• Serve as content UX ID for the scrum team; participate in on-screen content authoring and/or editing; champion and own on-product help.
• Conduct thorough task analyses, and create document plans. Work cooperatively with other IDs to coordinate tasks for shared projects.
• Champion the customer’s information experience.
  • This includes internal technical and external user/technical audiences.
  • Set an example of willingness—to hear tough feedback and address it in a prescriptive, logical way that furthers the department mission.
  • Use sound judgment, and SME sounding boards, to balance handling of individual requests (reactive) with overall ROI (proactive).
• Respond promptly to customer and employee information requests; follow ID team guidelines and policies for good customer service.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to validate plans (schedule, deliverables) and address needs. Track progress and report regularly to management and team.
• Provide peer reviews of draft content for other IDs as scheduled. Help ensure quality standards (relevancy, accuracy, etc.) and customer experience goals are met for each audience type.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

Base Requirements

• Proven written and verbal communication skills.
• 5+ years in information development, technical writing or related discipline.
• Experience with structured authoring methodologies—preferably DITA.
• Experience in an Agile development environment.
• Familiarity with common publication tools such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, FrameMaker, and Photoshop.
• Demonstrable eye for detail and general elements of design. This translates into the ability to employ Omnicell publication standards.
• Strong organizational and time management skills; ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.

Highly Desirable

• Oxygen XML authoring, or similar tool.
• Familiarity with online and on-product content solutions.
• Good Microsoft Office skills, particularly with Excel and Word.
• Healthcare industry experience a plus.

Education – Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree OR
• AS and Technical Writing Certificate with relevant work experience

Work Conditions: Office Environment with minimal travel required.

Omnicell is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer: Males/Females/Disabled/VET/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.

Organization: Omnicell Inc.
Contact Name: Caleb Spaulding
Address: 590 E. Middlefield Road, Mountain View CA
Phone Number: 615-238-9179
Email Address: caleb.spaulding@omnicell.com
Web Site: http://chc.tbe.taleo.net/chc03/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=OMNICELL&cws=1&rid=6559
Job Title: Principal Information Developer
Job Duration: Permanent
Description:
The role of Principal Information Developer (PID) requires a passionate commitment to user experience, coupled with the ability to deliver quality product, on time.

The Information Development department mission is to provide the ultimate information experience for everyone who interacts with Omnicell products. The PID works with the product development team, SMEs, and ID leadership to obtain, analyze, and incorporate user feedback, as a routine standard of practice.

The PID employs effective methodologies for project management such as: performing task analyses; identifying and communicating project requirements; creating and maintaining effective project plans; collaborating with ID team members on potential reuse and timing.

Along with product expertise, the PID seeks to gain a thorough understanding of his/her audience groups as relates to their interaction with Omnicell products. This ultimately translates into intuitive, “right-sized”, content that best meets user needs. As an SME of his/her own content and product, the PID supports direct customer and employee information requests as a top priority.

Finally, this PID serves as a collaborative, cooperative member of the Information Development team. This team, together, ensures continual forward momentum toward our department mission.

Essential Functions:

• Author and revise product content for multiple audiences, applying DITA methodologies. May include both hardware and software tasks.
• Participate actively in all scrum activities, and manage TFS entries for assigned tasks; speak up and ensure that ID tasks are appropriately reflected in sprint planning.
• Serve as content UX ID for the scrum team; participate in on-screen content authoring and/or editing; champion and own on-product help.
• Conduct thorough task analyses, and create document plans. Work cooperatively with other IDs to coordinate tasks for shared projects.
• Champion the customer’s information experience.
  • This includes internal technical and external user/technical audiences.
  • Set an example of willingness—to hear tough feedback and address it in a prescriptive, logical way that furthers the department mission.
  • Use sound judgment, and SME sounding boards, to balance handling of individual requests (reactive) with overall ROI (proactive).
• Respond promptly to customer and employee information requests; follow ID team guidelines and policies for good customer service.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to validate plans (schedule, deliverables) and address needs. Track progress and report regularly to management and team.
• Provide peer reviews of draft content for other IDs as scheduled. Help ensure quality standards (relevancy, accuracy, etc.) and customer experience goals are met for each audience type
• Lead/Coordinate/Manage assignments for new product development deliverables and sustaining requirements.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• Proven written and verbal communication skills.
• 5+ years in information development, technical writing or related discipline.
• Experience with structured authoring methodologies—preferably DITA.
• Experience in an Agile development environment.
• Familiarity with common publication tools such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, FrameMaker, and Photoshop.
• Demonstrable eye for detail and general elements of design. This translates into the ability to employ Omnicell publication standards.
• Strong organizational and time management skills; ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.

