Course developer
Created course material for the Oxford Cyber Security course and the Oxford Fintech Programme, bringing students from all over the business world online learning about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, fintech use of AI and big data, and cyber security technology.
Senior Manager, Technical Documentation
Managed a small team of writers in the US and Australia to start the process of bringing this mainframe software company's documentation processes and technology into cutting-edge deliverables for 21st and its business partners, including IBM. Our team converted a number of Microsoft Word-based documentation sets into DITA XML and started automating the publishing and QA processes to ensure that the documentation was current and accurate. Applied current documentation standards to a large library of legacy documentation to create task-based, solution-oriented content, instead of heavy reference-based material.
Senior Manager, Technical Documentation
April 2016-March 2019: Managed a local and remote team of 12+ writers for Pega's applications, written on Pega Platform, for out-of-the-box customer use, or for extension and customization to meet all business needs. Coordinated teams in India, Poland, and the United States in a scrum-driven Agile development environment. Managed the department-wide conversion from HTML-based documentation to DITA XML content and guided the move to new, more streamlined publishing methods.
February 2018: Added the role of acting director for the 40+ person documentation department. Managed the priorities and plans for the department, including personnel, technology and content, and project management. Most notably, started the department on a path to purge dated content and improve customer search results.
Guided the creation of a first-of-its-kind DITA-to-Drupal publishing pipeline to help eliminate the need for PDFs and improve customer access to articles, online help, and other content created by the Technical Documentation department.
Senior Information Development Manager, IBM Commerce Customer Engagement Solutions
Managed a department of four managers with 40+ writers to handle production of all customer-facing content for the Customer Engagement Solutions products in IBM Commerce. Coordinated teams in India, Canada, and throughout the United States in a mostly Agile development environment, moving content to more customer-oriented platforms and accelerating delivery to a near-continuous delivery method to ensure accurate, up-to-date information for all customers, and for all products.
Information Development Manager, IBM Enterprise Marketing Management Cross-Channel Marketing team/Unica Enterprise Software
Managed a team of writers producing high-quality documentation for the Unica Enterprise software suite, later known as the IBM EMM Cross-Channel Marketing suite, now owned by HCL. During my tenure, the team produced documentation for three major releases and countless minor updates, rewrites, and conversions. Worked with other departments to ensure that the documentation was updated, corrected, and republished rapidly and with ever-increasing accuracy and utility. During this time, employee retention was 100%, and new writers were added to the team.
Additional roles included:
Principal Technical Writer
Created documents for the Autonomous Operations Planner (AOP), a research software project being developed by Engility, and for the Air Traffic Operation Simulator (ATOS), a simulation environment in which the AOP operates.
Contract Technical Writer
Wrote, produced, and edited documentation and online help for use across multiple operating systems for a number of companies, including those listed here.
Senior Technical Writer
Wrote administrator and developer documentation for Storage Area Networking (SAN) storage virtualization and data migration products. Created a large library of content to support multiple parallel projects for OEM partners. Accomplishments include:
All teaching and training occurred on a part-time basis in addition to full-time work.
Instructor, Computer Troubleshooting and Maintenance
Taught a non-credit class explaining to students how to identify problems with their computers (mainly Microsoft Windows-based systems, although the class covered other operating systems); how to prevent problems; how to repair software conflicts, spyware/virus/trojan horse infestations; and additional maintenance and security issues.
Instructor, Internet and Computing
Participated on a volunteer basis in the library's Whole New World program, in which students of junior high and high school ages attended training in browsing the web, using e-mail, reading newsgroups, and so on using accounts provided by the program.
Instructor, Desktop Publishing
Multiple 10-hour introductory courses (4 or 5 weeks each) in desktop publishing. Classes ranged from 12 to 14 students per course.
Co-authored the Peter Norton Guide to Network Security Fundamentals (Sams Publishing, ISBN: 0672316919). This book provides an introduction to the risks to which a network is subject, as well as ways to secure the network against intrusion.
Co-authored the Broadband Internet Access for Dummies book (Hungry Minds Inc., ISBN: 0764507699). This book provides an explanation of the broadband Internet connections available (DSL, Cable Modem, and Satellite) and suggests ways to make the best use of the speed.
Bachelor of Arts in English
Certificate in Management Studies (Information Systems)
Available upon request.