Experience

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  Soliel, LLC - Dept. of Interior/Office of Aviation Services Headquarters, Boise, ID (contractor)

  • Boise, Idaho, United States

  • Sr. Technical Writer/Editor--Aviation Safety Curriculum Developer

    • Apr 2023 - Present
    • Boise, Idaho, United States

    • Creates original/editing updates for aviation safety curriculum documentation to promote safe aviation work environments. Curriculum supports 13 federal bureaus/agencies across continental U.S., Hawaii, Alaska. (All writing/editing includes 508-accessibility requirements specialized formatting.)• Written/edited/formatted curriculum components include: PowerPoint training presentations with comprehensive companion Instructor Guides and Student Guides• Converts volumes of subject facts into procedure steps for video narratives on topics as diverse as: Ensuring Aviation Fuel/Fueling Safety, Utilizing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Aviation Missions, and General Safety Practices for Aviation Crew Members• Work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) teams to help define and storyboard aviation curriculum content to be converted to online training curriculum utilized by a broad spectrum of U.S. Government bureau and agency employees• Actively involved with various DOI/OAS entities, as needs arise, to provide reviews/editing/formatting assistance to update a wide variety of guides, handbooks, reference documents, standards, departmental manuals, and operational procedures to meet updated bureau/agency definition requirements• Assist DOI/OAS Trainers in periodic live Zoom webinars Aviation trainings including: attendance monitoring, posting required interactive student materials, helping students with technical difficulties, set-up/monitoring Zoom Break-Out activities, providing course evaluations for student responses, posting course student summary information for Trainers’ follow-up• Have taken various DOI/OAS and associated agency/bureau trainings to improve my understanding of the interconnection with many other government agencies beyond DOI/OAS• Engage in weekly DOI/OAS Training group staff meetings to keep informed of new training activities in-process and where my writing/editing/formatting skills and webinar Zoom Assist skills may be needed.

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  Career Technical Writer

  • *My perspective and passion as a Technical Writer/Editor*

    • 1992 - Present

    Oftentimes subject matter experts (SMEs) take for granted the vast amounts of knowledge they have gained over the course of their professions. I love the challenge of sorting through the cumulative knowledge of an SME, or a team of SMEs—and distilling down, organizing, and documenting that knowledge into clear process steps/procedures that can be used to train new or other employees.If your business does not coherently document the knowledge of your top performers and how they contribute in your workplace, daily, where will you be when they leave, retire, or win the lottery?!

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  Centeva, LLC - Dept. of Interior/Office of Aviation Services Headquarters, Boise, ID (contractor)

  • Boise, Idaho Area

  • Technical Writer/Editor--Aviation Safety Curriculum Developer

    • Mar 2018 - Apr 2023
    • Boise, Idaho Area

    • Creates original/editing updates for aviation curriculum documentation used to educate Dept. of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service employees to work safely in aviation environments work roles. (All writing/editing includes 508-accessibility requirements specialized formatting.)• Written/edited/formatted curriculum components include: PowerPoint training presentations with comprehensive companion Instructor Guides and Student Guides• Converts volumes of subject facts into procedure steps for video narratives on topics as diverse as: Ensuring Aviation Fuel/Fueling Safety, Utilizing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Aviation Missions, and General Safety Practices for Aviation Crew Members• Work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) teams to help define and storyboard aviation curriculum content to be converted to online training curriculum utilized by a broad spectrum of U.S. Government bureau and agency employees• Actively involved with various DOI/OAS entities, as needs arise, to provide reviews/editing/formatting assistance to update a wide variety of guides, handbooks, reference documents, standards, departmental manuals, and operational procedures to meet updated bureau/agency definition requirements• Assist DOI/OAS Trainers in periodic live Zoom webinars Aviation trainings including: attendance monitoring, posting required interactive student materials, helping students with technical difficulties, set-up/monitoring Zoom Break-Out activities, providing course evaluations for student responses, posting course student summary information for Trainers’ follow-up• Have taken various DOI/OAS and associated agency/bureau trainings to improve my understanding of the interconnection with many other government agencies beyond DOI/OAS• Engage in weekly DOI/OAS Training group staff meetings to keep informed of new training activities in-process and where my writing/editing/formatting skills and webinar Zoom Assist skills may be needed.

