MSDN Content Strategy Wants *You*

My boss, Shawn Morrissey, is looking for a Content Strategist. This is my position, which allows me to dig into my technology areas as deeply as I want to do, finding areas of weakness in our developer story and filling them with internal, external or self-generated content, whether demos, samples, tools, articles, videos, audio, events, etc. You get to be involved in the trifecta between the product teams, the marketing and evangelist teams and the developers themselves, balancing all of their needs and making them all happy. Plus, you get to work with the likes of Matt Powell (Web Services), Kent Sharkey (ASP.NET, Visual Studio and Whidbey), Brian Johnson (Security), Frank Redmond (.NET Framework and C#) and Christa Carpentiere (Data).

Right now, Shawn’s looking for someone to fill Duncan’s shoes in Visual Basic, be he’s always looking for passion and ability. Drop him a line if you’re interested. Don’t be shy! This team is where Tim Ewald and Duncan Mackenzie got their start at MS. Plus, they hired me and made me a very nice home, so clearly their standards aren’t too high. : )

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.