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Technical writer

Find out what a technical writer in government does and the skills you need to do the job at each level.

Last updated 30 August 2022 — See all updates

What a technical writer does

A technical writer takes a user-centred approach to making complicated technical concepts easier to understand for a specialist audience. In this role, you will focus on specialist content and software documentation, and write for technologists such as developers, technical architects, and technology leaders.

Technical writer role levels

There are 2 technical writer role levels, from technical writer to lead technical writer.

The typical responsibilities and skills for each role level are described in the sections below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.

1. Technical writer

A technical writer is an expert practitioner with a deep understanding of technology and the needs of technologists.

At this role level, you will:

  • take a user-centred approach to explaining how to use government products and services to a technical audience, focusing on specialist content and software documentation
  • write blog posts for or on behalf of the technical community
  • engage with and contribute to the cross-government technical writing and content design communities

This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

  • SEO (Senior Executive Officer)
  • G7 (Grade 7)
Skill Description

Agile working

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • identify and compare the best processes or delivery methods to use, including measuring and evaluating outcomes
  • help the team to decide the best approach
  • help teams to manage and visualise outcomes, prioritise work and adhere to agreed minimum viable product (MVP), priorities and scope

Prototyping

Level: working

Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • understand when to use a specific prototyping technique or method
  • show the value of prototyping to your team

Stakeholder relationship management

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively
  • build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders

Strategic thinking

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • lead the design and implementation of strategy, directing the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met

Technical understanding (user-centred design)

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • demonstrate knowledge of the technologies used to build and operate digital services
  • collaborate closely with colleagues in different digital disciplines

User focus

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • give direction on which tools or methods to use
  • demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels
  • bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business
  • apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user

User-centred content design

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • show a deep understanding of end-to-end journeys and how content is affected within these journeys
  • identify where journey fixes or content improvements need to be made
  • take responsibility for assuring the quality of content from more junior colleagues, and coaching and guiding them to improve
  • ensure that content is regularly reviewed and evaluated, contributing to continuous improvements and iteration
  • encourage a continuous improvement mindset in teams and more junior content colleagues
  • deliver through others, and direct and critique their work

2. Lead technical writer

A lead technical writer is an expert practitioner who directs a team of technical writers, and assures the quality of technical writing across teams and the alignment to strategy.

At this role level, you will:

  • standardise tools and ways of communicating, along with processes
  • work closely with service managers, technology leaders and senior stakeholders to resource teams and resolve problems
  • promote the discipline of technical writing
  • engage with the cross-government community
  • keep up to date with industry changes

This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

  • G7 (Grade 7)
  • G6 (Grade 6)
Skill Description

Agile working

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • identify and compare the best processes or delivery methods to use, including measuring and evaluating outcomes
  • help the team to decide the best approach
  • help teams to manage and visualise outcomes, prioritise work and adhere to agreed minimum viable product (MVP), priorities and scope

Prototyping

Level: working

Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • understand when to use a specific prototyping technique or method
  • show the value of prototyping to your team

Stakeholder relationship management

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • direct the strategy towards stakeholder relationships
  • set stakeholder objectives and recommend that they’re met
  • influence important senior stakeholders and provide mediation

Strategic thinking

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • lead the design and implementation of strategy, directing the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met

Technical understanding (user-centred design)

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • demonstrate knowledge of the technologies used to build and operate digital services
  • collaborate closely with colleagues in different digital disciplines

User focus

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • give direction on which tools or methods to use
  • demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels
  • bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business
  • apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user

User-centred content design

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • demonstrate experience in creating and iterating content across multiple channels
  • be accountable for content decisions
  • train and guide your team
Role Shared skills
Content strategist

Agile working

Prototyping

Stakeholder relationship management

Strategic thinking

User focus

User-centred content design

Graphic designer

Agile working

Prototyping

Strategic thinking

User focus

Interaction designer

Agile working

Prototyping

Strategic thinking

User focus

Service designer

Agile working

Prototyping

Strategic thinking

User focus

Digital portfolio manager

Agile working

Stakeholder relationship management

Strategic thinking

Updates

Published 7 January 2020

Last updated 30 August 2022

30 August 2022

  • The 'user-centred content design' skill descriptions have been updated to ensure consistency across the DDaT Profession Capability Framework.

7 January 2020

  • First published.