A technical writer is a rather broad definition, and the types of writing are as varied as the environment in which the writer writes. The title is evolving, and in some companies, the person in this position is known as a Documentation Specialist or even a Corporate Writer. Large companies also employ a technical editor who acts as a liaison between the writer and engineering department.
In my position, I am primarily called upon to write user and installation manuals, but I have also written other types of documentation, including:
Service training presentations for all four of the company’s product lines
Quick reference guides for three of the company’s product lines
A guide to using the company’s internal company data base
The company newsletter
The employee manual (a rewrite)
Sections of the quality assurance document (edit and rewrite)
Sections of the department procedural document (edit and rewrite)
Sections of product specifications (edit and rewrite)
New Features documentation (both on CD and in hard copy)
Archival of all user documentation
Further, I am responsible for ordering or creating all of the company manuals, and organizing documentation for the training schools. I have also done my share of in-house editing for people who are more technically and less verbally bent. This would include editing technical specifications, procedures, and documentation that is involved in the corporate design control procedure.