Core Competencies

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Professional Experience

ACI Worldwide, Inc.
Technical Information Developer, 1/2019 – Present
Create user assistance content covering the full stack.

Responsible for reviewing business requirements, product interfaces, customer issues, and engineering specifications to write first drafts of user assistance content covering the full stack.

Note: 2019 promotion to Senior TID delayed due to corporate budget restrictions related to COVID-19.

Key achievements:

  • ID Project Manager and SME for ACI’s Merchant Fraud product and underlying framework, while contributing to other product work (such as Base24-eps, Immediate Payments, Transact) and internal projects.
  • Installed UP Framework on Linux, JBoss, and Postgres stack to identify gaps and improve documentation usability, reducing support hours by 20%.
  • Created installation instructions and led demo meetings for Docs-as-code platform business case with two major products (UPF and UOB).
    • After approval, I researched, planned, and documented the installation of IntelliJ with a Bitbucket repository and Git, determined best practices, and trained the team of trainers and users to reach 450+ users in product development, and engineering. This reduced costs of a content management system (CMS) and moved all content authors to a single platform.
  • Self-taught full-stack concepts such as SQL, JavaScript, Kubernetes, and related technologies to increase departmental value.
  • Led user research to understand Implementation Services pain points with installation documents and presented recommendations to team.
  • Led additional projects such as consolidating UP Framework product documentation into a common repository to improve usability and reduces licensing costs.
  • Led team through initiatives such as defining four policies and procedures for migration to new CMS (2018-2019).
  • Mentor colleagues in all areas of their job responsibilities— interpersonal relations, presentations, technical guidance, troubleshooting.
  • Present to project teams at kickoff meetings and to peers about topics like using Jira and Confluence, full stack concepts, and user research findings.

ACI Worldwide, Inc.
Senior Information Developer, 8/2014 – 1/2019
Created clear, concise, and accurate user assistance for ACI’s fraud and framework products

Responsible for translating complex technical information into effective, persona-based content. Created user assistance such as UI text, user guides, online help, and embedded help. Collaborated in an Agile environment with geographically-dispersed, cross-functional teams including product, engineering, project, and UXD.

Key achievements:

  • In 2018, led 15 product projects to completion on time and within budget.
  • Led an initiative to standardize and reuse messages across 20 ACI products supported by ID.
  • Led a committee through the migration of internal content from SharePoint to Confluence. We reduced the amount of content by 80% to increase efficiency and accuracy.
  • Collaborated with customer-facing partners on user validation testing, most recently to determine the effectiveness of embedded help types. This led to guidance such as using tooltips on buttons and icons only.
  • Mentored Information Developer members on key skill upgrades such as writing user stories, analyzing requirements documents, writing embedded help, and using Jira, and Confluence.
  • Volunteered for duties outside department such as admin of Telecommuter SharePoint site, Strategy Day lead, and consultant to Global Talent Organization for Role-based Training.

Retail Decisions (ReD)
Senior Technical Writer/Business Analyst and more, 3/2012 – 8/2014 (acquired by ACI Worldwide, Inc.)
Led documentation efforts for ReD’s Customer Service Interface 2 (CSI 2)—a software solution used by industry-leading retailers such as Macy’s, IKEA, Nordstrom, Finish Line, Karma Loop, and the Bank of China for online fraud detection and metrics.

Published translation-ready customer-facing documentation. Top contributor and advocate for company wiki. Participated in key design discussions and wrote requirements for new features. Documented user stories, requirements, and design assets. Presented requirements to engineers and clients.

Key achievements:

  • Key member of the product team that developed ReD Shield’s Customer Service Interface 2. CSI 2 saves customers millions of dollars a month in chargebacks and fraud.
    • Technical Writer – Responsible for all internal and customer-facing documentation.
    • Business Analyst – Participated in design discussions with web design and coding vendors to help design features. I often represented the customer during the design. I also wrote requirements and presented them to clients such as Macy’s and Nordstrom for review.
    • Customer-facing Trainer – Created reusable training script and processes for large virtual courses for a variety of clients ensuring customer confidentiality without inhibiting interaction.
    • Internal Trainer – Created training and trained the customer service team, implementation team, and project managers.
    • Tester – Worked as part of a small team testing defects, working through an iterative process to test, fix, and test again. I provided the team with daily metrics about the testing effort. Other testers, who were unfamiliar with the application, used the documentation I wrote to test. This also allowed me to fix defects in the guides.
  • Top contributor and advocate for the internal Confluence wiki.

Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation
MIS Technical Writer, 4/2011 – 3/2012
Gathered requirements, developed and executed User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scripts for Quality and Regulatory compliance systems.

Gathered and communicated requirements from MTF Corporate Users to a vendor (Makromed) responsible for customizing the Quality and Regulatory compliance systems. Prepared and maintained User Acceptance Test (UAT) scripts, and executed tests for internal and external verified/validated systems.

Key achievements:

  • Identified 250 bugs in three software modules and followed up with vendor to remedy.
  • Trained corporate users to create UAT scripts.

mFormation Technologies
Senior Technical Writer, 4/2010 – 10/2010
Responsible for internal and customer-facing documentation for web-based mobile device management product.

Wrote technical product descriptions, user guides, and technical notes for use by customers such as AT&T, Clearwire, and T-Mobile.

Key achievements:

  • Wrote the first product functional description for mFormation Service Manager, used for sales and contracts.
  • Standardized terminology to reduce customer and staff confusion which shortened the time of support calls.

Hewlett Packard
Senior Technical Writer and Analyst, 4/2000 – 03/2009
Responsible for internal and customer-facing documentation for HP’s Business Services Automation group’s operating system and desktop management solution for IT administrators.

Wrote and tested product manuals, troubleshooting guides, technical notes, and release notes. Installed and tested HP Client Automation. Created test environments and documented test cases. Created test data and modified scripts as needed to capture and publish operating system images, deploy software components for testing purposes and maintain operating systems on client devices. Analyzed log files to troubleshoot problems. Performed usability testing and troubleshooting. Mentored junior writers.

Key achievements:

  • Designed and developed a self-paced interactive product tutorial for HP Client Automation.
  • Received awards for commitment to quality, achievement and contribution, teamwork, and uncompromising integrity.

Learn.com
Product & Project Manager, 08/1996 – 04/2000
Managed product development for off-the-shelf and custom products from initial research through maintenance.

Created multimedia training products for Microsoft applications, related demos, web sites, and marketing materials. Developed and tracked project plans and budgets, resource planning, change and risk management for multiple projects. Assembled and directed teams of writers, artists programmers, and IT professionals. Supervised production and design of all collateral materials including web sites and packaging.

Software

Writing: SDL Content Management System including XMetaL, SnagIT, Adobe Acrobat Pro, DITA XML, OXygen, Bluestream CMS, Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat

Agile: Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian JIRA

Technical: Microsoft SQL Server, Postman, PutTy, Oracle VM Virtual Box, SQL WorkBench, Eclipse, Atlassian SourceTree, Tortoise Subversion, Beyond Compare, GIT, WinSCP

Other: Figma, Office365, Notepad++, Microsoft Visio, HTML help tools such as Robohelp and HTML Help Workshop

Education

Bachelor of Science, Corporate Communications
Ithaca College (1988-1992), magna cum laude