Resume — Sandi Showalter

Senior Content Strategist & Web Operations Lead

Introduction

Taxonomy doesn't scare me. Ambiguity doesn't either.

I build enterprise information architecture from the ground up for a platform serving 40+ departments and thousands of employees, designing taxonomy frameworks, navigation systems, metadata schemas, and content governance models where none existed before. Not in theory. Not in a past role. Right now, today.

With 11+ years of UX, IA and taxonomy work across large-scale digital ecosystems, I specialize in treating user experience as a product with real users, adoption strategies, and measurable outcomes. I design systems that make content findable for humans navigating complex information landscapes AND machines consuming structured data for AI-powered experiences. I build cross-functional alignment naturally, influence without authority, and thrive in exactly the kind of high-autonomy, ambiguous environment where most people wait to be told what to do.

I don't wait.

Skills & Expertise

Content Strategy & Governance: Content lifecycle management • Editorial standards & style guides • Content audits & gap analysis • Taxonomy & information architecture • Scalable governance frameworks • Content modeling & structured content

Web Production & Operations: End-to-end production pipeline management • Enterprise CMS publishing (Contentstack, Sitecore, CivicPlus, Interact) • Intake triage & stakeholder coordination • Launch readiness & QA • Post-launch optimization • Workflow design & documentation

UX Writing & Accessibility: Button & link copy • Form design & field labels • Navigation labels & helper text • Plain language standards • WCAG 2.1 AA compliance & remediation • User-centered content design

Leadership & Team Development: Functional supervision of 5 staff since 2020 • Scheduling & workload coordination • First-line escalation & mentorship • Training 70+ distributed content contributors • Cross-functional stakeholder alignment

AI & Emerging Technology: Microsoft CoPilot (daily use) • CoPilot Center of Excellence member • AI-enabled content workflows • Structured content for AI/LLM consumption • Responsible AI content practices • Prompt engineering for content tasks

Platform & Tools: Contentstack (Headless CMS) • Sitecore • CivicPlus • Interact • HelpScout • Airtable • Microsoft 365 & CoPilot • Silktide & SiteImprove • HTML/Bootstrap

Selected Experience

  • Hillsborough County Government (2014 – Present)
    Senior Content Strategist & Systems Architect (Senior Web Content Coordinator) — Led the end-to-end content strategy and digital transformation for a 1.7M resident population. Architected a headless CMS migration and centralized content models to serve 40+ departments, ensuring trust and transparency in high-regulatory environments. (See portfolio project)

  • The Busy Pencil (2010 – Present)
    Freelance Writer / Owner — Created content, ghost-wrote books, delivered editorial strategy for small and mid-sized clients.

Education & Certifications

  • B.A. Communications — University of South Florida