Steven Zegas
Senior Technical
Writer & Analyst
Business & Technical Communications
- steven@techwordsmith.com
- 510-464-5979
- Alameda, CA
Experience
Extensive experience providing business and technical communications deliverables and guidance for executive, management, technical and consumer audiences, and for organizations and teams within many business sectors:
- Biotech
- Healthcare
- Telecommunications
- Utility and energy
- Financial services
- Enterprise business systems
- Software and hardware developers
- Network management and application service providers
- Marketing and creative agencies
- Education, non-profit organizations and governmental organizations
Qualifications
- Highly experienced at leveraging the documentation process to help stakeholders clarify their objectives, audience, message and specific communications.
- Broad subject matter knowledge across sectors, technologies, and business functions.
- Versatile writing skills to address communication needs and objectives.
- Applies process and technical analyst skills to develop insight and document solutions.
- Expert in presentation and design, and in developing and maintaining templates, styles and standards.
- Leadership and training for documentation process, best practices and quality/compliance.
Portfolio
- Policies and procedures
- Specifications and requirements
- Hardware and software user guides
- Quick start guides
- Instructional materials and maintenance guides
- Network and systems administration manuals
- Disaster recovery plans
- Reports and presentations
- Website content
- Conference displays
- Marketing communications
- Technical white papers and data sheets
- Brochures and success stories
- Business plans, proposals and grant requests
- HR and corporate communications
Expertise
- Identify and document solutions to business needs and technology challenges. Conduct research, analyze information, interview subject matter experts, and utilize draft and source documentation.
- Plan content and delivery to communicate key concepts, core messages, and essential business, technical or product information.
- Create and improve documentation features, organization, content, messaging and terminology to enhance usability. Develop innovative presentations of information and graphic design.
- Manage and develop standard operating procedures and work instructions for documentation production, versioning and repositories.
Employment Overview
- Contract positions – 2016-2024. Business and technical documentation specialist and manager for biotech and IT companies: Kyowa Kirin, Merck, LabCorp, Gilead Sciences, Uber, GS1, Castlight Health, Contra Costa EHSD IT.
- Contract positions. Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA – 2007-2016. Business and technical communications, technical documentation specialist, project lead, business process and technical analyst.
- Employee. SoloW2, Concord, CA – 1999-2007. Business and technical documentation specialist. Provided professional services for health care, energy, telecom, bio-tech and IT companies.
- Contract positions – 1996-1999. Technical documentation, business and marketing communications.
Authoring & Collaboration Tools
- Microsoft 365
- Word
- Teams
- Visio
- PowerPoint
- SharePoint
- Google Docs
- Acrobat
- Photoshop
- Trello
- Slack
- SmartSheet
- LucidChart
- Confluence
- Various CMS (Veeva)
Recognition & Education
- Trainer – Developed “The Word Whisperer” advanced training for creating and using MS Word templates for controlled documentation, based on custom templates and style sheets.
- Judge – Touchstone technical writing competition (six years). Society for Technical Communication.
- Author/prize winner – Top-five winner of international essay competition, The Future of Human Civilization. Awarded a trip to a one week long conference attended by over 2000 people, in Hannover, Germany (1988).
- Graduate – John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA. B.A. Liberal and Professional Studies (1990).
Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceuticals, Princeton, NJ
Senior Manager, Compliance & Planning, Global Regulatory Affairs
- Co-lead of Global Regulatory Affairs (GRA), Standard Operating Procedure Working Group (SOP WG) reporting to North American VP of Regulatory Affairs and Global Head of Compliance and Planning.
- Planned and developed the SOP WG Charter, SOP & Work Instructions (for the SOP WG), and the SOP WG 2024 Vision and Strategic Plan including six core deliverables/workstreams.
- Created SOP and WI templates based on a standardized set of MS Word styles, including template instructions.
- Developed and provided comprehensive training (and guides) for SOP/WI development procedure, process, best practices and skills, delivered to all GRA regions and sub-functions.
- Facilitated the development of SOP/WI documentation with business and operations process owners.
- Trained in Veeva Quality Documents. Developed an Enhanced SOP/WI Global Inventory and additional forms, to support documentation assessment, analysis, planning, tracking, and metrics.
May 2023 to May 2024 (100% Remote)
Merck & Co Inc, Rahway, NJ
Senior Technical Writer, Asset Management
- Developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and Implementation Guide for the asset management leadership team and IT end-user support teams in five regions globally.
- Developed a documentation plan for SOPs and job aids.
February 2023 to April 2023 (100% Remote)
LabCorp of America, Burlington, NC
Senior Technical Writer, Network Security
- Provided documentation to support an enterprise-wide, multi-year initiative to upgrade network security to a zero-trust architecture (NSP – Network Security Posture.)