Highly Desirable:

• Oxygen XML authoring, or similar tool.
• Familiarity with online and on-product content solutions.
• Good Microsoft Office skills, particularly with Excel and Word.
• Healthcare industry experiences a plus.

Education – Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree OR
• AS and Technical Writing Certificate with relevant work experience

Work Conditions: Office environment with minimal travel required.

Omnicell is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer: Males/Females/Disabled/VET/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

On June 15, 2015, Andrew Davis spoke about working remotely.

Organization: Sigma Technology
Contact Name: Emma Chavez
Address: 2635 N 1st Street Suite 200, San Jose CA
Phone Number: 669-253-9932
Email Address: emma.chavez@sigmatechnology.se
Web Site: http://sigmatechnology.se
Job Title: Technical Writer
Job Duration: Full time
Description:

Come join Sigma Technology’s team, a fast growing business in Silicon Valley, as a Technical Writer! We want enthusiastic candidates who enjoy the challenge of describing complex technical structures in a clear and concise way, with the ability to challenge content and structure of technical information for improved readability and understanding. Do you have a feel for language style and information flow? If developing technical information for cutting-edge Datacom products appeals to you, we want to hear from you.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Independently drive and development of Technically advanced Business to Business information aimed at Telecom Operator engineers and technical staff to Install, configure, upgrade, migrate, fault-trace Telecom and Datacom equipment, Telecom and Datacom systems, Telecom and Datacom Networks.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Technical background: MSc, BSc, or similar
• Excellent English skills, both written and spoken
• Experience in technical writing, technical information area, or similar

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

• Good ability in multi-tasking and independent problem solving
• Analytical, thorough, communicative, and result-oriented
• University degree in computer science, electrical engineering, technical information and documentation, or similar
• Work, study, or personal experience in the datacom sector

CONTACT

Input your competence and experience details at http://profiler.sigmatechnology.se and we will contact you if your profile matches our needs.
For questions and more information, send an e-mail to usa@sigmatechnology.se.

Organization: Ascent Services Group
Contact Name: Ann Canning
Address: 3000 Oak Road Suite 200, Walnut Creek CA
Phone Number: 925-627-4959
Email Address: acanning@ascentsg.com
Web Site: www.ascentsg.com
Job Title: Technical Writer
Job Duration: 6 months
Description:
Our client located in San Ramon is seeking a Technical Writer for about 6 months. This role involved revamping vendor manuals in accordance with clients needs. Must be technical and experience with Identity and Access Management is a plus.

Organization: Kenandy Inc
Contact Name: Stewart Florsheim
Address: 303 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 500, Redwood City CA
Phone Number: 650-468-2000
Email Address: stewart@kenandy.com
Web Site: www.kenandy.com
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: Staff
Description:
Do you want to produce technical content such as online Help, implementation guides, and system administrator materials that take advantage of the latest media and strategies?

Kenandy is a growth company that creates cloud-based ERP software for enterprise companies that design, manufacture, and distribute products. The product is developed on the Salesforce1 Platform.

