Wanted: VB Content Strategist

Congratulations to Duncan for the life-changing event.  But Duncan has decided to make another change as well and will be moving into a full-time development position here within MSDN (although I believe we will still be hearing from him in the way of articles and blog entries).  This means that I am looking for someone to replace him.

But before you send me your resume, let me tell you what I am looking for.  First of all, the job entails technical writing, so if you don't have some writing experience, you will probably be on my "review later" pile.  Second, I want someone who knows VB, C# and even C++ but is passionate about what Visual Basic has to offer. I’m not looking for someone to lead the language-war battles, but just someone who understands the VB audience and what this awesome product offers them. Also, while VB will be the initial and probably biggest focus, at some point in the future you will be dealing with at least one other technology.

Here’s the official job description:

MSDN is looking for a Content Strategist for the Visual Basic Developer Center - a site on MSDN Online dedicated to all things related to Visual Basic. The subject matter expert acts as the public face of MSDN for the subject area to both external and internal customers, and leads the content planning and development for the developer center. As content strategist, planner, and writer, the SME must partner deeply with the product teams to understand the technology and the overall developer strategy.

 

 Major responsibilities include:

 

· Coordinating with the product and marketing teams to produce a content plan on an ongoing basis

· Commission, review, and acquire content

· Manage ongoing review of content and the appropriate archiving of old content

· Working with site management on publication schedules, headlines, hot topics, featured books, and other content features

· Participating in the community by being actively engaged in the newsgroups and listsrvs; attending appropriate conferences and tradeshows as the MSDN representative; and responding, or coordinating responses, to technical questions directly from customers (ex: via feedback from the Web site)

· Act as a major stakeholder with regard to future site features, improvements, and evolution.

Required skills include a deep technical knowledge of historical, current, and future software security issues, the Visual Basic (.NET) programming language and other .NET languages, the Visual Studio environment; a clear understanding of Microsoft's direction and strategy; ability to work in a rapidly changing environment; solid coding and writing skills; ability to assess content for quality and customer value; proven ability to work across organizations to align goals and execute against them; and an intense passion for and knowledge of the Microsoft developer.

If you are still interested and would like to see your picture here, please send me email with “Visual Basic Content Strategist” in the subject.

   -Matt