- Developed the NSP Implementation Playbook, Standard Operation Procedures (SOP), process flowcharts, work instructions and additional deliverables in support of implementation and operations.
- Managed content within project libraries, assessed needs, and developed a documentation plan.
November 2021 to July 2022 (100% Remote)
Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA
Procedural Documentation Developer (PDD), Development Operations
- Collaborated with and supported process owners and process teams to evaluate documentation requirements, and to develop and revise Standard Operation Procedures (SOP), Work Instructions (WI) and Procedural Forms (PF) to support all phases of drug development projects.
- Created a Documentation QA Tool in OneNote, for a team of Procedural Documentation Developers to use to improve quality and conformity of documentation (outline, terminology, style, and scope of content) across all defined processes. Streamlined QA practices, eliminated redundancy of work and improved quality outcomes.
- Developed advanced MS Word templates for all SOP and WI within the scope of work of the procedural documentation development team and provided training to address long-standing quality issues.
November 2020 to February 2021 (100% Remote)
Uber Technologies, San Francisco, CA
Third Party Risk Management SOPs
- Authored a series of Standard Operating Procedures, complex process and data flow charts, and application instructions, to capture business and technical practices required to meet compliance standards that help to mitigate risk and exposure from third-party engagement.
December 2019 to June 2020 (100% Remote)
GS1 Global Office, South Princeton, NJ
Applications Implementation & User Guides, Technology Marketing Collateral
For the company that invented the barcode and that develops and supports standards and systems to enable billions of barcodes and scans to work globally and harmoniously:
- Worked with US and international teams to develop systems implementation and administration, marketing, and end-user documentation for Activate: Activate Member Organization Implementation Guide, Activate User Guides, Activate GO Getting Started, Activate GO Introduction and Activate FAQs.
- Developed reference, user and administration documentation for GS1 services: Check Service, User Profile Management User Guide, GTIN Registry, GCP Registry. Co-authored RFP for Managed Services.
- Lead a team of SMEs to produce the GS1 Registry Platform Application and Infrastructure Design Document (AIDD), a comprehensive architecture of the company’s core service offerings and technology footprint.
- Collaborated with marketing, product managers and leadership to develop core technical communications addressed to global GS1 Member Organizations. Developed Issue Sheets and Project Briefs for the CTO, Leadership Team and Management Board meetings.
Castlight Health, San Francisco, CA
Security and Compliance Policies, Procedures, Standards and Guidelines
- To meet international compliance requirements for healthcare related applications and services, developed a Compliance Documentation Framework including compliance documentation Policies, Procedures, Work Instructions, Standards and Guidelines; and a set of Templates, to serve as a platform for all company wide compliance documentation efforts. The framework meets requirements for ISO 27001, HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC, SOX, and PCI.
- Developed Policies and Procedures within the Compliance Documentation Framework.
January 2018 to March 2018
Contra Costa County, Employment & Human Services Department, Pleasant Hill, CA
IT Policies & Procedures
- Authored a set of IT policies and procedures to address key, high-risk gaps identified in several external and internal audits of the EHSD IT data center, including: IT Asset Management Policy, Information Asset Management Policy, Patch Management Policy, Policy Review Policy, General Logging Policy, Logging Specifications Policy, Logging Retention Policy, Logging Monitoring Policy, Logging Systems Policy, and Logging Reporting Policy.
- Performed an analysis of current technical practices and procedures, to best align new policies and procedures to the operational environment.
March 2017 to June 2017 (100% Remote)
Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA
Disaster Recovery Program Procedures
- Developed core deliverables for the Disaster Recovery program in support of Business Continuity objectives.
- Authored IT Standard Operating Procedures (ITOP) for disaster recovery planning and testing, and IT Work Instruction (ITWI) for the enterprise-wide DR integrated test exercise to back up and recover live production systems.
- Developed communications and templates for the annual enterprise-scale disaster recovery exercise.
- Provided process analysis to identify gaps and opportunities for program development. Developed collateral to support DR program objectives.
October 2016 to January 2017
Kaiser Permanente - Summary of Contract Roles: 2007 to 2016
- Over an eight-year period and five contracts in multiple, hybrid roles, produced a broad portfolio of business and technical communications for Business and IT initiatives and projects in Revenue Cycle, Health Information Exchange, National Investments Governance, and with other organizational entities.
- In key roles, performed and supported functions including business analysis, technical analysis, gap and needs assessment, project management, and solutions development. Coordinated efforts and deliverables between project teams, internal customers and resources, vendors, and partner health care provider organizations.
