Technical Standards Specialist

Insured Retirement Institute

1d•$80,000 - $120,000

About The Position

The Digital First for Annuities Initiative at IRI is focused on adopting fast, modern, and streamlined processes across the Annuities industry for the financial professional and consumer journey. This involves creating standardized rules for essential data delivery. The Technical Standards Specialist will be responsible for creating, documenting, maintaining, and governing technical standards, including those expressed in YAML, webhooks, and event-based formats. This role requires translating complex technical requirements into clear, consistent, and usable documentation and standards for both technical and non-technical audiences, adhering to established Digital First standards, formats, and style guidelines. Collaborating with internal teams, industry experts, members, and other stakeholders, the specialist will help establish and maintain standards that are clear, scalable, well-documented, and aligned with industry needs. The ideal candidate possesses strong technical aptitude combined with excellent written and verbal communication, organization, and stakeholder-management skills.

Requirements

Hands-on expertise with YAML, JSON, APIs, webhooks, event streaming, Git/GitHub, or similar version-control environments
Understanding of structured data and schemas
Experience creating or maintaining technical standards, specifications, schemas, or configuration files
Ability to understand technical requirements and translate them into structured documentation
Familiarity with documentation tools and version-controlled documentation
Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences
Strong editing and proofreading skills
Comfortable working with external technical industry stakeholders
Able to diplomatically challenge inconsistencies or unclear requirements

Responsibilities

Create, document, and maintain YAML-based standards, event-based and webhook standards, schemas, configurations, and related technical specifications.
Apply and maintain consistent technical structures, naming conventions, validation requirements, and documentation practices across Digital First standards.
Review existing standards and identify opportunities to improve consistency, usability, clarity, and scalability.
Manage version control and document changes throughout the standards lifecycle.
Support the technical processes for reviewing, updating, and retiring standards.
Create clear, accurate, and accessible technical documentation for standards, schemas, specifications, and related processes.
Translate complex technical concepts into language that can be understood by both technical and non-technical audiences.
Develop documentation, implementation guides, reference materials, FAQs, and other resources to support adoption of standards.
Work with subject-matter experts, members, technology professionals, and other stakeholders to gather requirements and understand industry needs.
Facilitate discussions to clarify technical requirements and resolve differences in interpretation.
Communicate technical concepts and proposed standards clearly in meetings, presentations, and written materials.
Incorporate stakeholder feedback into standards and documentation while maintaining consistency and technical integrity.
Support member-facing education and communications related to standards and implementation.
Review YAML, webhook, and event-based documentation for accuracy, consistency, completeness, and adherence to established standards.
Identify ambiguities, inconsistencies, or gaps and work with stakeholders to resolve them.
Develop quality-control processes for standards and documentation.
Maintain a centralized and well-organized repository of standards and supporting documentation.