Technical Writer
Saint Paul, MN - USA
Job Summary
Varmoda is seeking an experienced Technical Writer to develop and modernize technical documentation for a cloud-based identity and access management environment. This role will create clear accessible and developer-focused content covering application integration onboarding configuration operations incident response and lifecycle management.
The ideal candidate will combine strong technical writing expertise with hands-on knowledge of Azure AD B2C now known as Microsoft Entra External ID identity protocols application registration CI/CD pipelines and accessibility standards. This individual will collaborate with developers platform administrators security professionals operations teams and other subject matter experts to transform complex technical information into accurate actionable documentation.
Key Responsibilities
- Audit existing identity and access management documentation including architecture materials policies onboarding guides operational runbooks and technical references.
- Identify documentation gaps redundancies inconsistencies outdated content and opportunities for consolidation.
- Develop a documentation improvement plan aligned with business technical operational security and user needs.
- Define documentation audiences including developers platform administrators security teams operations personnel and application owners
- Establish an organized content taxonomy covering conceptual procedural reference troubleshooting and operational information.
- Design a logical navigation structure that improves content discovery usability and maintenance.
- Establish and apply a consistent technical writing style guide based on plain-language principles and Microsoft Style Guide documentation conforms to applicable accessibility requirements including Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
- Develop standards for terminology formatting headings code examples screenshots links notes warnings and procedural content.
- Review technical documentation for clarity consistency accuracy readability and accessibility.
- Promote inclusive user-centered language across all documentation.
- Apply content governance practices supporting controlled reviews approvals versioning and publication.
- Create reusable documentation templates for:
- Solution overviews
- Concepts and architecture
- Step-by-step procedures
- Technical reference materials
- Troubleshooting guides
- Operational runbooks
- Release notes
- Change logs
- Define front matter and metadata standards to improve documentation search categorization ownership review scheduling and lifecycle management.
- Develop repeatable processes for drafting reviewing approving publishing maintaining and retiring technical content.
- Maintain documentation repositories using source control and collaborative authoring practices.
- Establish content ownership and periodic review expectations to keep documentation current.
- Develop step-by-step integration guides for applications connecting to Azure AD B2C or comparable external identity platforms.
- Document authentication and authorization implementations using:
- OpenID Connect
- OAuth 2.0
- SAML 2.0 where applicable
- JSON Web Tokens
- Proof Key for Code Exchange
- Create integration guidance for Microsoft Authentication Library implementations JavaScript Java and Python.
- Document application registration redirect URIs client types scopes claims user flows custom policies secrets and certificates.
- Explain authentication flows token acquisition token validation token refresh logout session management and error handling.
- Collaborate with architects developers and security specialists to validate the technical accuracy of integration documentation.
- Create concise quick-start guides for web applications single-page applications mobile applications and APIs.
- Develop minimal working examples for public and confidential client applications.
- Document PKCE token acquisition token refresh logout session management and related identity scenarios.
- Produce developer-facing code samples and configuration examples that follow secure implementation practices.
- Test documented procedures and examples to confirm that they are complete accurate and reproducible.
- Maintain version alignment between documentation code examples platform configurations and supported software development kits.
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive application onboarding playbook.
- Document intake requirements readiness criteria prerequisites dependencies and required approvals.
- Create reusable checklists for environment access tenant setup and application registration.
- Document configuration requirements for redirect URIs secrets certificates scopes claims authentication policies and permissions.
- Clarify stakeholder roles responsibilities handoffs review points and escalation paths.
- Develop onboarding materials that enable application teams to complete identity integration activities consistently and securely.
- Develop operational runbooks covering incident response escalation troubleshooting recovery and service restoration.
- Document emergency-access and break-glass procedures.
- Create procedures for change management release coordination certificate management renewal and rotation.
- Document monitoring and alerting practices using Azure Monitor Application Insights or comparable technologies.
- Develop guidance covering audit trails operational reporting event review and security monitoring.
- Work with operations and security teams to validate runbooks through walkthroughs exercises or documented reviews.
- Maintain clear ownership prerequisites escalation contacts dependencies validation steps and recovery criteria.
