SUMMARY
Over 15 years of experience as a manager and creator of diverse technical content for government and commercial clients. A disciplined, analytical approach to technical writing and processes, enriched by directly translatable experience in legal administration and customs export. Shines in collaborative technical writing environments as a leader, coach and contributor.

QUALIFICATIONS
Technology Aptitude. A natural curiosity about how things work. Embraces understanding new subject matter as key to creating quality documentation.
Clarity Is Priority. Works collaboratively to capture products and processes, then document them in easy-to-understand ways. Meets communication objectives across a range of documents: design specifications, manuals/guides, training or marketing materials and online help.
Graphics Skill. Deploys/shares a deep knowledge of graphics tools to powerfully communicate ideas in visual terms.
Creative Leadership. Balances direction-setting with leading from behind. Cultivates a writing team's sense of common purpose while encouraging individual innovation.
Purpose-Driven. Designs/implements specific processes and schedules to meet pre-determined goals and objectives.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS

• Bachelor of Arts – English • California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo • 2003
• Bachelor of Science – City & Regional Planning • California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo • 1995
• Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate • California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo • 2003
• Paralegal Studies Certificate • California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo • 1999
• Nanodegree – Introduction to Programming • Udacity • 2019

SKILLS

VOLUNTEERING

• Virtual Tutor at the Bill Wilson Center • 2020 – 2021
• Literacy and English as a Second Language Tutor at the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council • 2002 – 2004
• Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA Volunteer) for the San Luis Obispo County Juvenile Court • 1993 – 1996

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Technical Writer at Zoox • Foster City, CA
Provided by Nelson Staffing • Fremont, CA • April 2022 – July 2023
Zoox: Designers, manufacturers, and operators of autonomous robotic taxis, seeking to reinvent personal transportation

Collaborated with the Manufacturing Operations Team to create and maintain assembly and test instructions for advanced components of autonomous robotic passenger vehicles.

SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS:

• Resilience. “Hit the ground walking” when hired and began creating work instructions—using responsible change management—within a rapidly-changing startup, despite department unfamiliarity with the technical writing profession.
• Business Process Improvement. Helped disparate teams become interested in working together, while encouraging good information flow, information architecture, and configuration management habits. Developed processes for migrating content from one documentation system to another. Trained assembly technicians about the “chain of command,” of which released work instructions are a part. An engineer complimented an assembly technician using my instructions—my highest goal. Presented multiple sets of slides to management and executives, advocating for intentional design of information architecture.

Technical Writer III at Everyday Robots • Mountain View, CA
Provided by Astreya Partners • San Jose, CA • November 2021– January 2022
Everyday Robots: Designers and manufacturers of learning robots at Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory

Collaborated with manufacturing engineering to develop, illustrate, and maintain library of 112 sets of electronic work instructions for the building and testing of learning robots. Constantly strategized with manufacturing engineering to improve the team’s use of information. Created internal project member stories, in Google Sites, to document knowledge from a special project. Walked onto the job and immediately started developing instructions, before even having my own assigned computer. Trained one of my replacements and built an onboarding and documentation training site for the team.

SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS:

• Information Curation. Developed diligent processes and tools for manual upkeep of library configuration, according to releases of engineering changes. Used pandemic lockdown phase to thoroughly overhaul, standardize, and polish the entire library of instructions and illustrations, created from scratch starting in April 2019.
• Eye for Technical Detail. Caught and flagged technical issues and inconsistencies to manufacturing engineering.
• Customer Service. Proactively supported the team’s information and graphics needs before anyone needed to ask.
• Integrity. Reliable manual information management for this team required diligence, attention to detail, and commitment to everyone’s ability to achieve productivity and quality.
• Transparency. Regularly updated and synchronized my task priorities with manufacturing engineering and management.

Technical Writer III at X Robotics • Mountain View, CA
Provided by Astreya Partners • San Jose, CA • December 2020 – November 2021
X Robotics: Designers and manufacturers of learning robots at Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory
This was my second 12 months at X Robotics, before they became Everyday Robots.

Senior Technical Writer at X Robotics • Mountain View, CA
Provided by USTech Solutions • Jersey City, NJ • April 2019 – December 2020
X Robotics: Designers and manufacturers of learning robots at Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory
My first 18 months at X Robotics was as a direct employee of USTech Solutions.

