CHRISTIE L. WARD

OBJECTIVE:

Growing within my employment at Northrup Grumman Information Technology by utilizing my spectrum of skills in technical communications, training, and web design to serve internal and external customers, promoting NGIT’s growth and success.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Technical Writing. User documentation, manuals, training guides. Internal documentation of processes, policies and procedures. Help authoring, using Robohelp HTML, WebWorks Publisher, WinHelp, HTMLHelp, and web-based documents. Technical editing. Indexing. Research, interviewing, and authoring for whitepapers and presentations. Research of complex issues, culminating in crafting of thoroughly documented research papers.

Training/Course Design. Design and presentation of a wide variety of classes, including: Basic Intro to PCs, Win3.x, WinNT/2000, Win95/98, Lotus Notes, Netscape, Internet Explorer; Basic thru Advanced classes for Corel WordPerfect, MS Word, Visio, ChemDraw, Adobe PhotoShop, Corel PhotoPaint, Macromedia Fireworks, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, Adobe FrameMaker, and Quadralay WebWorks Publisher. Also skilled in providing 1-on-1 training at a variety of skill levels.

Support. FrameMaker, WordPerfect, Word, WebWorks Publisher, WinHelp, HTMLHelp, Photoshop, Corel Draw, PhotoPaint, Visio, ChemDraw, Macromedia Fireworks, Eudora, Lotus Notes 4.5.2, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Excel, PowerPoint. Comprehensive user support/help desk background with the ability to ably assist users of all skill levels. Experienced in 3rd-tier support and supervising/mentoring 1st and 2nd tier staff.

Web Page Design. Design and implementation of web pages, HTML coding, JavaScript. Extremely proficient in designing original graphics for webpage use using Macromedia Fireworks, Corel Photopaint, Adobe Photoshop, Visio and other graphics applications. Webpages for which I created all content, including HTML and graphics:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

05/07 – Present – Veteran’s Benefits Administration - Austin, Texas (contractor via Northrop Grumman IT)

Business Process Analyst 3. In addition to continuing the job duties I performed as a subcontractor, I am facilitating team efforts to create useful Functional User Requirements Documents (FURDs), the tools used to communicate between the Business Process SMEs and the development team the requirements for requested changes, upgrades, and additional functionality. Reviewing FURDs, evaluating the impact on development and existing systems, and preparing Documentation Responses articulating the effects of proposed changes. Participating in triage and evaluation of defects and spearheading efforts to completely document such changes.

01/07 – 05/07 – Veteran’s Benefits Administration - Austin, Texas (subcontractor via TEKSystems)

Technical Writer. Documenting the existing functionality of a front-end program connected to several databases for diverse audiences, including developers, QA testers, and business sponsors. Researching and documenting database variable parameters, forms, services, user permissions, process flows, etc. through SME interviews, Visual Basic and COBOL sourcecode, and project plan documents. Tracking defects and upcoming enhancements and revising documentation accordingly. Creation of process flow diagrams in Microsoft Visio. Creation and maintenance of complex documents in Adobe Framemaker.

01/06 – 04/06 – Surgient - Austin, Texas (contractor via Synergy Services)

Technical Writer/Illustrator. In this position, I was responsible for the design, research, interviews, writing and editing of the Surgient Management Console in-product help system for the company's version 5.0 release, produced using Robohelp HTML. Surgient's product line comprises a highly technical virtualization management system which may be hosted by Surgient or by client companies. Additionally, I pioneered the help "skin" and CSS design for the help systems for Surgient's whole spectrum of 5.0 products, creating a look and feel harmonious with the color scheme and graphics used in the products.

05/04 - 01/06 - Quickshift. Inc. - Austin, Texas (contractor via Synergy Services)

Webmaster. Spearheaded the complete redesign and rewriting of the corporate website at http://www.quickshift.com/ to support the company's active launch of its enterprise server software. Responsibilities include site design and forward planning for site expansion and improvements, usability planning and testing, HTML hand-coding and validation, image creation with Macromedia Fireworks and Adobe Creative Suite, as well as creation of tools using JavaScript and PHP. Also responsible for the creation of HTML emails for the marketing team and associated dedicated landing pages with product registration matching the look and feel of the outgoing emails.
Technical Writer/Illustrator. This position initially involved technical writing for the preparation of patent applications, whitepapers, user manuals, support documents, PowerPoint presentations and all other written materials. Over time this component shifted somewhat to involve maintenance and update of previously created materials, with most emphasis being placed on web content creation. Illustration tasks involve using Visio to create flowcharts and technical diagrams for patent applications and other documents, as well as using SnagIt and other graphics software to create illustrations and screenshots for use in manuals and other documentation.