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  Aquent Studios/Boise

  • Boise, Idaho Area

  • Technical Writer/Assistant Project Manager/Project Coordinator

    • May 2015 - Jan 2018
    • Boise, Idaho Area

    •Created new & updated existing documents in a Content Management System (CMS) in: .XML (using XMetaL or Arbortext editors) and .DITA (using Oxygen .XML editor) formats, for Web online viewing by product customers & service personnel.•New product documentation created in .XML format from MSWord and PDF source documents for thousands of documents that were originally created in Korean language and run through an auto-translator to provide English .PDF source documents. Significant grammatical and typos corrections were required by project team Technical Writers.•Assistant Project Manager on a project rebranding large volumes of high tech product documentation. My focus was on: virtual team communications (20+ remote team members in 4 different time zones); organize/standardize/update and document project processes to insure continuous workflow; look for process improvements opportunities; troubleshoot and resolve process failures; provide regular team project status updates via email, Skype chats/meetings.•Program Coordinator for a team of Technical Writers, to coordinate getting new and updated documents re-posted to a CMS for online viewing by product customers & service personnel.

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  KimCo Design and Manufacturing

  • Boise, Idaho

  • Design Tech./ Technical Writer

    • Mar 2014 - Oct 2014
    • Boise, Idaho

    •Created/updated/edited technical procedures for production manufacturing lines. How-to-build: Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCAs); Cable/Wiring Harnesses; Electro-Mechanical Assemblies.•A strong rapport with production line employees, promoting best practices, conveying an understanding of process requirements and end-product expectations.•Provided Buyers a solid description of components and labor involved in products currently in production. This enabled accurate renewals of project bidding critical to ongoing coverage of production costs and securing reasonable profit margins.

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  Blue Cross of Idaho

  • Meridian, ID

  • ACA/Health Care Reform (HCR) Assistant Program Mgr.

    • Jan 2013 - Feb 2014
    • Meridian, ID

    Assisted in managing the design, planning and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) program for Blue Cross of Idaho.•Documented and distributed detailed, auditable meeting notes for BCI's HCR Core Team decision makers (V.P.s, Directors, Program Mgrs.--15 total) – for twice weekly meetings.•Collected, organized and tracked all incoming ACA/HCR-related documentation and archive in multifaceted SharePoint site. Documents collected from the following sources:> federal and state agencies—proposed and final ACA regulations documents> legal partners/advisors> healthcare insurance partners/organizations> competitive healthcare provider information> federal (FFM) and state (SFM) funded marketplace information. •Perform ACA/HCR-related documentation and training reviews and proofing•Create ACA/HCR-related process flows documentation•Tracks and prompts project owners to provide timely "HCR-Decision/Action/Issue/Risk Log" updates (to meet deadlines)•Attended daily BCI Customer Service team meetings: documented & distributed detailed daily meeting notes assisting in making team process improvements.

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  Hewlett-Packard

  • United States
  • IT Services and IT Consulting
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • HP Worldwide Printer Parts Recovery Program/Project Manager

    • Dec 2011 - Aug 2012

    Managed the worldwide defective HP printers' components & assemblies retrieval program to enable quick recall of field failed parts for engineering, resulting in substantial savings for the division and global partners.•Defined, documented and implemented 15 program process improvements resulting in more efficient global program operations and significant savings to the company. Ten additional process improvements identified for future added savings.•Identified, trained and reassigned Parts Recovery Program Management ownership to three of four worldwide partner divisions, significantly reducing HP/Boise site resources and overhead costs required.

  • Change Management Program/Project Manager

    • Jul 2005 - Aug 2012

    Negotiated product change management documentation agreements/guidelines with a major Japanese contract manufacturer, ensuring timely/proper notifications of changes affecting product quality (and meeting regulatory requirements), product re-certifications, warranty costs and customer satisfaction.•Designed product change management tracking mechanisms providing quick engineering and internal partners’ resource information on: potential emerging product/program issues, changes requiring engineering evaluation, evaluated/approved changes awaiting implementation, internal company product change documentation underway and completed.•Streamlined internal processes for submitting system internal product change documentation rolling product component and assembly part numbers, resulting in warranty cost savings and customer satisfaction related to product installed base.•Program management required regular communications/activities coordination with 6 global partners in: Japan, China, India, France, Germany and Mexico—and partners in various U.S. locations.

  • ISO 9000 Regulatory Compliance Program/Project Manager & Internal Auditor

    • Aug 1992 - Aug 2012

    Provided annual re-definition and updated formal HP LaserJets Printers' documentation for current products hardware engineering ISO 9000 Regulatory audit and compliance re-certification.•Conducted annual HP LaserJets internal ISO 9000 Regulatory audits and represented hardware engineering, as the lead auditee, in annual external ISO 9000 audits. External area audits always passed with no discrepancies recorded.

  • Technical Writer/Process Workflows Design & Documentation Specialist

    • Feb 1992 - Aug 2012

    Assisted a wide variety of engineering teams to examine troubled program situations and identify increased efficiency solutions.•Redesigned programs, including new and improved, detailed process documentation and workflows tools which provided teams, individuals and partners greater efficiencies and cost savings.•Created and maintained Microsoft SharePoint 2010 sites for teams to easily archive and access new process documentation and workflows tools resulting in consistent implementation and usage of process improvement activities.