We’re looking for a versatile Senior Technical Writer who can help us initiate and develop:

• Business user materials (including online Help, user guides, videos, and self-paced training)
• Internal and external-facing documentation (including System Administrator, implementation, and best practices guides)
• Community “conversations” and blogs

Most of the content will be managed through a single-source development tool (Madcap Flare), and will be output to the Web and PDF. The content will be distributed through several channels including the online Kenandy Community.

Job requirements

• At least 5 years technical writing experience for a software company
• Ability and desire to work hands-on with the software as it is being developed
• A great communicator with excellent writing and information design skills, and proven abilities in project management
• BA in Technical Writing, English, Business, or related field

Nice to have

• Experience with online help tools such as Madcap Flare, Framemaker, Robohelp, and source control tools such as Perforce
• Experience writing documentation relating to Financial Applications such as ERP or Supply Chain solutions is highly desired

Organization: Xinuos
Contact Name: David Meyer
Address: 1911 Addison St, Berkeley CA
Phone Number: 510-556-1028
Email Address: david.meyer@xinuos.com
Web Site: www.xinuos.com
Job Title: Technical Writer, operating systems
Job Duration: Contract, 2 to 6 months (or longer)
Description:

Create and maintain operating-system-level documentation with Getting Started Guide, Installation Guide, Performance and Tuning Guide.

Please respond with samples.

Organization: Covisint
Contact Name: Preeya Prasad
Address: 121 2nd Street, San Francisco CA
Phone Number: 415-780-0223
Email Address: preeya.prasad@covisint.com
Web Site: https://english-covisint.icims.com/jobs/1739/technical-publications-lead/job
Job Title: Technical Publications Lead
Job Duration: Full Time
Description:
Covisint is a business-to-business (B2B) cloud company that provides the platform of choice for enterprises who need to securely share, integrate and present trusted information to people and things across their extended network of business partners, customers and employees. Our B2B Cloud Platform drives digital business advantage for our customers by getting trusted information to where it needs to go, securely and seamlessly.

Covisint is seeking a talented professional to join our team to lead the development and management of all technical documentation. You will be responsible for combining technical and product knowledge to delivery documentation that is easy to use, extensible, and practical. The ideal candidate has proven track record success of developing and managing a large technical documentation library.

Core Responsibilities:

• Work across teams (marketing, product, engineering, partners, and customer success) to collect information, distill and clarify information, and produce complete documentation
• Design and organize documentation, tutorials and guides for new and existing products and features
• Develop process for building new documentation and updating existing documentation based on customer and partner requests
• Responsible for developing work plans, establishing technical and other functional objectives, assigning tasks, and managing two technical writers
• Maintain schedules and coordinate activities of an entire technical publications group
• Develop Standard Operating Procedures for technical writing within the Product and Engineering organizations
• Conduct regular quality reviews of all technical documentation
• Design, develop and implement appropriate methods of communication for technical materials across the organization

Qualifications:

• Typically 3+ years related technical publications, preferably in software marketing, SaaS or related technology
• Experience managing the creation and execution of effective technical documentation for internal use, customers, and partners, utilizing document management tools (i.e. Git Hub, Acrobat, etc.)
• In-depth knowledge of developing and managing a large library of technical documentation
• Outstanding communication skills including writing and content development
• Strong management skills
• Excellent problem solving and organizational skills
• Demonstrated ability to meet/exceed deadline
• Demonstrates exceptional written communication skills in emails, reports, department work instruction documents, etc.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities
• Proven track record to learn and iterate quickly
• Proven experience with all levels of management
• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in a related field preferred

Organization: Renesas Electronics America, Inc.
Contact Name: Noreen Obiacoro
Address: 2801 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara CA
Phone Number: 408-588-5940
Email Address: noreen.obiacoro@renesas.com
Web Site: http://am.renesas.com
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: 3-6 month contract
Description:
Renesas Electronics America, Inc. (“REA”) has an immediate opening for a Senior Technical Writer for a 3 to 6 month contract.

