Technical Writer

What it officially is

Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.

O*NET, US Department of Labor · classified as “Technical Writers”

What the work involves

  • Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Maintain records and files of work and revisions. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Assist in laying out material for publication. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication. 89% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Develop or maintain online help documentation. 88% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail. 88% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail. 88% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Review manufacturer's and trade catalogs, drawings and other data relative to operation, maintenance, and service of equipment. 88% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Draw sketches to illustrate specified materials or assembly sequence. 88% of people in this occupation report doing this

What they call it

Large employers

  • Technical Author (multiple roles and seniority levels) Canonical Ltd.
  • Manager I, Documentation Datadog

Tools the occupation uses

Application server software GitHub
Computer aided design CAD software Autodesk AutoCAD, Dassault Systemes CATIA, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
Computer based training software Adobe Captivate
Content workflow software Atlassian JIRA
Data base user interface and query software Author-it, FileMaker Pro
Desktop publishing software Corel Ventura, Adobe InDesign, Adobe FrameMaker

How well this role is advertised

65listings reviewed
58/100median HR-standards score
59/100median title accuracy

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Official definitions and responsibilities come from public occupational records — O*NET (US Department of Labor) and ESCO (European Commission). The employer half is counted from listings on this board and shown with its denominator. Nothing on this page is written by a language model: the measured half is arithmetic over real postings, and the official half is quoted.