01/01 - 05/03 - Display Search - Austin, Texas

Senior Production Manager. In addition to my prior duties, this position adds additional responsibilities, including: hiring, training, and management of Production Staff members; budgeting and review of expenses related to offset printing, graphics contractors, film production, photocopying and other printing and production-related items; coordination of inputs from multiple authors for newsletters and reports; distribution of electronic copies of our publications to the corporate website subscription system; software license purchase and maintenance for a variety of software tools used by the Production Staff; and a variety of other duties as needed. Responsible for the complete redesign and implementation of the new DisplaySearch website, launched January 2003.
Production Manager. This position involves all aspects of managing, layout, editing, and producing a variety of monthly, quarterly and annual reports for a rapidly growing, flat panel display market research firm. These duties include managing the production schedules of these reports, printer liaison, and highly technical editing of industry data collected and compiled by an international team of analysts. In addition, includes responsibilities in web design, content design, and general maintenance of the DisplaySearch website. Tools utilized include MS Word, Adobe Framemaker, PhotoShop, Exchange, Acrobat; Visio; Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks.

7/99 - 01/01 - Agillion.com - Austin, Texas

Technical Support Engineer. Included a wide variety of duties and roles in a fast-paced start-up environment, such as 3rd tier support on the Agillion service, troubleshooting complex issues such as synchronization; consulting on HTML and scripting for customer webpages; and 3rd tier escalations. Responsible for training and mentoring of 1st and 2nd tier support staff members. Continuing involvement and responsibility for development of dept. policies and knowledgebase. Served as the Agillion intranet webmaster, with full responsibility for site design, content and maintenance. Other duties included graphics development with Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Fireworks, Visio and other tools; in-house support on Agillion and 3rd party software, including Microsoft Windows OS's and MS Office, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Visio.

7/98 - 7/99 - Quadralay Corporation - Austin, Texas

Director of Technical Support Services. Management of the 3-person support department, including all phone, email and web-based support. Trained support and sales staff in-house, including developing training documentation and computer-based instruction. Responsible for development and maintenance of all product documentation and user manuals. Responsible for trade show planning, scheduling and set-up, providing technical support staff, and developing whitepapers and accompanying slides for presentation at trade shows.
Technical Support Specialist. Provided phone, email and web-based 1st and 2nd tier support, and customer on-site training/support for WebWorks Publisher 3.5, 4.0, and 2000. Required extensive knowledge of web design, HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, CSS, as well as authoring of WinHelp, HTMLHelp, and Sun JavaHelp. Authored, edited and published 750-page user manual for the WebWorks Publisher 2000.

12/97 - 7/98 - USER FRIENDLY (Contractor) - Austin, Texas

Technical Trainer. Duties included a wide range of training functions, including classroom training, developing classroom courses and courseware, 1on1 training, small group training and demonstration of software products. Responsible as the full-time Training Liaison and Coordinator for the largest division at 3M Austin, evaluating all training needs and arranging and/or providing necessary training at all levels. Provided expert technical writing support on an as-needed basis producing documentation, manuals, and catalogs.

10/96 - 12/97 - ARNOLD, WHITE AND DURKEE - Austin, Texas

Software Support Specialist. Extensive technical writing and desktop publishing, especially in the process of converting scientific reports, dissertations, and publications into patent applications for the U.S.P.T.O. and international patent offices. Designed and developed documentation, user manuals and training guides for a variety of software packages used in-house, as well as developing basic manuals for commercial software targeted for use in a legal practice. Duties included providing help desk support in an intellectual property law firm for a user community of 120 staff members ranging from those well-versed in computer operations to those just using a computer for the first time; troubleshooting problems encountered by the user community and communicating "Tips of the Day" to help others avoid the same pitfalls; designing and teaching classes in the use of a variety of software packages, including Word Perfect 6.1/Windows, MS Word 6.0c, MS Access and others.

EDUCATION

1/87-5/91 TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY - College Station, Texas
Overall GPA 3.01/4.0.

6/80-5/82 TRINITY UNIVERSITY - San Antonio, Texas
Completed 100 hours towards Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

8/78-5/79 TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY - Fort Worth, Texas
Completed 60 hours in pre-medical undergraduate studies.

Brainbench Certifications

Professional Education

Management Problems of the Technical Person in a Leadership Role/Fred Pryor, 1999
Life Office Management Assn (LOMA) Training, 1984-1991
Deming Method of Total Quality Mgmt Training, 1992
Professional Customer Svc Provider Training, 1993
Professional Customer Svc Telephone Training, 1994

Honors and Awards

President's Scholarship, Trinity University, 1980-1981
National Merit Scholar, 1980
National Honor Society, 1978-1980
Altrusa Achievement Award, 1980

ORGANIZATIONS/AFFILIATIONS

Member, Mensa International
Member, Society of Creative Anachronism
Member D.N.R.C.
Member, Appaloosa Horse Club

Writing and Graphics Samples

Writing and graphics development sample documents are available for your inspection at http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/resume/worksamp.htm Additional writing samples and training manuals are available in paper copies and will be provided upon request.

References and letters of recommendation are available.

List of References

Download this document

Resume in Microsoft Word format (46KB)
Right-click and select "Save As" to save to your local computer.

Resume in PDF format (35KB)
Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

This page was last updated on: