Lead Technical Writer - Columbia, MD

Recently named by Newsweek as one of the Best American Mid-Sized Workplaces in 2026, Rohde & Schwarz is seeking a Lead Technical Writer. Ideally based in our Columbia, Maryland service facility, a remote position could be considered for exceptional candidates. This person will lead a small team of technical writers while serving as senior individual contributor for operations, maintenance, and troubleshooting documentation (among other technical documents). The successful candidate works closely with system engineering, software development, test engineering, trainers, and customer stakeholders to translate complex technical information into clear, accurate, and user-friendly technical documentation.

Your tasks

• Develop and lead project plan for creation and delivery of Technical Manuals for air traffic control, or other systems from Rohde & Schwarz
• Author content and maintain accuracy of system maintenance and operation manuals, illustrated parts breakdowns, and troubleshooting guides
• Align and work with subject matter expert teams as needed, extract technical knowledge and transform into user-friendly yet comprehensive maintenance and operations manuals.
• Create diagrams, workflows, illustrations, figures, etc to enable easy-to-follow steps for system users/maintainers
• Provide guidance to team members as needed to further project timeline
• Collaborate with other departments (including internationally), such as Service Operations, Production, Program Management, and Engineering to ensure alignment and effective communication regarding project status, timeline, risk management/mitigation in deliverables, etc.
• Lead and mentor team of technical writers, balancing workload, establishing standards, and assuring conformance to requirements
• Manage documentation baselines and version control, track engineering changes and ensure current releases are up to date.

Your qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Communications, Technical Writing, or related field
• 10+ years of technical writing experience including project management
• Experience leading a small team is a plus
• Documentation experience with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documentation (technical manuals) requirements
• Experience with technical writing for IP Networking systems, Voice Communication Systems, or similar. Technical knowledge of VoIP systems is a plus
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships with customers and internal stakeholders
• Experience using Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, SharePoint, Jira, Confluence, Visio, or other tools to enable technical manual project delivery
• Proficiency in information structures (HTML/XML/SGML).
• Familiarity with the ASD S1000D documentation specification is an advantage as well as with the editorial tools EAGLE, Cosima
• Ability to travel (including internationally, mainly to Europe) up to 15% of the time.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident able to obtain an interim or final suitability determination, subject to completion and favorable adjudication of the required background investigation.

Interested?

We are looking forward to receiving your application!

The total compensation for this position is $90K-$120K. Total compensation includes base salary, variable pay (when applicable) plus benefits. The range is determined by the position, geographic location and level. Individual pay within the range is determined by several factors including location, education or training, relevant work history, sales incentive structure and job-related skills.

Rohde & Schwarz is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age or any other characteristic protected by law.