Abilities:

30 years experience:

• translating concepts both abstract and complex, into descriptions and procedures, easily accessible to a wide audience
• quickly and efficiently organizing source information into concise, well-structured documents
• conducting effective business process analysis as part of the knowledge acquisition sessions
• effectively communicating with subject matter experts and other technical personnel
• defining and implementing document development standards and style guides
• defining and implementing document development policies and procedures
• efficiently managing documentation projects
• producing useful technical documentation under extremely compressed deadlines
• designing, developing, and implementing well-structured and organized technical documents
• designing and implementing software user interfaces, or assist others in such design
• performing informal system (hardware or software) testing
• working efficiently, either independently or in a group, as required
• mentoring young technical writers or technical writers new to the department or company

Primary Development Skills:

• Authoring Tools
• Microsoft Word
• Frame Maker
• Openoffice
• Adobe Acrobat
• RoboHELP
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Power Point
• Microsoft Publisher
• Microsoft Front Page
• Oracle UPK/Infor EPAK
• Graphics
• Paintshop Pro
• Microsoft Visio
• TurboCAD
• SnagIt
• Corel Draw!
• SmartDraw
• Various Graphics Utilities
• Operating Systems
• MS/PC/DR DOS
• Windows 3.x through Windows 7
• Linux
• UNIX
• Mac Operating System 7/9/X
• Pocket PC/Handheld 2000
• Palm OS
• Hardware
• PC
• Macintosh
• Workstation (Sun/DEC/IBM)
• Psion Series 5 and 7
• Hewlett Packard Jornada Series
• Palm Pilot
• Document Control Systems
• CollabNet Subversion
• TortoiseSVN
• Concurrent Versions System (CVS)
• Programming Languages
• Prolog
• Lisp
• C
• SQL Databases (UNIX-based)
• OLAP Tools
• HTML
• Java Script
• Java
• Networks
• TCP/IP-based networks
• Ethernet-based networks
• GSM/GPRS-based networks
• CDMA-based networks
• OFDM-based networks
• Development Infrastructure
• Bugzilla
• Atlassian Jira
• Atlassian Confluence
• VMWare
• FogBugs
• Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
• IBM FileNET
• OpenText LiveLink

Professional Experience:

Suncor Energy Inc.

July 2014 – cont.

Develop and Update Safety Policies, Procedures, and Standards

• interview Subject Mater Experts (SMEs) for document content.
• conduct in-field document research/review
• create new policy, procedure, or standards documents
• edit existing policy, procedure, or standards documents
• create new document templates
• maintain existing document templates
• manage OpenText LiveLink work-flow queue
• organize and maintain the Site Wide Services OpenText LiveLink repository
• mentor SMEs in writing and editing
• provide technical assistance to SMEs writing and editing duties
• provide ad hoc writing and editing services to colleagues
• review and assess contractor Safe Work Procedures
• initiate and manage documentation audit and gap analysis
• manage change in department’s documentation repository
• manage and coordinate documentation development and maintenance efforts

Montana Creative

January 2014 – cont.

Work on Marketing Copy

• develop new and maintain existing marketing copy
• mark up and comment PDFs of existing marketing materials

Imperial Oil

April 2013 – November 2013

Develop and Maintain Project Documentation and Documentation Infrastructure

• edit technical documents to ensure clarity and consistency with style, terminology, and organization
• apply project templates to project documents
• oversee template creation following Imperial Oil standards
• compile and edit internal project reports from input from different disciplines
• work with subject matter experts to edit and produce project plans; technical specification documents; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts; coordination procedures and procedure manuals
• provide solutions to ad hoc documentation issues as they arise

WestJet Inc.

November 2012 – March 2013

Maintain Regulated Documentation

• maintained documentation regulated by Transport Canada
• other duties as needed

Dover Operating Corporation

August 2012 – September 2012

Develop Structure and Content for Training and Documentation

• defined documentation development plan for both documentation and training
• defined structure and content scope for training
• defined structure and content scope for system and end-user documentation
• conducted knowledge acquisition sessions with SMEs

WestJet Inc.

August 2010 - July 2012

Maintain Regulated Documentation

• maintained documentation regulated by Transport Canada
• created templates for the regulated documentation
• created style guidelines for department
• created standards and policies for department
• defined maintenance procedures for the document maintenance role
• conducted electronic review sessions, primarily using Adobe Acrobat reviews
• involved in the planning phase of the acquisition of a content management system
• other duties as needed

Teck Coal Ltd.