Responsibilities:

• Plan, track, report, and manage document projects with limited supervision
• Manage the development cycle of the technical documents
• Write and edit technical user documentation for use by developers and engineers without supervision – this entails working closely with the relevant project development and marketing teams
• Obtain source information from internal project documentation and interviews with project team members
• Write structured documentation that maximizes comprehension and ease of use
• Incorporate review comments
• Ensure that documents comply with corporate standards and best technical documentation practices
• Ensure that they comply with current Technical Publications processes and policies
• Work with structured and unstructured documents, including MS Word, FrameMaker and DITA

Requirements:

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of related experience or a Master’s degree with a minimum of 3 years of related experience
• Must have excellent communication skills and be willing to communicate at all levels
• Broad understanding of the subject matter and the ability to learn quickly
• Ability to identify end-user requirements and propose appropriate solutions
• Knowledge of development systems and embedded applications
• Proven experience as a technical author for embedded microcontrollers and software
• Good organizational and interpersonal skills to manage the flow of information from contributors and reviewers
• A working knowledge of information publishing systems such as Unstructured and Structured FrameMaker, Microsoft Office Tools, Acrobat, Visio, and Photoshop.
• Working knowledge of SharePoint and software repositories such as Mercurial

Desired Skills & Experience:

• Knowledge of embedded microcontrollers and software
• Knowledge of DITA, DITA-based content management systems, and XML editors such as Metal, oXygen
• Experience with MediaWiki and other online documentation presentation systems
• Experience with WebWorks ePublisher or other format conversion tools
• Experience with localization and working with a global company, particularly Japanese

REA is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions. A subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, we are the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers. A primary aim of Renesas Electronics America is to ensure that customers have easy, rapid access to the complete system solutions they need – chips, hardware/software tools, application assistance, manufacturing – so they can quickly address market opportunities. Renesas Electronics America measures its success by its customers’ success and makes customer satisfaction a number one priority.

Organization: Covisint
Contact Name: Preeya Prasad
Address: 121 2nd Street, San Francisco CA
Phone Number: 415-780-0223
Email Address: preeya.prasad@covisint.com
Web Site: www.covisint.com
Job Title: Technical Communications Specialist/Writer
Job Duration: Contract
Description:

Overview:

Covisint is a business-to-business (B2B) cloud company that provides the platform of choice for enterprises who need to securely share, integrate and present trusted information to people and things across their extended network of business partners, customers and employees. Our B2B Cloud Platform drives digital business advantage for our customers by getting trusted information to where it needs to go, securely and seamlessly.

The Internet of Things (IoT) – which includes connecting people, processes, data, and things – is a global industry phenomenon that is driving the biggest market transition for Covisint and our customers. We believe that seamless connections between people, partners, customers and things are possible and fundamentally transforming business. Covisint’s B2B Cloud Platform is at the forefront of this transformation and making this a reality.

Have you ever wished that you could move your personal settings between cars? Our platform is making this possible. Hyundai BlueLink enabled vehicles use our cloud-based API’s to manage a vehicle owner’s identity enabling it to move from car to car and even be accessed on smart devices. Ever wish you could start your vehicle from your phone? Our platform is making this possible. Auto manufacturers are using our platform to secure owner identities and tie it to their vehicles. What will it be used to do next? You could have the opportunity to influence that very question.

Covisint’s mission is to enable the extended network of business partners, customers and employees, support and enable the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications – and help the world’s most important enterprises and industries move from reacting to disruption, to driving some disruption of their own. We are entering the Internet of Things (IoT) transition – an era where we’ll help create unprecedented value by connecting the unconnected.

Responsibilities:

Covisint is looking for a Technical Communications Specialist/Writer with a knack for technology and the skills to take raw information and transform it into compelling written and visual materials that clearly and simply communicate complex technology concepts.

Are you a very talented graphic designer with good writing skills and a solid understanding general Internet technology/cloud computing concepts? Then you should join our team!