- Document development testing staging and production identity environments.
- Develop configuration references covering tenant settings application registrations policies keys secrets and certificates.
- Document custom-policy and policy-versioning practices.
- Create procedures for key secret and certificate rotation.
- Maintain guidance for platform branding localization and custom page content.
- Document configuration differences promotion processes and dependencies across environments.
- Ensure environment documentation remains aligned with approved architecture security and operational standards.
- Facilitate interviews workshops and content-review sessions with architects developers administrators security teams operations personnel and application owners.
- Translate technical discussions and subject matter expert input into clear accurate and actionable content.
- Resolve conflicting information by coordinating technical reviews and documenting approved decisions.
- Present documentation recommendations content strategies and identified gaps to project stakeholders.
- Provide knowledge-transfer sessions to internal teams as needed.
- Enable designated team members to maintain update and govern documentation after initial delivery.
Required Qualifications
Bachelors degree in Technical Writing English Communications Computer Science Information Technology or a related discipline.
An equivalent combination of relevant education and professional experience may substitute for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis.
Minimum 5 years of technical writing experience supporting cloud identity authentication authorization cybersecurity or related technology solutions.
Minimum 2 years of experience documenting Azure AD B2C or a comparable external identity and access management platform.
Demonstrated understanding of:OpenID Connect
OAuth 2.0
SAML 2.0
Microsoft Authentication Library
JSON Web Tokens
PKCE
Azure application registration
- Experience producing developer-facing integration guides quick starts API documentation code samples onboarding playbooks and operational runbooks.
- Experience applying plain-language principles and Microsoft Style Guide conventions.
- Demonstrated knowledge of Section 508 WCAG 2.1 Level AA or comparable digital accessibility requirements.
- Experience interviewing subject matter experts and translating complex technical information into clear procedural and reference content.
- Strong stakeholder facilitation listening interviewing writing editing and presentation skills.
- Ability to organize complex documentation sets through effective information architecture taxonomy metadata and navigation.
- Ability to provide relevant developer-facing identity documentation samples through portfolio links or attachments.
- Ability to work effectively with development architecture security platform administration operations and business teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience documenting CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps GitHub Actions or comparable automation platforms.
- Experience documenting pipeline-as-code automated builds testing release workflows and multi-environment deployments.
- Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code technologies including ARM templates Bicep and Terraform.
- Experience documenting identity integration for web applications single-page applications mobile applications and APIs.
- Familiarity JavaScript Java or Python development environments.
- Knowledge of secrets management certificate lifecycle management claims scopes custom policies and identity governance.
- Experience with Azure Monitor Application Insights logging monitoring alerting and operational reporting.
- Experience using Git-based documentation workflows and docs-as-code practices.
- Experience supporting public-sector healthcare financial services or other regulated environments.
- Understanding of security privacy records retention audit and information-governance requirements.
- Experience leading documentation audits content migrations taxonomy initiatives or documentation transformation programs.
- Familiarity with agile delivery methodologies and backlog-based documentation planning.
Required Certification
Candidates must hold at least one of the following certifications:
- Certified Professional Technical Communicator (CPTC)
- Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC-300)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
- Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC)
- An equivalent recognized Section 508 or WCAG accessibility credential
Preferred Certifications
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
- Additional cloud identity cybersecurity accessibility or technical communication certification
About Varmoda
Varmoda is a federal IT solutions provider founded in 2020 and headquartered in McLean Virginia delivering citizen-centric public services across Financial Assistance Public Benefits and Security & Defense domains. Our five-layer architecture Salesforce (Engagement) Databricks (Data) ServiceNow (Orchestration) Pega (Decisioning) and Oracle HR (Capacity) puts data at the common thread of every solution we build for federal agencies and the citizens they serve. Varmoda holds CMMI Maturity Level 3 ISO 9001 ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications and is recognized as a V3 veteran-friendly employer.
Why Varmoda
- Growth opportunity within a fast-scaling federal IT firm
- Direct impact on citizen-facing federal programs
- Competitive benefits including 401k health insurance Paid Time Off Life Insurance and others customize per role/location
- Veteran-friendly (V3) workplace culture