March 2010 - June 2011

Information Technology Department's ERP Training and Documentation Repository

• defined the structure, policies and procedures, and interdepartmental interfaces for the documentation group
• defined structure of ERP documentation and training repository
• defined the development and maintenance policies and procedures for the ERP documentation and training repository
• created MS Word templates for interim ERP documentation repository
• assisted EPR trainers in development of training content
• interviewed both business and technical Subject Matter Experts
• maintained documentation repository content
• mentored junior technical writers

Saxon Energy Services Inc.

October 2009 - December 2009

Document Information Technologies Department's Network Infrastructure

• defined the layout, structure, and data to be recorded, for a network infrastructure description document
• designed and implemented a document repository for the network infrastructure description documents on the company's SharePoint portal
• created a MS Word template, based on the network infrastructure document definition
• created separate network infrastructure description documents for each of Saxon's branch offices in North America
• created a procedures document for the creation and maintenance of new and existing network infrastructure description documents and related template

Call Genie Inc.

January 2008 - November 2008

Directory Assistance Voice Search Engine / Mobile Ad Solutions

• defined the documentation development workflow processes, including the interactions between system's developers/subject matter experts and technical writers.
• defined and successfully implemented the documentation review processes for the company
• integrated the use of Atlassian Jira into the documentation development workflow processes
• defined and created the documentation structure for all internal and external documents
• developed and maintained corporate documentation templates for both internal and external user-facing documents
• rewrote several existing documents to comply with the new structure and template
• maintained legacy documentation
• successfully implemented the use of OpenOffice Writer as the central documentation development tool, for user-facing documents
• helped define the release notes standards and templates
• reviewed and copy edited marketing material
• involved in the hiring of contract technical writers
• provided mentoring and guidance for other technical writers
• developed and maintained templates for corporate newsletter
• wrote and compiled monthly corporate newsletter

QuIC Financial Technologies Inc.

May 2006 - November 2007

Large-scale Market and Credit Risk System

• designed and wrote Technical Publications Group standards and procedures:
• documentation templates
• documentation style guides
• documentation development procedures
• documentation maintenance procedures
• documentation review processes
• introduced new software tools to fit the new development and maintenance processes
• educated technical and non-editorial staff on the use of new tools
• designed and developed new documents for new plug-ins and elements of the central product
• conducted knowledge acquisition sessions
• sorted, consolidated, and restructured existing documentation for more efficient access and reference
• converted existing documentation from Microsoft Word to Frame Maker
• maintained and edited existing product documentation
• maintained Technical Publications Group electronic library
• distilled user's manuals to .PDF format for on-line distribution
• interacted with Quality Assurance to ensure that documentation development and maintenance were in included in test processes and procedures

Wi-LAN Incorporated

July 2004 - April 2006

Hardware for Wireless Networks

• created and implemented document development policies and procedures
• defined hardware and software tool requirements for documentation development
• defined and implemented a standards and style guide for user documentation
• designed and developed user manual documentation and document templates
• created technical drawings and converted 3D model drawings for use in both technical documents and user documents
• conducted knowledge acquisition sessions, coordinating documentation development with firmware, software, and hardware engineers
• acted as a technical editor for existing manuals
• defined document publishing schedule and requirements for all user-related documentation
• distilled user's manuals to .PDF format for on-line distribution

Rinax Computer Systems

June 2003 - April 2004

Automotive Point-of-Sale System

• upgraded the existing user's manual for the legacy product
• created new structure and layout for legacy documentation
• ported the existing documentation to the new structure
• outlined and began the creation of the user's manual for the new Windows client-side application
• created an HTML-based FAQ for access through the corporate website
• documented all software releases for the legacy product
• outlined and began the creation of on-line help for the new Windows client-side application
• developed corporate documentation style guide and standards
• performed quality assurance tests on new releases of legacy product
• performed quality assurance tests on the Windows client-side application
• investigated, tested, and documented bugs or problems with the software and/or usage procedures
• periodically worked with sales personnel to develop sales materials
• created the company newsletter

Additional Professional Activities:

Spud City Software Inc., Boise, Idaho

Three years (until product was cancelled)

• Provided minor on-line help consulting and editing services.
• Also involved in beta testing the company's product Desktop Dozen.

Society for Technical Communications

• I was active in the Society for Technical Communications mentoring program for approximately eight years.

Priori Epee Fencing Club

December 2008 - Continuing

• Maintained the existing website for the Priori Epee Fencing club
• Rewrote the existing website for the Priori Epee Fencing club
• Wrote and edited grant proposals for the Priori Epee Fencing club

Download Resume

My Resume can be downloaded from the links below.

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Download Portfolio

My Professional Portfolio has much more detail than my resume. It contains my Professional Profile and writing samples from seven different projects.

The Professional Profile contains a Technical Skills Matrix, a General Documentation Development Tools Skills Matrix, and a highly detailed listing of my Professional Experience.

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