- Defined and developed communications addressed to diverse audiences and business objectives – such as standard technical collateral, targeted communications for a CxO audience, and public-facing communications.
- 2015-2016 – Operations Documentation, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Compliance
- 2015 – Business Process Communications, National Investments Governance
- 2012-2014 – Business and Technical Communications, KPIT Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Care Connectivity Consortium (CCC)
- 2010-2012 – Technical Writer / Communications, KPIT Revenue Cycle
- 2007-2009 – Technical Writer / Analyst, KPIT Revenue Cycle
Kaiser Permanente, Pleasanton, CA
Operations Documentation, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Compliance
- Supported an initiative to transfer operations from development teams to standard operations organizations.
- Collaborated with multiple teams to identify users and documentation needed for ongoing operations.
- Helped define documentation quality requirements, and to develop a baseline (reference) process map representing the entire ETL solution comprised of multiple source systems, hundreds of ETL processes, QA, and reporting to CMS.
2015-2016
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
Business Process Communications, National Investments Governance
- Joined the National Investments Council core team to develop and refine complex Process Flows, Policies, and Standard Operating Procedures for the planning, operations and oversight of $700M annual IT investment.
- Lead the cross-functional, senior level, core team through development and revision of deliverables critical to a multi-year, business process reengineering initiative, with direct oversight of the CFO.
April 2015 to September 2015
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
Business and Technical Communications, KPIT Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Care Connectivity Consortium
- Developed content for the inter-regional Health Information Exchange Annual Summit addressed to executive and senior leaders across the Business and IT domains.
- For the Care Connectivity Consortium worked closely with the core team, KP Communications, HIE technology leaders, and partner health care organizations (Geisinger, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, etc.) to articulate and refine key messages for public-facing collateral.
- For HIMSS 2014, composed the CCC White Paper and the core presentation, Overcoming Key Challenges in Health Information Exchange, which explain the CCC’s focus and innovation for interoperability.
- Managed all aspects of the Care Connectivity web site on the WordPress platform: lead the development of new content reflecting changes to the core mission and objectives; managed updates in design and for ADA compliance; worked with multiple vendors for coding, publishing and hosting; maintained a library of art, styles and templates; maintained a domain administration handbook.
- Produced graphic design and art for web, print, and presentation materials.
December 2012 to March 2014
Kaiser Permanente, Pleasanton, CA
User Documentation, Disaster Recovery Plan, Communications, KPIT Revenue Cycle
- Delivered technical and user documentation for the Revenue Cycle Reporting and Analytics program.
- Developed, maintained or managed technical designs, requirements, specifications, security compliance, disaster recovery plans, support and administration guides, and other project collateral for a Revenue Cycle Data Mart and Business Intelligence reporting tool.
- Wrote the MARC – Metrics and Analytics for Revenue Cycle User Guide and Quick Start Guides for executives, business analysts, application managers and other user groups across all Kaiser regions.
- Lead writer and developer of the MARC Disaster Recovery Plan. Engaged more than a dozen SMEs and operations teams (DBA, network, storage, infrastructure, etc.) to develop a disaster recovery plan for a highly customized off-the-shelf data mart solution.
- For the SVP, lead the development and production of conference displays and presentations to showcase ten best-of-class KPIT platform solutions to demonstrate progress and ROI to key stakeholders, funders and executive leadership.
March 2010 to February 2012
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
Technical Writer / Analyst, KPIT Revenue Cycle
- Provided business and technical documentation, solutions design, and consulting services for the development and implementation of front-end Revenue Cycle systems across Kaiser regions.
- Worked with national and regional business and IT organizations, and ASP vendors to develop solutions to streamline and enhance business processes and increase revenue.
- Developed technical designs, process workflows, requirements, requirements, specifications, implementation and deployment plans, and other project collateral. Maintained project CDP and SOX documentation.
November 2007 to June 2009
Philips Medical Systems, Foster City, CA
Technical Writer - Standards, Quality, Training
- Created documentation standards, instructions, processes and templates for use by Quality, Regulatory, Engineering, and Information Development groups for customer-facing technical and marketing collateral.
- Provided a curriculum and training for developing, maintaining and using templates for controlled documentation, for all collaborating teams.
- Revised and edited technical documentation addressed to internal and external customers ranging from developers to HIS/RIS managers.
2007
Abbott Diabetes Care, Alameda, CA
Technical Writer, Medical Devices
- Wrote diabetes care Health Management System User Guide(s) for US and international release.
- Defined and developed content to meet customer, product and quality requirements in collaboration with regulatory affairs, developers, engineering, marketing, customer support and project management teams.