Manager, Avionics Technical Writing at Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Hawthorne, CA • March 2010 – November 2018
Aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company with ~7,000 employees and ~$2.5 billion annual revenue.

Coached/developed/engaged up to 10 Technical Writers and Process Planners. Translated engineering designs and manufacturing processes into clear assembly, test, and process documents for multiple avionics hardware systems.
Identified/implemented business process improvements that optimized the technical writing workflow across the enterprise.
Collaborated with engineers, subject matter experts (SMEs), technicians, and management. Authored and updated assembly procedures, test procedures, process documents, and standards documents for Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCBAs) and electromechanical hardware. Onboarded and trained employees as they did the same.
Advocated for Avionics Department best practices for information flow and configuration management. Pushed for automation of change management, content management, and enterprise search functionalities at SpaceX. Managed projects in JIRA and Confluence.

SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS:

• 2018: Content Development/Content Management. JIRA-based management of as many as 400 concurrent technical writing initiatives. Increased content management efficiency by collaborating on cross-functional initiatives that improved SpaceX’s information architecture, systems, and user experience.
• 2017: Business Process Improvement. Designed/implemented change management report that dramatically improved productivity by (a) automating searches across 3 change management databases, (b) centralizing changes requested by Technicians, Engineers and Quality Inspectors and (c) expanding search parameters based on document and part number.
• 2015: Business Process Improvement. Dramatically increased project visibility at an individual Team Writer level by migrating from SharePoint to JIRA.
• 2014: Content Development/Content Management. Led/managed a 5-person team that powered through 46 Test Procedure updates in 48 hours for a mission-critical Air Force project.
• 2011: Business Process Improvement. Partnered with programmers to develop/implement SharePoint tool for more efficient project management (as many as 100 concurrent technical writing initiatives across 4 Technical Writers). Promoted mid-year to Manager, Avionics Technical Writing.
• 2010: Content Development/Content Management. In under 4 months, personally completed and released 34 complex assembly procedure documents. Promoted to Lead Technical Writer in less than 1 year.

Technical Writer at Crane Aerospace Corporation • Burbank, CA
Provided by Prefontaine Associates • Arcadia, CA • February 2008 – October 2009
Global suppliers of critical systems and components to the aerospace and defense markets.

Staff augmentation/contract position. Entrusted with helping Crane’s internal teams achieve their technical writing objectives for complex Boeing test procedures and reports of up to 200 pages in length.

SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS:

• Editing. Identified/corrected technical documentation errors that Crane’s own team members missed.
• Business Process Improvement. Upon engagement, analyzed and resolved lengthy list of Boeing operational complaints.
• Troubleshooting. Implemented/documented protocols that solved repeated crashes of Word and Adobe applications and placed project back on schedule.

PRIOR EXPERIENCE

Graphic Designer • Self-Employed • Monrovia, CA • August 2007 – February 2008
WHY IT MATTERS: Leveraged skills in technical illustration, visual design and content development. Over the 15+ years of technical writing experience that followed this position, these skills were tailored to successfully meet business objectives.

Export Documentation Specialist at Cresset Powers, Ltd. • Pasadena, CA • September 2005 – August 2007
WHY IT MATTERS: Honed skills in accurately analyzing complex data or processes and translating them into easily understood terms. These skills drove later success as a Technical Writing Manager and Technical Writer.

Civil & Appellate Assistant Paralegal at Smith & Tardiff • San Luis Obispo, CA • May 2003 – November 200
3 WHY IT MATTERS: Research skills were later adapted to working cross-functionally to make technical writing more effective.

Administrative Assistant at Mueller & Patel, Developers – Days Inn • San Luis Obispo, CA • February 2002 – November 2002
WHY IT MATTERS: Gained translatable skill in performing research and calculations that directly drive key decisions for a business.

Domestic Violence Paralegal at Women’s Shelter Program, Inc. • San Luis Obispo, CA • May 1998 – June 2000
WHY IT MATTERS: Legal processes experience transferred to managing processes for creating technical documents.

Legal Clerk at San Luis Obispo County Law Library • San Luis Obispo, CA • October 1997 – May 1998
WHY IT MATTERS: Initial experience in effectively managing documents against a complex classification system.

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