The range is intentionally wide; final compensation depends on the candidate's experience, qualifications, technical skills, and applicable government-contracting rates.
About the role
The Technical Publications / IETM Lead owns delivery of Extense's Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) and structured-content programs supporting U.S. military aviation, rotorcraft, and aerospace customers. You will coordinate technical writers, S1000D / XML specialists, illustrators, QA, and aircraft SMEs to plan, execute, and release configuration-controlled publication baselines. You will serve as the senior Extense point of contact to prime contractors and government end-customers, and you will be accountable for technical accuracy, schedule, and contractual compliance of every deliverable that leaves the practice.
Key responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end execution of IETM baseline updates, including planning, scoping, work breakdown, scheduling, risk management, and customer reporting.
- Coordinate a multi-disciplinary team of authors, XML / XSLT developers, illustrators, QA analysts, configuration analysts, and aircraft / equipment SMEs.
- Serve as primary client interface with prime-contractor program offices and government customers; manage review cycles, comment resolution, and acceptance.
- Translate Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs), Engineering Change Notices (ECNs), and Technical Directives into a documentation impact analysis and update plan.
- Enforce compliance with applicable specifications including S1000D, MIL-STD-40051-1, MIL-STD-3001, and customer Business Rules / BREX.
- Manage publication baselines and release packages; coordinate with Configuration Management to ensure data-module revisions match the approved aircraft / equipment configuration.
- Track CDRL deliverables, ensure on-time submission, and own corrective action when reviews identify defects.
- Mentor and develop technical-publication staff; conduct technical reviews and promote consistency in authoring quality.
- Support business development by contributing to capability statements, proposal narratives, work statements, and labor / effort estimates for new opportunities.
Required qualifications
- U.S. citizenship is required; selected candidate must be willing to undergo a federal background investigation.
- 10+ years of experience in technical-publication delivery for defense, aerospace, or other regulated-equipment industries.
- 5+ years of direct experience leading IETM, IETP, or large structured-content programs from kickoff through customer acceptance.
- Demonstrated working knowledge of S1000D (Issue 4.x or later), Data Module concepts, DMRL, BREX, applicability / effectivity, and Common Source Database (CSDB) workflows.
- Working knowledge of MIL-STD-40051-1 (digital technical information / IETM) and related military technical-manual specifications.
- Proven experience managing a multi-disciplinary team (authors, illustrators, XML developers, QA, SMEs) on a single technical-publication program.
- Strong client-facing communication skills; demonstrated experience interacting with prime contractor or government program offices.
- Hands-on experience with CDRL preparation, review-comment dispositioning, and release-package compilation.
- Strong written English, technical-editing eye, and ability to enforce style and consistency across a team.
Preferred qualifications
- Direct program experience supporting U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army Aviation, or U.S. Air Force aircraft / rotorcraft technical-manual programs.
- Experience with rotorcraft (H-1 family, AH-64, UH-60, CH-47, V-22, MH-60, or similar) or fixed-wing platforms.
- Familiarity with one or more CSDB / IETM platforms (e.g., Arbortext PE, Inmedius, Adept, Astoria, Auster, Mekon, SDL/Trisoft, or equivalent).
- PMP, PMI-ACP, or equivalent program-management certification.
- Active U.S. Government security clearance (Secret or higher).
- Prior experience as a subcontractor team lead on prime-led DoD programs.
Bonus points
- Familiarity with DITA in addition to S1000D.
- Experience supporting transition from legacy SGML / Word-based manuals to S1000D / IETM.
- Familiarity with Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 requirements for federal digital technical content.
Education
Bachelor's degree in English, Technical Communication, Engineering, Computer Science, Aviation, or a related field. Equivalent professional experience (15+ years) in defense or aerospace technical publications will be considered in lieu of a degree.
Apply for this role
Email careers@extense.co with the subject line EXT-TPL-2026-01 — Technical Publications / IETM Lead. Include your résumé, a short cover note describing your most relevant project, and (where applicable) two or three representative work samples or anonymized excerpts.