- For a new medical device, wrote Instructions For Use, addressed and included human factors (usability) and FDA requirements.
2006-2007
Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont, CA
Process & Procedures, Requirements, Systems Implementation
- For the information systems critical to providing patient care and services, created and managed the development of Downtime and Recovery Procedures.
- As part of a system-wide upgrade of McKesson and other HL7-based applications, worked with clinical departments and IT resources across the organization to define requirements for 21 tier-one systems.
2006
Novartis (Chiron), Emeryville, CA
CMS Requirements, Specifications, Templates
- Edited and managed requirements documentation and templates critical to the design of a complex, multi-phase implementation of a regulatory Content Management System, including Design Specification Documents, Functional Specification Documents, and Trace Matrix.
2006
OSIsoft, San Leandro, CA
Systems Administration Manual, Templates, Standards
- Edited and revised an eight-volume systems administration manual for a real-time performance management platform, the flagship product of a $100 million company.
- Developed templates, publishing standards, procedures, and boilerplate content to support a large scale single-sourcing, content management and localization initiative.
2005-2006
Bio-Logic, Alameda, CA
User Guides, Application UI
- Designed a new and enhanced user interface (UI) for release 2.0 of a business-system application. Improved messaging, features, functionality, and usability.
- Wrote the Gym Assistant 2.0 User Guide, and supplemental Installation, Quick Start, Peripheral Technology, and Quick Reference guides.
2005
Nobis Interactive, Vista, CA
Marketing Communications, Content for Creative Agency's own Website
- For an interactive marketing agency, authored comprehensive marketing collateral (including full website and sales proposal content) for the agency itself.
- Developed agency branding, identity, core strategy, key messages, and value propositions.
- Wrote competitive-edge descriptions of agency core services: Strategic Marketing, Media and Website Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Marketing Analytics, Paid Search and PPC, Campaign Strategy, Customer Retention, and Applications Development.
2005
Novartis (Chiron), Emeryville, CA
Senior Technical Writer, Analyst
- Developed corporate-wide operations policies and procedures for the global DMZ network, based on the Cisco 6509 chassis.
- Addressed international business units and organizational effectiveness.
- Documentation included: DMZ Network Patch Management Policies and Procedures, DMZ Systems Access and Control Policies and Procedures, Change Management System (Quick Start Guide), and a three-part DMZ Network Configuration, Operations and Maintenance Guide.
2004
SK Telecom International, San Jose, CA
Principal Writer, Business Development Proposals
- For South Korea’s largest wireless telecommunications service provider, developed and revised proposals (and an RFI) in support of business development and technology partnerships with tier-one wireless carriers in the Americas.
- The business and technical proposals cover advanced intelligent peripheral systems, includingthey include Executive Summary, Value Proposition, Systems Design, Implementation, Operations, Consortium Partnership, Service Agreement and related content.
2003-2004
Authenex, Hayward, CA
Lead Technical Writer, User Guides, UI Design, Publications Standards
- Wrote administration and user guides for a VPN and LAN security technology development company.
- Established versioning and publishing guidelines, created documentation templates, and wrote Technical Documentation Standards and Procedures.
- Created documentation for systems administrators and end-users for five product suites based on a USB token that provides encryption, authentication, and certificate storage, including: ASAS Administration Guide, HDLock User Guide; Kensington PCKey User Guide; ASafe User Guide; and several A-Remote Client User Guides (for NetScreen-Remote, SafeNet, Cisco VPN, and Citrix users.)
- Wrote release notes, read-me, packaging insert, and quick start instructions.
- Contributed to applications development and design including usability, QA, and UI messaging.
2003-2004
Telespree Communications, San Francisco, CA
Marketing and Technical Communications
- Created cross-functional business development and operations documentation for advanced intelligent CDMA / IP network technology that allows non-programmed, non-provisioned wireless devices to access wireless carrier’s networks – for 100% customer-driven account setup, service provisioning, and device programming.
- Wrote Technology Overview/Executive Summary; System Overview; and Troubleshooting Reference Guide.
2003
Inovant (Visa International), San Mateo, CA
HR Communications Writer
- Wrote intranet content; worked with human resources and corporate communications to create the Inovant Human Resources web site (a reference model web site for the development team.)
- Developed the Inovant Employee Handbook.
2002
Chevron Information Technology Company, San Ramon, CA
Technical Writer, Systems Administration, Analyst, UI Design
- For one of the world’s largest corporate intranets (at the time) GIL = Global Information Link, wrote GILServ User Reference Guide, GILServ System Administration Reference Guide, and technical collateral for an enterprise-class asset management system for 35,000 employees (users) globally.
