Hello, I'm

Jeffrey L. Smith

|

About

Getting to know me

Jeffrey L. Smith

Hi! I'm Jeff. I've collected a diverse and meaningful set of experiences throughout my career, from technical writing and platform management to AI implementation and people management.

I'm a seasoned documentation leader with 10+ years of experience building high-performing teams and implementing scalable documentation programs in the security and identity management space. Lately, I've been deep in applied AI. I'm building automation workflows and AI-powered documentation tooling to streamline technical content creation so that a lean team can punch well above its weight.

Outside of work, I have an avid interest in productivity and technology, and I dabble in cooking and creative writing.

Team Leadership

Hiring, mentoring, career development, and process improvement for technical writers.

Security Domain

Deep expertise in PAM, identity management, and zero-trust architecture documentation.

Program Management

PSM-I certified. Experienced managing cross-functional initiatives and content programs.

Product Education

Helping tech startups guide users to repeatable positive outcomes through strategic technical content.

Experience

Where I've worked

Manager, Technical Documentation

StrongDM

August 2020 — Present

Built documentation team from 0 to 4 members. Implemented docs-as-code platform achieving 99.99% uptime. Delivered 25% support ticket deflection through strategic content planning. Developed zero-trust architecture documentation for enterprise customers.

Team Building (0→4) Docs-as-Code Platform 25% Support Deflection Enterprise Security Docs

Senior Technical Writer

Auth0

June 2016 — August 2020

Created and maintained developer-facing documentation for identity and access management products as well as related API and SDK reference docs. Contributed to content strategy and information architecture for a rapidly scaling platform.

Identity & Access Management Developer Documentation Content Strategy Platform Scaling

Web Developer & Technical Writer

Freelance / Consulting

2012 — 2016

Full-stack web development with PHP, Laravel, and WordPress. Freelance technical writing, producing articles for SitePoint, Scotch.io, and RayGun. Project management of a content channel and community moderation at SitePoint.

PHP / Laravel / WordPress Technical Publishing Project Management Community Moderation

AI & Automation

Building smarter documentation operations

I believe the future of documentation is AI-augmented. Not replacing technical writers, but giving teams the leverage to operate like organizations twice their size in the past. And the same has always been true regarding platforms, workflow tools, and automation. A good system can be a force multiplier. Here's what I've been building.

Documentation Search

Implemented various docs search tooling, including customized Algolia indexes with weighting and rules, and GitBook's AI-powered search assistant, with each tool iteration designed to improve content discoverability for users.

LLM Integration Search User Experience

Automated Content Drafting

Crafted AI-powered pipelines that take input collateral (PRs, PRDs, design specs, Jira tickets) and suggest potentially relevant docs areas, generate outlines, or even create drafts using input collateral.

Content Pipeline Automation Quality

Release Notes Automation

Managed automated pipelines that automatically generate release notes entries from developer PR notes, with technical writer review prior to automated new builds of the release notes pages.

CI/CD Pipeline Developer Experience

MCP Server Deployments

Set up Model Context Protocol servers to give AI assistants structured access to internal tools, documentation, and workflows, enabling smarter, context-aware automation across the organization.

MCP Infrastructure AI Tooling

Documentation Deployment

Architected and deployed documentation sites across several diverse stacks, including custom SSGs, Hugo, Netlify, Contentful, GitBook, and more, choosing the right tool for each team's needs at that time.

SSG Infrastructure Platform Strategy

AI Adoption & Enablement

Led organizational development and adoption of AI tools for content workflows, from evaluating vendors and managing stakeholder alignment to training on prompt engineering and building custom GPTs for team-specific tasks.

Change Management Training Strategy

Documentation meets automation

I sit at the intersection of content strategy and applied AI. Whether you're looking to modernize a documentation program, figure out where AI fits into your content operations, or need someone to just build the thing, I'm always happy to talk shop.

Get in touch

Skills & Tools

What I work with

Domain Expertise

Privileged Access Management
Identity & Access Management
Zero-Trust Architecture
Enterprise Security
Documentation as a Product
Developer & API Documentation
Product Education

Tools & Platforms

GitHub
Static Site Generators (Hugo, etc.)
CI/CD & Hosting Platforms
Algolia
Markdown / MDX
Docs-as-Code Pipelines
Claude / LLM APIs
MCP Servers
Documentation & CMS Platforms
Jira / Confluence

Methodologies

Agile / Scrum (PSM-I)
Content Strategy
AI Workflow Automation
Information Architecture
Style Guide Development
Use-Case-First Design
Cross-Functional Collaboration
AI Adoption & Enablement

Contact

Let's connect

I'm always open to discussing documentation leadership, product education, or new opportunities. Feel free to reach out.

Cincinnati, OH