XML / XSLT Publishing Automation Developer

About the role

The XML / XSLT Publishing Automation Developer is the engineering core of Extense's publishing stack. You will build and maintain the transformations, validation rules, and automation scripts that move S1000D and other structured content through cleanup, validation, baseline comparison, and publication into IETM, HTML, and PDF outputs. This is a hands-on technical role for someone who enjoys writing XSLT, debugging XPath, and turning messy XML into reliable, traceable publishing pipelines.

Key responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and optimize XSLT (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0) transformations to convert S1000D / DITA / structured XML into HTML, PDF, and IETM-ready output formats.
• Build and maintain Schematron rule sets to enforce business rules beyond what XSD / BREX can express.
• Implement validation pipelines: XSD validation, BREX checking, link / cross-reference verification, ICN / graphics reference checks, and applicability validation.
• Develop scripts (Python, Bash, Node.js, or equivalent) for batch processing of XML repositories: cleanup, normalization, mass tagging, ID generation, and baseline diff reports.
• Customize and maintain DITA-OT or equivalent publishing toolchains as program needs require.
• Build baseline-comparison utilities to identify changed, added, and deleted data modules between releases.
• Support CSDB integrations: import / export jobs, content migration, and bulk update tooling.
• Diagnose and resolve XML, XSLT, XPath, validation, and output-fidelity issues raised by authors, QA, and the IETM Lead.
• Document toolchain configuration, transformations, and operational procedures so the pipeline is maintainable by the broader team.
• Collaborate with the S1000D Architect on content-model changes and with QA on validation-report formats.

Required qualifications

• U.S. citizenship is required; selected candidate must be willing to undergo a federal background investigation.
• 6+ years of professional experience as an XML / XSLT developer in a technical-publications, documentation, or structured-content environment.
• Expert-level XSLT 2.0 / 3.0 and XPath 2.0 / 3.1; able to write, debug, and optimize complex transformations from scratch.
• Strong working knowledge of XSD, DTD, and Schematron.
• Hands-on experience with at least one production publishing toolchain (DITA-OT, custom XSLT pipelines, Antenna House / RenderX / FOP for PDF, etc.).
• Proficiency in at least one general-purpose scripting language (Python, Node.js, Bash, PowerShell) for batch XML processing and pipeline automation.
• Experience using XML editors and processors such as oXygen XML Editor, Saxon, Xalan, or equivalent.
• Comfort working from the command line; version-control proficiency (Git or equivalent).
• Ability to write clear technical documentation for the pipelines you build.

Preferred qualifications

• Hands-on production experience with S1000D content and CSDB platforms.
• Experience building IETM / IETP publishing pipelines for defense or aerospace customers.
• XSL-FO experience and PDF accessibility (tagged PDF / PDF/UA) experience.
• Familiarity with REST APIs and integration with content-management or CSDB systems.
• Familiarity with controlled-document environments and configuration management workflows.
• Active U.S. Government security clearance.

Bonus points

• Contributions to open-source DITA-OT plugins, Saxon utilities, or S1000D community tooling.
• Experience with XQuery and native XML databases (BaseX, eXist-db, MarkLogic).

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Science, or a related technical field. Equivalent professional experience (8+ years) building production XML / XSLT systems will be considered in lieu of a degree.