KB Sousa
KB Sousa
Principal Technical Writer

Driving communication. Empowering people.

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Connecting people is my purpose—in life, at work, and among friends.

 

I’m a professional writer with an eye for identifying complex issues. I enjoy digging into the difficult, ambiguous challenges inherent to the tech industry, and I thrive on distilling those challenges into actionable plans. Above all, I architect simple, straightforward solutions that exceed customer expectations.

My twelve years of industry experience span B2B, B2C, mobile app, and internal developer documentation. I create measurable strategies for major initiatives and rally cross-functional teams to execute those strategies.

I know the key to effective communication is listening. I focus foremost on the audience, finding root problems and building trustworthy relationships to deliver clean, concise communication solutions. Over the years, I’ve developed an adept ability to manage many different projects at once—connecting global teams and improving organizational efficiency. I love what I do, and my goal is for you to love it too.

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Experience

 
 
 
 

Principal tech writer, Iodine Software (2021-Present)

  • Develop strategic plans for year over year content improvement and team growth

  • Translate strategy into actionable, measurable technical writing goals

  • Create information architectures for complex internal and external documentation projects

  • Manage Zendesk Knowledge Base, including a major knowledge base overhaul in 2022

  • Develop end-user content such as user guides, Pendo updates, release notes, and online help

  • Improve internal communication availability, navigability, and maintenance

  • Founding ambassador for company LGBTQ+ affinity group

 

Senior technical writer, platform science (2021)

  • Worked with subject matter experts to create product and developer documentation

  • Researched, identified, and recommended knowledge management tools (e.g., Guru, Stonly)

  • Developed architecture for internal and external documentation systems

  • Advised content creators on developing content / edit content

  • Participated in interviewing process and mentored junior writers

 

Technical content Architect, Indeed (2017-2021)

  • Served as lead content architect for all Indeed data teams; created an end-to-end data education system and company-wide data conference

  • Drove communications between a variety of stakeholders on many different platforms  

  • Created and executed communication plans for global rollouts of new technology and policy  

  • Balanced many shifting priorities and projects of varying sizes in the Data, Engineering, and Legal organizations  

  • Coordinated, wrote, edited, and published documentation for both company-wide and team-specific programs and initiatives  

  • Conducted interviews with candidates and participated in the hiring process 

 

Technical Writer II, Q2ebanking (2016-2017)

  • Worked with a variety of teams to create, update, and maintain user/admin documentation for a recommendations engine in the FinTech industry. 

  • Acted as Scrum Master to implement and maintain an Agile process for technical writers. 

  • Participated in interviews as part of the hiring process.

 

Documentation Manager, Trucker Path (2015-2016)

  • Created and implemented a corporate documentation and content strategy, including the development of a distinct marketing voice for the Trucker Path brand. 

  • Created complete user guides for a mobile app and two desktop SaaS offerings. 

  • Created a truck parking white paper and continued to assist with white paper editing after departure from company in a freelance capacity.

 

Technical Writer, Accruent (2012-2015)

  • Transformed two incomplete Microsoft Word documents into a fully functional, context-sensitive online help system and added over 200 pages of content to PDF guides.

  • Helped create and implement documentation standards aligning 6 different product lines.

  • Conducted interviews as part of the hiring process and helped onboard new writers.

 

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Skills

 

Core competencies

  • Identifying complex communication problems and creating simple, straightforward solutions

  • Writing, editing, information architecture

  • Project management, planning, prioritization

  • Relationship building, interviewing, customer service


High Level TEchnical understanding

  • Docker, Kubernetes, Mesos, and other DevOps tools

  • Service-oriented architecture, load balancing, and message queues – Boxcar, gRPC, RabbitMQ

  • Web app control planes and deployment tools

  • Machine learning (ML), A/B testing, automated intelligence (AI)

  • Data tools and platforms such as Snowflake, Tableau, Mixpanel

  • Tech industry legal concepts and privacy laws


Tools, Methodologies, Trainings

  • XML authoring, MadCap Flare, Confluence, GitLab

  • Zendesk, Medium, Wordpress, Google / Microsoft / Adobe Creative suite, Pendo

  • DITA, Markdown, CSS, HTML

  • Jira, Bitbucket, Agile / Scrum methodologies

  • Crucial Conversations, Unconscious Bias, Insights Training

 

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Interests

 
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Diversity & Inclusion

  • Selected for Lesbians Who Tech First Annual Leadership SQUAD, 2023

  • Founding chair of Iodine’s LGBTQ+ affinity group; former global communications chair for Indeed’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group

  • Coordinated Indeed volunteer opportunities with Maven Youth Camp

  • Served on Indeed Pride month and festival planning committees; spoke on panels around DI&B

  • Attend Lesbians Who Tech and Out in Tech meet ups

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Writing

  • Serve on Advisory Board for Austin Community College’s Technical Communications Department

  • Writing a memoir and regularly pursue writing classes, workshops, and self-study

  • Co-founded and managed Austin-area MadCap Flare User Group; MadCap certified

  • Teaching Assistant for The Writing Barn’s “Write. Submit. Support.” program—a six month memoir writing workshop.

  • Writers’ League of Texas member