Core Responsibilities:

• Develop, design, and produce digital communication materials including, but not limited to technical diagrams, written reports, infographics, and presentations
• Collaborate with visionary leaders, technical folks, and anyone with a great ideas to develop collateral and ensure the information is communicated clear, accurate, and visually appealing
• Participate in technology brainstorms with product teams and customers, then capture innovative concepts, whiteboard diagrams and great ideas in visual and written form
• Develop and cultivate content and messages for customer groups, projects, strategic initiatives and standard publications
• Provides creative expertise and input for deliverables or outcomes requiring unique communication solutions
• Analyze existing and potential content, focusing on reuse and single-sourcing opportunities
• Write easy-to-understand user interface text, online help and developer guides
• Create tutorials to help end-users use a variety of applications

Qualifications – How You’ll Stand Out:

• Typically 3+ years related in software marketing, SaaS or related technology
• Proficient in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop
• Working knowledge of HTML/CSS
• Black Belt or higher degree in PowerPoint
• Strong typographical skills, illustration skills, and use of space
• A keen eye for beautiful and interesting information design, motion graphics, and interactivity
• Sense of urgency in a fast-paced, demanding startup environment
• Strong people management skills
• Excellent problem solving and organizational skills
• Demonstrated ability to meet/exceed deadlines
• Demonstrates exceptional written communication skills in emails, reports, department work instruction documents, etc.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities
• Proven track record to learn and iterate quickly
• Proven experience communicating with all levels of management
• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in a related field preferred
• Experience designing at an agency/firm/studio

Organization: inSync Staffing
Contact Name: James Pelczar
Address: 25 Sundial Ave Suite 405, Manchester, NH
Phone Number: 603-370-3176
Email Address: james.pelczar@insyncstaffing.com
Web Site: www.insyncstaffing.com
Job Title: Technical Writer
Job Duration: 3 month contract, paid hourly
Job Location: Mountain View, CA
Description:

Responsible for planning, organizing, writing and editing operational, maintenance or test procedure manuals. Researches engineering schematics, technical design specifications, interface design, design diagrams and test specifications with design engineers. Helps coordinate the layout and manual organization. Acquires and organizes basic source material, including applicable specifications, engineering write ups, and drawing packages.

Expected to apply technical writing/editing to projects with little guidance, and implement these independently. Writes or edits small to medium sized product features, operation, maintenance or test procedure documentation of moderate complexity. Works with other writers or editors, managers, and engineers across product teams. Sets task-level goals and consistently meet schedules.

Skills:
Looking for experienced contractor with the following:

• Knowledge of EDA tools and technical software, and ability to run such tools
• Prior usage of configuration management systems like Perforce
• Demonstrated experience in creating technical documents by using functional specifications
• Knowledge of common packages used to create documentation – Microsoft, Framemaker

Education:

• BS with 6-7 years of relevant experience, MS with 5+ years of experience, or related Ph.D. with 3+ years of experience.

If you are ultimately looking for permanent/full time employment, you should consider contracting/temping. 1 out of 5 employees who started in a temp/contract position became full-time direct employees at our clients.

inSync Staffing is a US operation, employing all services and support staff in the USA!

Organization: eTeam, Inc.
Contact Name: Akansha Singh
Address: 1001 Durham Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ
Phone Number: 732-248-1900 Ext. 458
Email Address: akanshas@eteaminc.com
Web Site: www.eteaminc.com
Job Title: Senior Technical Writer
Job Duration: 3 month contract potential to convert to a full-time
Job Location: Palo Alto, CA
Description:

Looking for a curious, adaptable, and technically astute writer for a Senior Technical Writer position in Palo Alto, CA. Initially starting as a 3-month contract position, there is potential to convert to a full-time staff role in the future. This individual will be part of the vCloud Air Business Unit.

Candidates should be results-oriented, possess exceptional writing skills, work independently, and enjoy working as part of a distributed, global team in a fast-paced environment. To be successful, candidates must have a good understanding of the software development process and the technical expertise to learn and write about complex software, including the ability to interview experts and write the documentation independently.

