Technical Writer - Environmental Health and Safety - UTK

University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department
University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department

Marketing & Communications, IT

Knoxville, TN, USA

USD 60k-65k / year

Posted on Jul 31, 2026

The EHS Technical Writer facilitates the development of new program documents and leads the end-to-end overhaul of the Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) program document library (100+ documents). The incumbent will evaluate the current inventory, identify redundancies and gaps, and recommend documents for consolidation or retirement. The incumbent classifies each retained document by type, plan, procedure, or guide, and restructures content to align with standardized formatting, language, and organizational conventions. In partnership with EHS subject matter experts (SMEs) and Instructional Designers, the incumbent translates complex technical content into clear, accurate, and usable documentation that aligns with corresponding training materials with diverse target audiences. The incumbent intentionally crafts tone, language and sentence structure to reinforce a culture of care, wellbeing, collaboration, and partnership across the institution. The incumbent also prepares all content for publishing and public accessibility in compliance with ADA Title II/WCAG 2.1AA requirements.


The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!

The EHS Technical Writer will facilitate and manage program document development and administration.

Required Qualifications

  • Education:

    • Bachelor's Degree in Technical Communication, English, Professional Writing, Communications, Journalism or related field.

    • An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may substitute for the degree requirement. Examples include but are not limited to an associate degree and four years of relevant experience, or six years of progressively responsible experience developing, editing, and maintaining technical documentation in a compliance, regulatory, EHS, or related technical environment.

  • Experience: 2+ years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience as listed above.

  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

    • Knowledge of technical writing principles, including document structure, style guide development, and plain-language communication standards.

    • Knowledge of document classification frameworks and the distinctions among policies, plans, procedures, and guides.

    • Skill in writing and editing complex technical and regulatory content into clear, accurate, and usable documentation for diverse audiences.

    • Skill in conducting structured interviews to extract, verify, and validate technical information from SMEs with varied communication styles.

    • Skill in editing and proofreading documents for grammar, consistency, clarity, and conformance to an established style guide.

    • Skill in using AI tools to support document drafting, editing, formatting, and content development workflows.

    • Ability to synthesize conflicting, ambiguous, or highly technical information from multiple sources into coherent and accurate documentation.

    • Ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with SMEs, leadership, and cross-functional stakeholders to drive review and approval workflows.

    • Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing multiple concurrent writing projects with competing deadlines.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Education: Master's Degree in Technical Communication, Public Health, Environmental Health & Safety, Instructional Design, or a related field.

  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

    • Introductory knowledge of federal, state, and local EHS regulatory frameworks, including OSHA, and EPA, IBC/NIH.

    • Knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title II accessibility standards as they apply to publicly posted documents.

    • Knowledge of instructional design concepts sufficient to collaborate on learning objectives, assessments, and training content alignment.

    • Knowledge of project management principles, including scheduling, risk identification, and stakeholder coordination for document-intensive initiatives.

    • Skill in applying accessible authoring practices in Microsoft Word and PDF.

    • Skill in organizing and structuring content for SharePoint libraries and pages, including taxonomy, metadata schemas, and navigation conventions.

Work Location

  • Location: Knoxville, TN

  • Onsite, Hybrid, or Remote – Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

  • UT market range: MR 09

  • Anticipated hiring range: $60,000-$65,000

Application Instructions

For best consideration applicants should submit the below materials before August 15th, 2026.

  • Resume or CV

  • Cover Letter

  • Sample portfolio of your work ideally including technical or procedural documents. The portfolio could include PDFs or hyperlinks. When uploading work samples, please include clear labeling that includes your first and last name.

To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before August 15, 2026.


  • Partner with SMEs and EHS leadership to scope, outline, and draft new EHS program documents from the ground up using approved workflows.

  • Manage the existing document library; identify redundancies, gaps, and documents eligible for consolidation or retirement.

  • Edit and proofread all documents for grammar, consistency, clarity, and adherence to the accessibility requirements and technical writing principles.

  • Collaborate with the Instructional Designer to map program requirements into learning objectives, assessments, and job aids.

  • Ensure fidelity between program document text and corresponding training content so that employees receive consistent messaging.

  • Review and contribute written content for training deliverables (e.g., facilitator guides, quick-reference cards, eLearning scripts) as needed.

  • Prepare documents for publication in conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title II for publicly posted materials.

  • Develop and maintain an EHS writing style guide and standard operating procedures for the technical writing function.

  • Track and report document-quality metrics (e.g., revision turnaround time, accessibility pass rate, SME review cycle time) to support continuous improvement.