Your opportunity

TraceLink is seeking a Senior Technical Writer, responsible for authoring UI and API documentation within an exciting and fast-paced environment.

TraceLink’s Technical Communications team is service-focused, collaborative, and detail-oriented. We aim to create and maintain technical documentation and information assets that help users plan, install, administer, and troubleshoot our products. Our user base encompasses a broad range of readers, from first-time users to users with a depth of TraceLink knowledge and technical expertise.

The Senior Technical Writer is responsible for authoring content that helps people within the life sciences supply chain use TraceLink’s products to complete the core tasks for their jobs. You will write from a user-centric perspective, understanding who your audience is and what they are trying to do. As a member of the Technical Communications team, you will collaboratively author with other writers, as well as regularly participate in peer reviews.

This position reports to the Technical Communications US Manager and is a part of the greater Center of Excellence (COE) team in the Services Organization.

What will you be doing?

This position is responsible for...

TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

Work closely with other Technical Writers and key cross-functional partners (e.g. Product Managers, UX Designers) to write and maintain clear, complete, and correct technical documentation that helps people do their jobs using TraceLink’s products. Collaborate with other writers to author content in a consistent voice and style, regularly conducting peer reviews and applying feedback. Help the team adhere to established styles and standards and authorthing content in a single Traclink voice in the form of editorial reviews. Serve as a language and terminology expert for others within the organization.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Partner with other Technical Writers, cross-functional peers, and the US Manager to self-manage multiple concurrent projects. Schedule and communicate critical milestones to ensure documentation is delivered on time with exceptional quality. Proactively raise impediments or blockers to the US Manager.

In this role you will...

• Author various types of technical content including overviews, FAQs, troubleshooting, UI procedures, API guidelines, release notes, quick references, and glossaries for both HTML and PDF output.
• Collaboratively author and manage shared content using source control tools.
• Collaborate with the UX writer to provide direction on customer-facing language and terminology, such as text that displays in the user interface and API element names.
• Conduct peer reviews to ensure documentation styles and standards are consistent along with information architecture.
• Conduct editorials to ensure the entire document is authored with one voice, makes sense as a whole, and provides the content users need at a holistic level to get their tasks done.
• Mentor more junior members of the Technical Communications team on writing styles and standards.
• Own the execution of one or more strategic documentation projects.
• Partner with cross-functional SMEs including Product Managers, UX Designers, Services SMEs and Engineers.
• Research and synthesize highly technical product information by interviewing Product Managers and other SMEs while leveraging internal source material including requirements, specifications, and user stories.
• Distill highly technical product information and complex user flows down to easily understandable, user-centered documentation that can be quickly skimmed for the most important points.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the Document Development Lifecycle (DDLC) and coordinate milestones as project needs evolve.
• Report project plan impediments and metrics to the US Manager in a timely manner while maintaining project tracking tools/resources.
• Participate in Agile development processes and influence process enhancements based on product needs and improvements.

What we’re looking for...

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field, such as English, Communications, Technical Writing, or Computer Science or equivalent work experience.
• 7+ years of professional experience in technical writing.
• Experience with MadCap Flare or comparable authoring tools (e.g. RoboHelp, AuthorIt, FrameMaker).

Technical Expertise:

• Superior written communication skills.
• Knowledge of technical writing and content management basics (e.g. topic-based authoring, single sourcing, search optimization).
• Experience defining information architecture and writing styles for new documentation types.
• Technically curious and self-motivated to understand product functionality.
• Ability to ask penetrating questions while advocating for user needs.
• Ability to prioritize while taking direction from Team Leads and Managers.
• Proactive at removing impediments with a “get the job done” attitude.
• Flexible and able to work well under pressure and with fluctuating deadlines.
• History of on-time, quality delivery in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment.
• Ability to quickly learn, analyze, understand, and communicate complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.
• An ambassador of collaboration within and across the organization.

What will help you in this role...

• Experience with developer and project management tools, including Git, Sourcetree, Confluence, and Jira.
• Experience with HTML/CSS or jQery.
• Experience within a startup culture.
• Knowledge of ERP and supply chain software.
• Experience within a GxP or other highly regulated environment.

Where will you be working?

TraceLink is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.