Candidates must understand the difference between writing documentation for an audience of end users or administrators, and have experience working with a variety of documentation styles and techniques. Experience with documenting SaaS or developer-focused tools a plus.

Candidates must also have solid project planning and scheduling experience, prior experience of working under extremely tight deadlines in a start-up like environment, and an impressive portfolio of writing samples (prefer software writing samples).

Responsibilities:

• Analyze information needs for projects and help define content requirements.
• Create high-quality documentation about VMware vCloud Air (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), including getting started guides, how-to articles, and other publications for both end users and administrators
• Review and edit your own work as well as perform peer-reviews for other members of the team
• Collaborate with senior staff to identify tasks and responsibilities
• Consistently author accurate content compliant with department and company standards
• Conduct technical reviews with the appropriate engineering, QA, and product management teams
• Research topics to be documented based on information from a variety of sources (engineering, QA, external documentation, and so on)
• Use customer feedback and rating data to drive content, process, delivery, or accessibility improvement
• Review, assign, and resolve defects and enhancement requests in appropriate defect tracking tools

Required Skills and Experience:

• Author content for a global audience
• Restructure an existing documentation set to improve usability
• Perform independent research to understand the product
• Set priorities and escalate issues appropriately
• Restructure an existing documentation set to improve usability
• Mastery of authoring tools, such as XMetaL, FrameMaker, Dreamweaver
• Proven track record of delivering quality documentation under tight deadlines with changing product requirements
• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in technical writing, computer science, or a related technical field
• 3-5 years experience writing technical documentation
• Experience or education in programming languages, such as UNIX/Linux, XML, SQL, and Java

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Knowledge of or experience with virtualization technology, SaaS, or developer-centric tools
• Experience with content management systems and DITA or other structured authoring architectures.
• Experience making videos to support and augment written technical content
• Experience monitoring and responding to customers through social media and other environments to address customer feedback to ensure that content delivery meets their needs

If you are qualified, available, interested, planning to make a change, or know of a friend who might have the required qualifications and interest, please call me ASAP at (732) 248-1900 Ext. 458 even if we have spoken recently about a different position. If you do respond via e-mail please include a daytime phone number so I can reach you.

Organization: PRO Unlimited
Contact Name: Jeannine Daniels
Address: 1050 Enterprise Way, Sunnyvale CA
Phone Number: 408-462-8889
Email Address: jdaniels@prounlimited.com
Web Site: http://prounlimited.com
Job Title: Technical Publications Writer
Job Duration: 3-6 months
Description:

WE CANNOT ACCOMODATE 3RD PARTIES!!!!
We are seeking an experienced Technical Writer to join our team of talented developers. The new team member will develop documentation for a maturing enterprise security product, plus embedded software solution and ASICs. The information is published in a variety of forms and formats, including manuals, pdfs, end-user guides and on-line help. You will work closely with Subject Matter Experts and your fellow writers to revise existing DITA-authored, task-based documentation and write new content for new product features and products.

The successful candidate will be an expert at synthesizing technical information for maximum usefulness to enable our users to get the full value from our products and services quickly.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, first degree, or equivalent experience in Technical Communications, Computer Science or related field of study.
• 5+ years writing documentation for enterprise software, networking, security, semiconductor manufacturing, or similar.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Recent experience with the following tools and associated document development processes:
  • Must have Oxygen 15 or higher, WebWorks ePublisher 2013 or higher and/or RoboHelp (11 or higher), Structured and Unstructured FrameMaker 12 or higher.
  • Antenna House (6.2 or higher), Doxygen, SVN, Vasont, Acrobat, Visio, Snagit, Agile development, JIRA, and GIT.
• Experience writing topic-based documentation in DITA environment with version control, CMS and CCMS systems, XML authoring tools.
• Portfolio showing a variety of user and developer documentation.
• U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status.