Senior Technical Editor

Intuitive•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

Services Technical Publications provides the foundation for every procedure performed on Intuitive's advanced medical devices by the global Field Service team. Our content is authored in DITA and delivered through guided workflows, which progressively discloses content for field service technicians install, maintain, and repair Intuitive systems. In this role, you will combine expert editing skills with strategic thinking to develop and implement a comprehensive quality metrics program. You will work directly with technical writers, product teams, and stakeholders to ensure that hardware and software documentation meets our highest standards for clarity, accuracy, consistency, and usability within guided, step-by-step workflows. As an individual contributor with significant influence and authority, your success will be measured by your ability to drive quality improvements and positive outcomes through collaboration, coaching, and strategic program development—not through direct management, but through leadership and expertise.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
7+ years of professional editing experience in technical communications, with demonstrated expertise editing DITA-authored content for both hardware and software products.
Deep expertise in minimalist and task-based, topic-based authoring approaches.
Demonstrated ability to coach authors on these principles and evaluate content for adherence to minimalist standards.
Proficiency with IXIA or similar component content management systems (CCMS).
Ability to navigate the system, make edits directly, and move content through review workflows independently.
Experience developing or implementing editorial guidelines, style guides, or content quality standards.
Comfort with creating scalable, repeatable processes.
Proficiency with quality assurance tools such as Acrolinx, Congree, Grammarly, or equivalent.
Ability to evaluate tools and troubleshoot configuration issues.
Proven ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both in written and spoken formats.
Skill in explaining complex editorial feedback in a way that educates rather than demoralizes.
Experience working with metrics, data collection, or quality measurement.
Comfort with analyzing trends and using data to support recommendations.
Ability to influence and drive outcomes without direct authority.
Success collaborating with subject matter experts, product teams, and writers who may not report to you.

Nice To Haves

Experience with medical device, surgical instrument, or other regulated/high-stakes technical documentation.
Familiarity with content management systems, publishing workflows, or localization processes.
Experience training or coaching other writers or editors.
Understanding of how DITA-authored content serves guided workflows with progressive disclosure, and how editing decisions impact both user experience and compliance.

Responsibilities

Edit hardware and software technical documentation for clarity, accuracy, consistency, voice, tone, and usability.
Champion minimalist, task-based writing principles to ensure content serves the immediate needs of field service technicians.
Work directly with authors and SMEs to improve content quality across the publication lifecycle.
Make edits directly in IXIA, our component content management system, collaborating with technical writers and subject matter experts through the review workflow to implement changes efficiently.
Comfort navigating the system and driving content improvements end-to-end.
Develop and own a quality metrics program that establishes baselines, identifies improvement opportunities, and measures impact.
Use data-driven insights to guide editorial strategy and demonstrate ROI of editing services.
Design and implement best practices for technical content quality.
Create scalable processes, guidelines, and checklists that enable teams to self-serve and maintain consistency without bottlenecking editorial review.
Lead training and coaching initiatives.
Educate writers on minimalism, task-based authoring, topic-based writing principles, style, and grammar standards.
Establish regular office hours, workshops, or feedback sessions to build writer capability and confidence.
Configure and integrate content quality tools (Acrolinx, Congree, Grammarly, or similar) into the publication workflow.
Recommend technology solutions that enhance quality without creating friction for authors.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams—including product, UX, localization, and publishing—to align on quality standards and resolve editorial challenges.