Saurabh Sugandh

Engineer, Writer, & Coder

sugandh.saurabh@yahoo.com | +91 829 640 1480 (India)

Technical and product documentation specialist with over a decade of experience building developer portals, API references, and AI-assisted documentation workflows across SaaS and enterprise products. Brings a systems-engineering background together with hands-on writing, automation, and design skills to ship clear, usable documentation at scale.

Education

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra — Noida Campus, India
Master of Technology, Computer Science (July 2013 – June 2016)
Graduated with First Class Distinction (81.1%).

Shivaji University, Kolhapur — Sangli, Maharashtra, India
Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical (July 2005 – May 2009)
Graduated with First Class (64.06%).

Professional Experience

Alation (India) Pvt. Ltd. — Remote

Sr. Technical Writer — Documentation Engineer (September 2023 – Present)

Maintain the Alation Developer Portal (on ReadMe.io):

• Administer and maintain the Developer Portal.
• Assess, validate, edit, and upload YAML specifications.
• Automate YAML specification validation and uploading.
• Help engineers publish API recipes.
• Write, edit, and publish API release notes.

Manage Alation Core release notes:

• Filter Jira issues and prepare a CSV for analysis.
• Build and use a custom AI-powered application to triage issues and draft release notes.
• Edit the generated draft and share it with product and engineering managers for review.

Project: Docs porting and migration from Sphinx to Mintlify

• Analyzed existing documentation and wrote a Python script for a Claude agent to port content from RST to MDX.
• Wrote skill and reference files for the Claude agent.

Project: Docs metadata and taxonomy, concept to implementation

• Analyzed existing documentation and Sphinx plugins to design a taxonomy for the documentation set.
• Built an AI-powered tool to generate and map metadata to existing documentation.
• Wrote a Python automation script to inject metadata into 1,400+ RST documentation pages.

Document and maintain Alation products (on a Sphinx Git doc repo):

• Document and maintain Alation Analytics and Data Quality product guides for each release.
• Create and use custom Google Gemini Gems to support documentation across Alation products.
• Design and improve microcopy, UI labels, and error messages to enhance interface clarity.
• Develop and contribute to visual designs, UI assets, and videos supporting the documentation website.

Palo Alto Networks Pvt. Ltd. — Remote

Sr. Technical Writer — API (September 2021 – August 2023)

Maintained the Palo Alto Developer Portal (on Docusaurus):

• Built pan.dev and migrated existing API workflows and OpenAPI specifications to the new portal.
• Wrote and maintained Python scripts to segregate cloud and on-prem API endpoints, plus additional scripts for sorting and building a publishing taxonomy.
• Wrote and maintained shell scripts to test API endpoints.

Maintained Prisma Cloud Compute documentation:

• Wrote and maintained AsciiDoc files for Prisma Cloud Compute.
• Partnered with UX designers, product managers, and engineers on UI text and labels.
• Designed and published interactive GIFs and visual aids for the docs.

Informatica Inc. — Bengaluru, India

Sr. Technical Writer (July 2019 – June 2021)

• Worked on Data Engineering Integration, Data Engineering Streaming, Enterprise Data Preparation (on-prem and SaaS), and PowerCenter documentation.
• Maintained release documentation and performed smoke testing on developer builds.
• Designed user-centric layouts and context-sensitive help systems for enterprise products.
• Built interactive documentation workflows using SDL Knowledge Center, oXygen XML Editor, SnagIT, and Reprise Replay.
• Developed prototypes for RESTful API references using ReadMe and Perforce.
• Supported marketing teams with infographics and videos using Canva and Adobe tools.

Sophos (India) Pvt. Ltd. — Ahmedabad/Bengaluru, India

Technical Writer 3 (June 2017 – July 2019)

• Worked on Sophos XG Firewall and Central Wireless projects.
• Maintained test builds and performed smoke testing for release features.
• Partnered with UX teams to write UI text and microcopy for Figma mockups and the shipped interface.
• Designed and maintained user-friendly layouts for online help, context-sensitive help, administrator, command reference, and user guides in Bitbucket.
• Authored and maintained RESTful API references in JSON, optimizing structure for developer usability.
• Authored and maintained DITA XML files in oXygen XML Editor.
• Improved documentation build workflows on Jenkins through more intuitive interface design.
• Maintained the documentation Git repository and CI/CD pipeline in Bitbucket.

