IT Help Desk Technical Writer

Leidos has an exciting opportunity for a Technical Writer on the Knowledge team to support our customer. The role supports the End-User Centric IT Support 2 (ECIS 2) contract for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The position is with the ECIS 2 Communications, Knowledge, and Training (CKT) team, based in Windsor Mill, MD (Baltimore).

More specifically, the position supports the CMS Enterprise Service Desk by working with their knowledge base of Tier 1 troubleshooting articles as well as maintaining a collection of self-service (Tier 0) articles for end users. 

NOTE: While the position and team are currently remote, there is a requirement to be available for on-site work at the Leidos or customer office at 3300 Lord Baltimore Drive in Baltimore, Maryland, as needed. This may include one-off or recurring meetings and could transition to a hybrid or full-time on-site arrangement at any time. Therefore, applicants should reside within reasonable commuting distance of the Baltimore, MD; Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; or Virginia areas to ensure flexibility for on-site availability.

Primary Responsibilities:

Under the direction of the Knowledge team's lead, you will:

• Write, edit, proofread and/or provide writing support for end user articles, such as FAQs and how-to guides with minimal proofreading errors, logical organization, and correct wording. And ensure that articles meet customer standards.

• Write, edit, proofread and/or provide writing support for IT troubleshooting articles, with minimal proofreading errors, logical organization, and correct wording. 

• Consult relevant sources, including subject matter experts, documents (and research), and client and project personnel, to obtain background information.

• Successfully learn and apply understanding of technical initiatives and processes for assigned tasks.

• Analyze task tickets and draw from prior experiences to determine what needs to be done to resolve tickets in a timely manner.

• Review your peer’s work and that of CKT team members.

• Create reports using the ServiceNow platform and Excel.

• Complete team and ad-hoc tasks within required timeframe.

• Attend and participate in meetings.

• Explain solutions, practices and procedures to others within the organization. 

• Work successfully within project teams and manage work independently through these processes, including internal and customer review and approval processes.

• Act as a knowledge lead for IT projects and efforts in the customer's IT environment.

• Work collaboratively as part of the Communications, Knowledge, and Training Team and in a matrix environment that includes project managers, IT engineers, and service delivery professionals.

Basic Qualifications:

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline (e.g., IT, Technical Writing, English, or Communications) and 2 or more years of prior relevant experience. Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of degree.

• Must have recent experience supporting an IT help desk in some capacity (drafting, reviewing, or suggesting revisions of troubleshooting articles) while using the ServiceNow platform (Remedy and Salesforce are acceptable equivalents) and be able to demonstrate a strong understanding of an enterprise IT environment.

• Ability to communicate effectively: You must be able to communicate technical ideas and questions in a clear and concise manner, both verbally and written, and in a professional manner.

• Ability to write effectively:  You must be able to write new documents as well as update existing ones with the following skills: proactive thinking, conciseness, logical organizing of ideas, excellent proofreading skills, and excellent use of proper grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. And you must write with an understanding that subtle changes can have broad changes in meaning.

• Analytical skills: Ability to correctly determine what should be said or written and what should be excluded, based on the audience and the intended outcome. After completing the training process, you must be able to recall the team's operating procedures and independently determine appropriate next steps for assigned tasks and apply past learnings consistently.

• Listening skills: Ability to follow a complex technical conversation, understand what information is relevant, and ask pertinent questions to solve the immediate problems. 

• Collaboration skills: Ability to work flexibly within your team and across multiple teams on shared tasks and products. 

• Ability to maintain a steady pace of working throughout the day.