Melissa Walsh

Experience

• 

  Wayne State University

  Jan 1990 - Jan 1993

  Office Assistant

  Assisted international students with INS documentation, WSU registration requirements, and housing information.

• 

  Gale Group

  Jan 1993 - Jan 1999

  Project Editor

  Managed publishing activities for Gale print products, CD-ROMs and reference databases. Prepared production schedules and P&Ls. Honed competencies in open-source technologies for content/data management. Oversaw manuscript development by contracting and providing direction to writers and copyeditors.

• 

  Independent Contractor

  Jan 1999 - Jan 2006

  Writer & Editor

  Contributed essays and articles for publication in various forms of print and electronic media, including biographical sketches, marketing copy, editorial columns and news and features articles. Served as Managing Editor of Michigan House Calls Magazine. Authored The Rookie Hockey Mom: How to Play the Game’s Toughest Position (Lyons Press, 2005). Served as a technical consultant to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Bi3 project, undertaking the conversion of more than 80,000 legacy and active contractual documents into XML-based elements for data management. Show less

• 

  University Liggett School

  Jan 1999 - Jan 2001

  Middle School Teacher - Latin & French

  Taught Latin at ULS Middle School for the 1999/2000 school year. Taught French for ULS Summer School in 2000 and 2001. Also tutored students.

• 

  Cornerstone Schools

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2001

  Social Studies Teacher

  Taught world history, American history and geography at Cornerstone Middle School.

• 

  Grosse Pointe News

  Jan 2001 - Jan 2002

  Staff Writer

  Reported education and library news; contributed columns and features.

• 

  Snap-on OEM Group

  Jan 2005 - Jan 2007

  Marketing Specialist

  Prepared business and marketing communications packages for the development, promotion, launch and sustainment of Techstream — the wireless, PC-based automotive service tool and program used in all North American Toyota and Lexus dealerships.

• 

  General Dynamics Land Systems

  Jul 2007 - Oct 2010

  Senior Logistics Engineer/Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Manager

  Managed project plans, schedules, and budgets for Stryker Logistics Engineering Sustainment (LES) program and urgent operational needs logistics support, including U.S. Army two-level maintenance requirements and updates to technical manuals, operator training and operator and field maintenance tasks. Served as key member of bid-proposal core team for the ILS sector of RFP responses. Represented ILS at proposal core-team reviews, engineering design-integration fit-ups, and logistics validation/verification demonstrations. Prepared and communicated scope of effort to Stryker logistics department leads. Communicated GDLS ILS activities to the TACOM Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR). Show less

• 

  Powerplay Communications

  Aug 2010 - Dec 2019

  Independent Writer, Editor & Consultant

  Provided business communication and documentation services for clients in the automotive industry. Wrote proposals, articles, essays, and profiles. Contributed news and feature articles to local and regional media as a freelance writer.Services:* Business & marketing communications* Content marketing* Content strategy* Structured authoring & single-source publishing* Model-Based systems engineering documentation* Proposal development* Marketing collateral production* News, features & press release writing* Reference and report writing* Website planning & copywriting* Ghostwriting Show less

• 

  Navistar Defense

  Nov 2011 - Jul 2012

  Logistics Engineer

  Analyzed engineering technical data for modification and mission-equipment enhancements of the MaxxPro MRAP family of vehicles, assessing designs for U.S. Army two-level maintenance (organic) maintainability and sustainability.

• 

  LG Chem Power Inc

  Jun 2015 - Aug 2017

  Documentation Specialist

  Supported the business goals of LG Chem Power Inc. (LGCPI) in project management: *Facilitated risk mitigation by establishing a requirements integration baseline for timing and scope of internal and external product and program requirements.* Reported status of requirements integration and validation.* Served as ISO 26262 Functional Safety documentation lead for an automotive hybrid-electric battery management system.* Identified single-source methods and model-based, structured-authoring strategy for improving elicitation, development, and reuse of automotive technical design specification content. Show less

• 

  Independent Contractor

  Aug 2017 - Jan 2021

  Freelance Journalist

  Contributed news and feature articles to local and regional media.

• 

  MCMACHEN BOATING CENTER LLC

  Mar 2020 - Sept 2020

  Salesperson

  Brokered used-boat sales. Conducted sea trials. Based in Harrison Township, MI, on Lake St. Clair.

• 

  MRM

  Oct 2020 - now

  Senior Content Strategist

  Recommend and execute digital content strategy for MRM//McCann client projects.* User-journey messaging strategy* Content auditing* Data analytics* User testing* Taxonomy development* Information Architecture (IA) development* Content mapping * Content operations* Content modeling* Content optimization for natural search* Content-migration planning* Content guidelines creation* Editing technical definitions for plain-language consumption

• 

  Book Suey

  Jun 2021 - Jan 2025

  Partner

  Member-Owner of Book Suey, a bookstore co-operative.* Order and manage inventory (in-store and online)* Sell books* Create and post social media content* Plan and facilitate store events* Facilitate a semi-monthly French conversation group

• 

  OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

  Oct 2024 - Oct 2024

  Short-Term Election Observer (STO) - Local Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

  Volunteer assignment offered by the Amentum Seconded Personnel and Election Observers (SPEO) program for the Elections Observation Mission (EOM) in BiH organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)