Jonathan Northwood

Current

Technical Support Professional at Stream Global Services

Past

Blogger at Weblogs, Inc.
Quality Assurance Specialist at Netflix
Learning Strategist at Convergys

Quality Assurance Specialist at Sitel
Software Quality Analyst at Intel Corporation
Senior Mentor at Encompass Teleservices
Software Quality Analyst at Intel Corporation

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4 more...

Education

Southern Oregon University

Recommended

12 people have recommended Jonathan

Connections

64 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Websites

Jonathan Northwood’s Summary

I've always been fascinated with the strength and flexibility of the English language. Over the course of my career, I have developed training programs and quality guidelines to promote world-class support, moderated discussion forums and revision tracking boards, edited web-based and hard-copy technical documentation, assisted with developing and driving brand recognition, crafted scripts for video production and tradeshow demonstrations, built top-down policies in conjunction with bottom-up procedural guides, guided teams of instructional designers in creating comprehensive learning solutions, and written documents ranging in scope from white papers to cookbooks.

From a personal perspective, I simply can't imagine not writing. Whether I'm blogging, jotting down a recipe, working on a novel, or transcribing an interview, feeling the keyboard come alive under my fingers is a terrifyingly heady sensation.

Joseph Pulitzer, when speaking of the reading public, insisted that writers "Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light." Truer words were never said.

Jonathan Northwood’s Specialties:

writing, quality assurance, blogging, photography, interviewing, editing, needs analysis, training delivery, methodology development, process documentation, product evangelization, personnel management

Jonathan Northwood’s Experience

Technical Support Professional

Stream Global Services

(Public Company; OOO/U; Information Technology and Services industry)

April 2008 — Present (1 year 4 months)

I have provided e-mail and telephone technical support for graphics editing and print production software products, and I currently provide support for 2D and 3D drafting software.
Blogger

Weblogs, Inc.

(Privately Held; Internet industry)

October 2007 — August 2008 (11 months)

As a blogger for Massively.com -- a part of the Weblogs Inc. family -- I was responsible for researching and reporting on both well-known and new to the market MMOs and gaming companies. Whether I was reporting on breaking news or verifying a rumor, my job was to be sure that our readers had the most accurate and timely information possible. As well, by covering software launches and corporate meet and greets, I was able to bring both the sights and sounds of the events back to our readers.

While acting as the Massively.com game lead for NCsoft's City of Heroes/City of Villains properties, I was a liaison between the CoX community and our organization. I was responsible for staying in contact with the PR and Marketing department at NCsoft regarding future product design goals, tracking both back-end mechanics and front-end interface changes in the IP, and ensuring that this information was disseminated in a timely and accurate manner to the end users who followed our site's updates.
Quality Assurance Specialist

Netflix

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; NFLX; Internet industry)

January 2007 — September 2007 (9 months)

After a comprehensive needs analysis, I created and documented an evaluative methodology for both the Customer Service and Instant Watching divisions, then built and maintained a comprehensive portfolio of evaluation forms, process guidelines and cumulative trackers to monitor employee performance, thereby facilitating the coaching of agents to success through both call quality metrics and individual assessments.
Learning Strategist

Convergys

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CVG; Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)

January 2006 — November 2006 (11 months)

Under Convergys’ General Motors contract, I was the lead Learning Strategist for the team which redesigned the Saturn division training curriculum and transitioned it to Canada. As well, I drove the Train-the-Trainer effort for Philippine-based enculturation and technical knowledge.
Quality Assurance Specialist

Sitel

(Privately Held; 10,001 or more employees; SWW; Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)

December 2004 — December 2005 (1 year 1 month)

Under Sitel’s General Motors contract, I coached agents to success through call quality metrics, and I acted as an interim trainer for New Hire and product refresher training.

Before transitioning to the Quality Assurance role, I was a Premium Lines Customer Relationship Manager responsible for fostering customer relationships with the Premium Line vehicles in General Motors' portfolio. I addressed customer queries and concerns regarding Cadillac and HUMMER. As well, I took on the role of a Subject Matter Expert when new hires were nested with me.
Software Quality Analyst

Intel Corporation

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; INTC; Semiconductors industry)

July 2004 — September 2004 (3 months)

Under Henderson Associates' Intel contract, I supported manual validation and bug tracking across multiple builds of the Intel Learning Network web interface, culminating in a successful product release.
Senior Mentor

Encompass Teleservices

(Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)

October 2003 — June 2004 (9 months)

Under Encompass Teleservices’ T-Mobile contract, I worked as a Senior Mentor under the Training Department. I wrote policies and procedures as well as training materials, worked to ensure that new hires were adequately coached and monitored during their nesting phase, and held weekly meetings with my new agents during their first 60 days on the floor to ensure that they complied with company policies and were comfortable with the knowledge and information they'd received.
Software Quality Analyst

Intel Corporation

(Public Company; INTC; Semiconductors industry)

December 1994 — June 2003 (8 years 7 months)

As a Software Quality Analyst, I led a cross-divisional program to develop enterprise-level software training and quality analysis methodology.

As a Technical Marketing Engineer, I supported national and international tradeshows and training events, drove marketing collateral development, and facilitated system design seminars.

As a Server Validation Engineer, I led a team validating client/server configurations, crafted network architecture manuals, and edited both white papers and installation guides.

As an Integration Engineer, I developed hardware interface and OS configuration training, led VoIP modem testing, and created a P6 video analysis guide.

As the P5 Volume End User lead, I wrote customer service training, created Best Known Methods for issue resolution, and drove data mining efforts.

Additionally, I served as a Subject Matter Expert on anti-harassment and non-discrimination courses, sat on the steering committee for two employee groups, and facilitated National Engineers Week sessions.

Jonathan Northwood’s Education

Southern Oregon University

B.S. , History , 1991 — 1994

Although I initially applied to college for a Computer Science degree, the interconnections between political events and social history became my focus.

As a Teaching Assistant and Student Advisor for the Social Sciences Department, I developed and delivered lectures and seminars to undergraduate-level History and Anthropology students, provided refresher lectures for pre-test review, developed and graded undergraduate-level examinations, and provided one-on-one tutoring.

Activities and Societies:

President - Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society

Additional Information

Jonathan Northwood’s Websites:

Jonathan Northwood’s Interests:

writing, international travel, photography, gourmet cooking, wine, bowling

Jonathan Northwood’s Groups:

Kepner-Tregoe Circle, American Society for Quality, American Society for Training & Development, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development