Technical Writer II

Description

Technical Writer II

Company: Spectra Logic

Location: Boulder, CO (Casual, Hybrid Environment)

Position Type: Full-Time, Engineering / Systems Engineering

Compensation: $65,000 – $80,000 / year (Competitive based on knowledge, skills, and experience) ---

Position Overview

As a Technical Writer II at Spectra Logic, you will serve as the primary communicator and vital bridge between our engineering teams and our global community of customers and support experts. You won't just document products—you will shape the user experience by translating complex, highly technical architecture into clear, elegant, and engaging guides, release notes, and reference materials.

This is a highly collaborative role where you will directly influence product clarity, champion branding excellence, and ensure our customers have an exceptional onboarding and support experience.

Essential Functions

New Product Introductions & Content Creation

• Collaborate at the Core: Partner closely with engineering teams during New Product Introductions (NPI) to gather technical insights, screenshots, and visual collateral.
• Craft High-Quality Publications: Create intuitive, beautifully structured user and service guides that are clear, simple to follow, and easily understood by both brand-new users and experienced support personnel.
• Champion Brand Evolution: Partner with the marketing group to integrate fresh branding initiatives and dynamic collateral across our evolving publication portfolio.
• Maintain Lifecycle Relevance: Keep existing documentation accurate, fresh, and relevant by seamlessly capturing and incorporating revisions across new software and hardware releases.

Review, Release, & Lifecycle Management

• Conduct Quality Reviews: Lead documentation reviews with the technical team, proactively soliciting feedback and error corrections to guarantee top-tier quality prior to product launch.
• Streamline the Release Process: Guide finalized publications smoothly through the Spectra Logic Engineering Change (EC) release process, collaborating with technical teams on larger, unified ECs when optimal.
• Provide Strategic Guidance: Advise Product Managers and team leads during early planning phases to accurately estimate the effort and timelines necessary for publication development.

Additional Responsibilities

• Evaluate & Innovate: Research and implement cutting-edge content generation tools—including digital and embedded documentation—to keep our deliverables modern, efficient, and forward-thinking.
• Strategic Workload Planning: Collaborate with your team lead to coordinate workload divisions and assess how parallel product releases impact documentation deliverables.
• Enhance UX Quality: Actively report and track user interface defects or inconsistencies using tools like Jira, ensuring a polished product touchpoint for the end user.
• Production Partnership: For printed deliverables, coordinate closely with the purchasing department to plan and align print timelines with strict product launch deadlines.

Qualifications & Requirements

• A Gift for Clarity: Exceptional written communication skills with an absolute command of English language and grammar. While this position can accommodate entry-level talent, a high-quality portfolio demonstrating clear technical writing competence is required.
• Core Technical Toolset: Practical experience or familiarity crafting publications using industry-standard tools such as MadCap Flare, MS Word, Adobe Acrobat, and Photoshop.
• Proactive Curiosity: A natural problem-solver who actively engages with product release teams, asks insightful technical questions, and ensures documentation is treated as a core product component rather than an afterthought.
• Relationship Builder: The ability to forge strong, trusted relationships with subject matter experts (SMEs), engineering leads, and cross-functional teams in a flexible, hybrid workflow.
• Education: Associate's, BS, or BA degree. Exceptional non-degreed candidates with a robust technical writing portfolio and equivalent professional experience will also be highly considered.
• Residency: Must reside within commuting distance of our Boulder, CO office. Please note: Relocation assistance is not available; only local candidates will be considered.
• Candidate AI Usage Policy AI is a part of our daily work at Spectra, and we are committed to the responsible and ethical use of AI tools. However, we want to ensure a fair candidate process based on your own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or other tools to assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is prohibited unless permission is explicitly provided. 

WHY SPECTRA?  

Located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colorado, Spectra is an entrepreneurial, private company with more than 40 years of proven success preserving, protecting and defending the world’s data. Spectra offers a challenging, flexible and creative work environment. Our culture is one that drives personal opportunity and advancement and rewards high performance while maintaining a high-quality work-life balance. We offer a casual, hybrid work environment with ample opportunity to learn and grow within the company. Work out on your own or with our trainer at one of the on-campus gyms; grab lunch or snacks onsite or challenge the CEO to a game of pinball; and grow your career with peers who are second to none.  

SPECTRA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 

Spectra is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we never discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military or veteran status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or any other characteristics protected by applicable law 

***Spectra Logic is committed to the practice and policies of equal employment opportunities in the recruitment, employment and promotion of all associates without regard to age 40 and over, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, status as protected veteran, national origin, or any other applicable status protected by state or local law.