Career Center

IT Technical Communicator

This position is located in Ithaca, New York. The successful candidate will have the option to perform this role remotely at a location of their choosing within the United States.

The New York Convenience of employer guidelines require New York State individual tax reporting and withholdings for this position. Additional individual state income tax filings may also be required if working outside New York State.

No Visa sponsorship available for this position.

As an individual contributor you will model and support a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing and continually seek to understand how your role, behaviors, and actions impact the success of this culture.

Who we are:

As a member of Cornell Information Technologies' IT Communications and Documentation team, the IT Technical Communicator will join a team of IT writers that share a mission to provide our customers with clear information and concise instructions to use Cornell's technology services.

What you will do:

Working as a member of the Communications and Documentation team and with campus stakeholders, the IT Technical Communicator researches and develops informational, educational, promotional, and documentation materials about information technologies to support the outreach, service management, and marketing objectives of Cornell Information Technologies, the Office of the CIO /VP for Information Technologies, and the IT@Cornell community.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Developing and implementing communication and documentation strategies and marketing campaigns aligned to the needs of IT services and IT capital projects managed by Cornell Information Technologies and the Office of the CIO, for example, to raise awareness, build buy-in, stimulate growth, modify behavior, guide through changes, or respond to challenges.
• Working as an individual, with colleagues on the team, and with staff in other parts of the organization to shape and uphold the highest standards for content usability and best practices for communicating the right information using the right tools for the right audiences.
• Contributing as part of a team of writers to the organization's content strategy and channels (websites, social media, e-lists, etc.), and leveraging other university channels.
• Planning for, creating, and maintaining clear, precise, and concise technical documentation; may include operational procedures, end-user documentation, error messages, tooltips, button names, getting started text, conversational AI (artificial intelligence) intents, and other technical communications.
• Working closely with technical subject matter experts, along with source material that is technical and complex, to understand the behaviors and nuances of CIT's services and to identify and achieve objectives for presenting technical content to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Identifying typical kinds of users for a particular service and interacting as those users would, including experimenting with the service, testing assumptions, and anticipating likely points of user confusion or error.
• Continuously building knowledge of the audiences who use CIT's services (faculty, staff, students, IT professionals, alumni, visitors, etc.) to adapt materials to their needs and advocate for them.
• Applying communication and documentation expertise and analysis to help inform business plans and roadmaps for products and services.
• Tracking industry trends and developments in communication and documentation to help inform team standards and practices.

What you will be:

You will be a people person who is passionate about finding ways to create the best user experience possible under different constraints. You will be curious and interested in learning. We work as a team here, so collaboration is key! Additionally, you must also have:

• Combination of education and relevant professional experience (minimum 3-5 years) in technical writing or science writing, or in communications, journalism, or marketing with a focus on conveying technical or scientific concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Excellence in writing, analysis, research/reporting, oral communication, editing, and proofreading.
• Strong interest in, knowledge of, and understanding of best practices and trends in documentation, communication, marketing, and social media.
• Innate curiosity to experiment with technology, test assumptions, anticipate or uncover likely points of confusion, error, or unexpected results, and convey findings to technical developers or service owners with diplomacy and accuracy.
• Deep commitment to providing information that enables people to use technology as easily and intuitively as possible to get their work done.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Developing documentation, communication, and marketing strategies for new and existing services in a higher education or nonprofit environment, ideally with an IT orientation
• Writing about and/or documenting broad IT-related issues, concepts, and technologies, both for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Thinking like a wide variety of users (newcomer, expert, frequent vs. infrequent user, etc.) and using that knowledge to create positive experiences to sustain and increase adoption of and satisfaction with services or products.
• Interviewing and working with subject matter experts and with guiding discussion to elicit needed information.
• Using and learning about standard and emerging technologies to explore capabilities and features to be documented.
• Analyzing communications and marketing metrics.
• Advocating for technical changes to increase usability.
• Developing materials for a variety of distribution channels (web, social media, video, news, presentations, ads, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications include (but not required):

• Familiarity with AI-assisted chatbot technology.
• Basic skills in visual communication (images, video, audio, design, infographics, and presentations).
• The ideal candidate is passionate about the higher education IT experience; has a mindset that is both entrepreneurial and collaborative; is analytical, curious, creative, and tenacious; insists on clear and concise writing; demonstrates a strong, self-directed work ethic; exercises excellent judgment; and is productive working independently as well as collaboratively.

What we offer:

Great benefits that include educational benefits, access to a plethora of wellness programs, employee discounts with local and national retail brands, health care options to choose from, generous paid leave provisions: 3 weeks of vacation, 12 university paid holidays (including end of year winter break through New Year's Day) and superior retirement contributions.

An active and diverse community to work and thrive in! Cornell is situated in picturesque Ithaca, New York, the heart of the Finger Lakes. Ithaca is home to two academic institutions, state parks, waterfalls, gorges, and a wide range of art galleries, theaters, eateries, wineries, and breweries. Ithaca has something to suit all ages and interests!

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Non-Union Positions

Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

• Prior relevant work or industry experience

• Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position

• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline (faculty pay ranges reflects 9-month annual salary)

Union Positions

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Online Submission Guidelines:

Employment Assistance:

Applicants that do not have internet access are encouraged to visit your local library, or local Department of Labor. You may also visit the office of Workforce Recruitment and Retention Monday - Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. to use a dedicated workstation to complete an online application.

Notice to Applicants:

EEO Statement:

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University's heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, including race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex/gender, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual's genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law.

Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff to all identities and backgrounds. We encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.