Technical Writer

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory - Laurel, MD

Full-time - Mid Level

Laurel, MD

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is seeking motivated and creative Technical Writers to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for writing and maintaining vital documentation related to cutting-edge work on critical programs associated with national security. You will collaborate closely with hardware, software, and design engineers to transform highly technical information into easy-to-understand references, manuals, and published standards. This position requires a strong command of the English language and the ability to organize, structure, edit, and format technical documents effectively. As a Technical Writer, you will plan, create, and revise both classified and unclassified documents for our industry and government partners. You will keep abreast of the latest standards throughout the document review process, providing leadership with feedback on impacts to our standards. Your responsibilities will include inputting and formatting text, tables, and graphics, as well as interacting with teammates, artists, project managers, authors, and other partners to define project requirements and resolve content, production, and scheduling issues. You will also create and maintain technical installation and integration manuals for various payloads and platform systems, develop, edit, refine, and proofread user guides and operation manuals for various cyber system architectures, and investigate and maintain a catalog of industry options across several categories of network technology. Additionally, you will interview and collaborate with subject-matter experts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the technical work and compile, maintain, and disseminate points of contact lists.

Responsibilities

• Plan, create, and revise classified and unclassified documents for industry and government partners from highly technical information.
• Keep up to date on the latest standards throughout the document review process to increase understanding and provide leadership with feedback on impacts to our standards.
• Input and format text, tables, and graphics.
• Interact with teammates, artists, project managers, authors, and other partners to define project requirements and resolve content, production, and scheduling issues.
• Create and maintain technical installation and integration manuals for various payloads and platform systems.
• Develop, edit, refine, and proofread user guides and operation manuals for various cyber system architectures.
• Investigate and maintain a catalog of industry options across several categories of network technology, such as IDS, CDS, data transfer and storage solutions, etc.
• Interview and collaborate with subject-matter experts to gain an understanding of the technical work.
• Compile, maintain, and disseminate points of contact lists.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in English or a related technical discipline.
• 3+ years of relevant experience with similar technical writing efforts for the Department of Defense (DoD) or DoD contractors.
• Experience writing and editing formal publications and technical documents for organization, grammar, usage, and clarity.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a superior command of the English language.
• A proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with an eye for prioritization.
• A proven ability to learn and understand complex topics quickly.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Ability to obtain Secret level security clearance.

Nice-to-haves

• A master's degree or higher in an engineering discipline.
• At least 5 years of technical/engineering work experience.
• Experience working with complex cyber architecture.
• Experience with grant writing.
• An active security clearance.
• Ability to generate formal electrical and/or mechanical drawings using Cameo.
• Experience creating graphics for use in printed or electronic publications.
• Experience creating documentation in accordance with (NIST) SP 800-37, Risk Management Framework (RMF).
• Experience using markup languages (Markdown, JSON, reStructuredText, etc.)

Benefits

• Generous benefits including a robust education assistance program.
• Unparalleled retirement contributions.
• Healthy work/life balance.