Avaya (India) Pvt. Ltd. — Pune, India

Sr. Technical Associate — Technical Writer (April 2016 – April 2017)
Contract Technical Writer — Quess Corp (January 2015 – April 2016)

• Worked on Avaya J100 and H100 Collaboration Stations, Avaya Aura, and IP Office projects.
• Designed interactive prototypes for internal documentation tools to streamline user tasks.
• Created user-friendly icons and diagrams using MS Visio and Gliffy.
• Led the creation of an Android Doc App focused on UI/UX, improving usability for J129 devices.
• Edited and produced user-centric video tutorials using Camtasia.
• Participated in bug bashes for product releases.

HCL Technologies Ltd. — Noida, India

Technical Writer for CA Technologies (March 2014 – October 2014)

• Worked on the CA Technologies Nimsoft Probes project.
• Designed intuitive layouts for administrator and user guides to improve navigation.
• Built prototypes for content delivery using Author-it for component-based authoring.

Artech Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. — Noida, India

Technical Writer for NIIT Technologies (November 2013 – March 2014)

• Worked on the Tenix Nova Infringement project for the Victoria State Government (Australia).
• Created and maintained business requirements, facilitator, and user guides.
• Authored online help using Adobe RoboHelp.

Artech Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. — Noida, India

Technical Writer for NIIT Technologies (August 2013 – October 2013)

• Worked on the Tenix Nova Infringement project for the Victoria State Government (Australia).
• Created and maintained business requirements, facilitator, and user guides.
• Authored online help using Adobe RoboHelp.

Rara Infotech Pvt. Ltd. — Uganda/India

System Analyst (November 2009 – July 2013)

• Delivered a tailored solution package for the Grameen Foundation Mifos microfinance project.
• Contributed as QA test engineer for solution delivery.
• Created business and system requirement specifications.
• Built XML-based workflows for reporting and business intelligence tools.

Technical Skills

Programming: DITA XML, Python, C++, Markdown, HTML, Jekyll, Docusaurus (Yarn), AsciiDoc, Git

Test Environment: GNU/Linux, Linode, Google Cloud Platform, AWS, VMware Fusion Player, Oracle VirtualBox

Tools: Figma, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio Code, Git, PTC Arbortext Editor, oXygen XML Author/Editor, SDL Knowledge Center/Trisoft, Document360, GitBook, Microsoft Office/Google Docs, Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Photoshop, Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, Canva, Adobe Illustrator, SnagIT, Kdenlive, ElevenLabs

Personal Projects

Docsplain — A Rumble Channel (rumble.com/c/Docsplain)

• Create and manage Docsplain, a channel offering educational content on technical writing and documentation practices, alongside related IT updates.
• Script and produce videos for IT professionals, using Canva, Camtasia, Kdenlive, and ElevenLabs for editing, animation, and voiceovers.

OAS Validator — An Open-Source Streamlit App (oas-validator.streamlit.app)

• Built and maintain a free, open-source tool for validating OpenAPI specifications.

Research Projects

Master's Thesis: Image Processing for Human-Computer Interaction Using a Low-Cost Capacitive Sensor

• Objective: Build an Arduino-based capacitive sensor to enhance the teaching experience for image processing.
• Summary: Tested image processing algorithms using a responsive capacitive touch sensor.
• Tools: Arduino IDE (C++), resistors, wires, copper tape, breadboard, paper.

Bachelor's Thesis: Computer Simulation for Universal (Hooke's) Joint Input/Output Shaft Relationship

• Objective: Build a simulation of the universal joint's input and output shaft relationship.
• Summary: Tested phase difference between input and output shafts under parallel misalignment, demonstrated on a computer interface.
• Tools: Visual C++, mild steel, lathe machine, potentiometer, wires, welding.

Publications & Presentations

• "Image Processing for Human-Computer Interaction Using a Low-Cost Sensor," International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development (IJSRED), ISSN: 2581-7175.
• "Doc-as-Code: Managing Content is Easy When It's Distributed," HackerNoon 2.0, 2020.

Trainings

• Technical Communication, Worldwide Training College, Uganda.
• MS SQL Server 2005, NIIT Limited, India.

Linguistic Proficiency

Multilingual: English, Hindi, and basic Russian.