We're building a world class product team responsible for designing a disruptive data warehouse and analytics platform. Our success depends on delivering a user experience that makes the complexity of our technologically sophisticated system seem simple. Ocient is looking for a Documentation Lead to own the overall documentation solution at Ocient. This includes understanding complex data warehousing topics, distilling them into easy to understand concepts, and putting documentation together for developers, database administrators, system administrators, and other Ocient users.

The Documentation Lead will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering leads to build documentation and knowledge base material so that our customers’ experience using Ocient and the tools that talk to Ocient is world-class. Our ideal candidate is knowledgeable about big data, distributed systems, data warehouses. You are passionate about making the complex simple and building user focused teams. Our primary users are data analysts, application developers, data engineers, database administrators, and dev ops staff, so familiarity with (and interest in) the development experience of engineers in the data stack is a plus!

We want to talk with you if:

• You are passionate about creating a complete documentation experience ranging from precise reference materials to accessible knowledge base guides
• You are looking for a new challenge working in a rapidly growing company and are ready to own the docs experience for across a broad range of topics.
• You are driven to build amazing, intuitive experiences that teach users with clarity, precision, and a depth of insight.
• You are a self-starter and strong individual contributor who knows how to look for problems that are worth solving, who can prioritize and plan, and who has the maturity to lead coworkers to guide your vision through implementation.
• You are a true team player who knows how to work in a cross-functional team of engineers, product, and operations to bring the developer experience and knowledgebase to life

Ocient is a very technical product with novel data warehousing capabilities. We are making it possible to analyze the world’s largest data sets, and the Documentation Lead will help us break new ground in educating users for how to do this.

As the Documentation Lead, you will own the user documentation and knowledge base. The Documentation Lead will be responsible for setting strategy, forming the technical writing team, and managing them on a day-to-day basis.

The Documentation Lead will need to dive deep to understand the components of an Ocient System and communicate key topics clearly so users can learn how best to use Ocient for their business. Beyond standard reference materials, the Ocient User Docs also need to present clear guides, tutorials, and educational content to teach customers how to design for Ocient and how to operate the system. The Documentation Lead will play a critical role in shaping our knowledge base strategy to bring dynamic content to life.

The Documentation Lead is accountable for the strategy, research, and design of Ocient’s documentation and knowledge base experiences from the presentation method down to the language used in reference manuals. This role will also participate in guiding future product decisions as we design for usability. You will also have opportunities to drive internal documentation and knowledge management efforts to support our growing engineering team. You will work closely with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Support to build truly excellent user documentation for our disruptive product.

This position reports directly into the Director of User Experience.

Responsibilities

• Work with developers, technology leaders, and other subject matter experts to gather and document product / service information
• Work with Marketing, Product Management, and Engineering to develop and write information for new product capabilities; including online help, release notes, product overviews, tutorials, blog posts, newsletter updates, specification sheets, and other product information as required
• Research, analyze, and translate analytical and technical business information, and communicate it in a clear, concise, and organized manner.
• Participate in product planning meetings to estimate documentation requirements.
• Research existing documentation, identify areas of concern, and works with SMEs to address them.
• Develop screenshots and conceptual graphics as required to illustrate procedures, concepts, and other information in the product information
• Develop technical presentations and demonstrations to support technical webinars and events.
• Master and implement new documentation and knowledge base tools
• Proactively suggesting and developing materials to align with strategic product and marketing objectives,
• Work with our Support team on customer feedback and solutions to improve product and service documentation / content for a better customer experience
• Edit text for technical clarity, accuracy, grammar, consistent terminology, and style
• Recruiting, mentoring, and management of technical writer staff.

Qualifications

Experience

• Technical writing experience for software products and developer-oriented projects
• Experience managing a user documentation offering
• Experience working with SQL, Databases, or other analytical products
• Experience in instructional design, training, and education, and/or experience in database and data warehouses a plus
• A balance between strategic thinking with a keen sense of writing style

• Ability to leverage Ocient’s brand voice across all user documentation (e.g., even though the documentation will be technical in nature, it would be helpful for the person to consider our brand voice and opportunities to “be Ocient” in their work)

Skills

• Strong communication skills with an ability to articulate complex concepts clearly
• Strong PC skills including working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Google for Business Apps and other publishing software
• Ability to effectively communicate with engineers, marketing, and product managers
• Quickly able to learn new technology and industry trends
• To multitask in a fast-paced environment while meeting deadlines
• Detail oriented and well organized
• The ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Hiring, developing, and mentoring of staff

Minimum Qualifications

We want all team members to succeed in their roles at Ocient. That's why we've outlined the job requirements below. To be considered for this role, it's important that you meet all Minimum Qualifications. If you do not meet all Preferred Qualifications, we still encourage you to apply.

• Bachelor's Degree English, Journalism, Communications or related field;
• 4+ years of experience in professional writing, project management, or related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree English, Journalism, or related field
• 6+ years of experience in professional writing, project management, or related field in a software company
• Experience with databases, data systems, big data, or analytics products
• Experience leading a technical documentation team
• Experience writing content targeting technically-savvy business leaders, such as CIOs and CTOs

About Ocient:

Ocient is a venture-funded startup building data analytics solutions for the world’s largest datasets. Founding the company in 2016, Ocient’s management team has had numerous successful startup exits including Cleversafe, the largest startup exits in Chicago’s history. Ocient is tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems in database scale, performance, and usability. Ocient employees also care deeply about our customers, each of which we work with closely.