Technical Author

Blue Arrow; South Oxfordshire; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability Confident Employer

Job summary

Blue Arrow in the UK site is seeking an experienced Technical Author to research, author, revise, illustrate, review, and release controlled technical publications for complex engineering products, targeting customers, service personnel, and internal stakeholders.

The role emphasizes MadCap Flare authoring, strict document control, and close collaboration with engineering and project teams, with no line management duties and a clear focus on quality, accuracy and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• Degree, HNC/HND, or equivalent in engineering, science, technical communication, or related discipline.
• Proven technical authoring experience in manufacturing, scientific equipment, engineering, aerospace, or another controlled technical environment.
• Professional membership or accredited technical communication qualification desirable but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Research, author, revise, and maintain manuals, guides, procedures, and related controlled publications for complex products and projects.
• Author in MadCap Flare using approved templates, reusable content, variables, condition tags, and controlled source files.
• Gather and verify technical information from engineers, service teams, drawings, specifications, photographs, test data, and existing source material.
• Produce and maintain technical illustrations, screenshots, mark-ups, diagrams, and visual content, or work with specialist illustrators where required.
• Apply document control, revision control, and configuration management requirements throughout drafting, review, approval, release, and obsolescence.
• Run quality checks for structure, clarity, terminology, safety content, cross-references, branding, and output accuracy before formal review.
• Coordinate review and comment resolution with subject matter experts and support final approval and controlled publication release in PDF and HTML outputs.
• Plan and manage assigned work to agreed priorities, communicate status and risks clearly, and support continuous improvement of authoring standards and workflows.
• Carry out any other tasks reasonably required by the Company.
• Take personal responsibility for health and safety and comply with company health, safety and environmental requirements.

Skills

MadCap Flare

Technical writing

Editing

Documentation

Interpreting engineering drawings

Stakeholder communication

Education

Engineering/Technical communication degree or equivalent

HNC/HND in related field

Professional membership or accredited qualification desirable

Tools

MadCap Flare

Adobe Acrobat / HTML authoring

Job description

Technical Author

Role Details

Business, Location: Engineering Division, UK Site

Role: Technical Author

Reports to: Technical Publications Manager

Key Relationships: Technical Publications Manager, Engineering, Service, Software, Product Management, Quality, Project Managers, Technical Authorities, SMEs, and approved external suppliers.

Primary Purpose

To research, author, revise, illustrate, review, and release controlled technical publications for complex engineering products. The role converts source engineering information into clear, accurate, compliant documentation for customers, service personnel, and internal stakeholders. This is an experienced technical communication role with no line management responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

• Research, author, revise, and maintain manuals, guides, procedures, and related controlled publications for complex products and projects.
• Author in MadCap Flare using approved templates, reusable content, variables, condition tags, and controlled source files.
• Gather and verify technical information from engineers, service teams, drawings, specifications, photographs, test data, and existing source material.
• Produce and maintain technical illustrations, screenshots, mark-ups, diagrams, and visual content, or work with specialist illustrators where required.
• Apply document control, revision control, and configuration management requirements throughout drafting, review, approval, release, and obsolescence.
• Run quality checks for structure, clarity, terminology, safety content, cross-references, branding, and output accuracy before formal review.
• Coordinate review and comment resolution with subject matter experts and support final approval and controlled publication release in PDF and HTML outputs.
• Plan and manage assigned work to agreed priorities, communicate status and risks clearly, and support continuous improvement of authoring standards and workflows.
• Carry out any other tasks reasonably required by the Company.
• Take personal responsibility for health and safety and comply with company health, safety and environmental requirements.

Indicative Performance Measures

• Assigned publications delivered to agreed dates and priorities.
• Low level of post-release correction and rework.
• Strong first-pass quality in review and approval cycles.
• Compliance with templates, standards, document control, and version control requirements.
• Effective use of authoring tools, reusable content, and approved workflows.
• Positive stakeholder feedback on clarity, accuracy, and usability of published content.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

• Degree, HNC/HND, or equivalent experience in engineering, science, technical communication, or a related discipline.
• Proven technical authoring or technical writing experience in manufacturing, scientific equipment, engineering, aerospace, or another controlled technical environment.
• Professional membership or accredited technical communication qualification desirable but not essential.

Professional Skills / Abilities

• Strong MadCap Flare experience, including structured authoring, content reuse, output generation, and review workflow discipline.
• Strong technical writing and editing skills with the ability to turn complex engineering information into clear user-facing content.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, photographs and source data accurately.
• Experience with document control, revision control, review cycles, and formal release processes.
• Technical illustration experience desirable.

Personal Qualities

• Accurate, methodical, and detail-focused.
• Confident working with engineers, project teams, and reviewers.
• Organised, accountable, and able to manage multiple priorities.
• Committed to continuous improvement, professional standards, and clear communicationBlue Arrow is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to helping find great work opportunities for great people