- This complex system includes seven account types (general, manager, audit, admin, etc.) each with a unique UI/UX. Documentation includes all user groups.
- Contributed to usability, QA testing and UI design for a complex, web-based application.
2001-2002
BroadVision, Redwood City, CA
Marketing Communications, Standards, Templates
- Created publication standards and template sets for SODs, MRDs, FAQs, and white papers, comprised of style guides, formatting examples, templates, and Word master documents. Converted documentation sets to new formats.
- Developed procedures and taught Word formatting and use of templates to sales and marketing teams to assure uniformity of styles across publications, groups and regions.
2000-2001
Callisma, Emeryville, CA
Business Communications, Templates, Training
- Edited over 125 Professional Services Biographies of advanced IT, networking, and systems professionals for an outsourcing/consulting organization.
- Designed the biography style, created templates and instructions for use.
2000-2001
Nuasis, San Jose, CA
Marketing Communications - Data Sheets, Templates
- Developed and produced marketing collateral consisting of Data Sheets and Application Notes for an application service provider’s suite of applications for a hosted CRM contact center.
2000
Genentech, South San Francisco, CA
Process & Procedures, Regulatory SOPs, User Guide
- For the group that maintains more than 30,000 laboratory notebooks, wrote and edited Standard Operating Procedures and User Guide for a web-based tracking system.
- Developed processes to address regulatory requirements and improve operations.
2000
Synopsys, Mountain View, CA
Electrical Engineering Guide, Format Conversions
- Wrote Optimization and Analysis for Low Power Design – Methodology Guide for ASIC and IC design houses and designers.
- Converted four Command Reference Manuals and Programmer’s Guides from Word to FrameMaker.
1999
Stone Products Corp., Napa, CA
Manufacturing Process, Illustrations, Standards, Quality
- Compiled data, designed and produced a series of Manufacturing Process Specifications manuals with technical drawings. Developed and documented manufacturing procedures, standards, and quality control methods.
- Wrote Stone Products Manufacturing Guide, a four-part instructional manual to assist in transferring technology to a new manufacturing plant.
1999
ProBusiness, Pleasanton, CA
Standard Template Sales Proposal, Training, Instructional Guide
- Wrote payroll/HRMS system standard Sales Proposal.
- Designed templates, wrote instructional guides and conducted in-house training for technical support and sales personnel to maintain uniformity, and improve quality and efficiency.
1999
WINS, Inc., (AT&T Wireless), Burlingame, CA
Enterprise-Level Systems Administration Manual
- Wrote Administration and User Manual for an SS7 wireless billing application for ATT Wireless.
- Service is a Tandem-platform application that provides cellular customer roaming location, database query, call routing, statistics reporting, and related network and billing functions.
1998
ELO TouchSystems, Fremont, CA
Marketing Communications, Success Stories
- Wrote trade journal articles and success stories, and published marketing communications collateral about touch-screen technology solutions.
1998
Verizon (AirTouch Communications), Walnut Creek, CA
Implementation Plans, Test Plan, Report, Proposal
- Wrote and designed a graphic-rich, 5-year Network Implementation Plan for SS7 digital wireless network architecture planning for seven U.S. markets.
- Edited Authentication Center Network Integration Test Plan (for fraud prevention).
- Wrote Over-The-Air Service Provisioning System – Integration Testing Work Plan.
- Wrote Test Report of digital wireless network switch equipment.
- Edited Proposal for $1 million contract for a cellular fraud detection and prevention system.
1996-1997
Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, San Francisco, CA
Editor/Desk Top Publisher - Landmark Review of Case Management Systems
- Edited, designed and published 260-page, hard bound Evaluation of Case Management Systems for state-wide courts’ MIS departments, comparing design, features and functions of 15 systems. The comprehensive report was distributed widely to CA and many other states’ legislature and courts systems.
1996-1997
ARK Media Group, San Francisco, CA
Art Director, Graphic Designer
- Designed, edited and produced hard-copy catalogs, VHS packaging, sales sheets, point-of-sale displays, business forms, and newspaper and magazine display ads for a national distribution company of specialty videos, CDs, and cassettes.
1994-1996
Chevron Research and Technology Co., Richmond, CA
Copy Editing, Design, Desktop Publishing
- Designed, produced and copy-edited the Contracts Manual, the Cost Estimating Manual, and technical publication library catalogs for distribution to Chevron’s global subsidiaries.
- Desktop published one thousand pages of engineering specifications and complex operations and procedures manuals including technical illustrations and equations for Chevron refineries.
1991-1992
Steven Zegas c. 1996-2024, All Rights Reserved.
