Dennis Dufrene

About Dennis Dufrene

I build documentation that drives developer adoption.Principal Technical Writer with 15+ years of experience delivering API and platform documentation for complex systems. I focus on documentation as a product, designed to reduce onboarding time, lower support burden, and improve developer velocity.Core areas of impact- API documentation (REST, OpenAPI)- Docs-as-code (Git, CI/CD pipelines)- Developer experience (DX) and onboarding- Scalable information architecture for large systemsI work closely with engineering and product teams to turn evolving systems into clear, usable documentation that developers trust. My approach prioritizes accuracy, usability, and maintainability at scale.I have supported enterprise platforms where documentation quality directly affects adoption and support volume. I bring a systems-level mindset to documentation, aligning content strategy with product and engineering workflows.I am also actively applying AI to documentation workflows to improve speed, consistency, and coverage without compromising quality.If you need documentation that can scale with your platform and support real developer usage, let’s connect.My portfolio is live at https://dennisjdufrene.github.io/dennisjdufreneportfolio. It covers API documentation, Docs-as-Code workflows, and developer platform content spanning healthcare, fintech, and energy. The site is built with MkDocs Material, therefore, the tooling is part of the sample.

Experience

1. Principal Technical Writer - Platform

   Optum

   Oct 2021 — Present · Baton Rouge, LA, US

   Design and implement a Docs-as-Code documentation platform enabling more than 100 contributors to author and publish content using Git-based workflows.* Produce developer documentation including API documentation, integration guides, implementation guides, and platform architecture documentation.* Support a documentation ecosystem used by internal stakeholders across multiple engineering and product teams.* Develop documentation standards, templates, and style guides adopted across 12 product teams.* Implement documentation lifecycle management workflows supporting draft, review, and publication phases.* Analyze documentation usage metrics and customer feedback to guide documentation improvements and training investments.* Collaborate with engineering, product management, marketing, and customer enablement teams to improve documentation quality and usability.* Integrate generative AI tools into documentation workflows to accelerate draft generation, assist engineers with documentation creation, and maintain consistency across large documentation repositories.

Education

• Nicholls State University

  BA, History

  1997 — 2003

Skills

• Analysis
• Content Development
• Manuals
• Web Content Management
• Public Speaking
• Word
• Magazine Articles
• Web Content
• Technical Writing
• Html
• Editing
• Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Online Help
• Snagit
• Help Authoring
• Published Author
• Non-Fiction
• Procedural Manuals
• Books
• Interviews
• Screen Capture
• Release Notes
• Freelance Writing
• Blogging
• Research
• Adobe Acrobat
• Quick Start Guides
• Editorial
• Feature Articles
• Snag IT
• Training Manuals
• Press Releases
• Proofreading
• Creative Writer
• Publications
• Microsoft Office
• Reference Manuals
• Technical Documentation
• Technical Communication