Technical Author

Our ambitionOur ambition is to set a standard of excellence in the industry for technical documentation and documentation practice. This is your chance to be a part of that as a Technical Author at Canonical.We are building documentation capacity at scale. We have dozens of positions available for products and teams across the organisation, at all levels from Graduate to Senior Staff.All applications and candidates are handled through this one entry‑point. We'll discuss seniority levels, suitable teams and more later in the process to help place you in the most suitable role for you.The role of a Technical AuthorA Technical Author leads the documentation efforts of an engineering team, typically focused on a product or family of products. You’ll help the team develop documentation that serves the needs of the product’s users, embracing the principles of the Diátaxis documentation framework. You will have a broad impact on and responsibility for the quality of the user experience with the product, and will contribute toward the long‑term success of the project itself.These are not traditional technical writer roles. As a Technical Author, you will participate in the development of product strategy, have input into product design and user experience, and combine technical expertise with leadership in documentation. You will collaborate with colleagues across the company to establish documentation as a first‑class engineering discipline. Even the most junior Technical Authors will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate technical authority.As well as your role in an engineering team, you will also be part of Canonical’s documentation practice team, which includes all the company’s Technical Authors. Here, you’ll collaborate to define documentation excellence and drive the development of documentation practice and theory across the company and in the open‑source software community.LocationThese are fully remote roles, open to candidates across the globe.The role entailsCreate, maintain and improve software documentationWork with engineering team members to help them make effective documentation contributionsInfluence the development of the product as an expert user of the product, who has important opinions about its function and designEngage with user communities to ensure that our documentation meets their needsEncourage and support community engagement in and contribution to documentationHelp standardise the structure, presentation, style and language of content across productsCollaborate with documentation peers to advance the state of the art in documentation at CanonicalChallenge and advance documentation understanding and best‑practice, as part of a disciplinary teamWhat we are looking for in youCares deeply about functional written communicationIs a technical writer with a programmer’s mindset, or a programmer with a record of producing excellent documentationHas a record of community engagement in open‑source software, documentation, research or other disciplinesIs sympathetic to the needs and challenges of open‑source software and its communitiesDemonstrates technical curiosity and is fascinated by software technology and its challengesHas demonstrable documentation skills, insight and enthusiasmHas experience of software development contexts; is familiar with Linux, working on the command line, application deployment, system operations, infrastructure management, Git, documentation markup languagesHas excellent written and verbal communication skillsHolds a BSc/BA degree or equivalentIs able to travel twice a year for up to two weeks for eventsNice‑to‑have skillsDeep technical domain knowledgeOpen‑source community leadership and managementUser‑experience, interaction or visual designWhat we offer youDistributed work environment with twice‑yearly team sprints in personPersonal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per yearAnnual compensation reviewRecognition rewardsAnnual holiday leaveMaternity and paternity leaveEmployee Assistance ProgrammeOpportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleaguesPriority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul company eventsAbout CanonicalCanonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud, we are changing the world of software. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence – to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since its inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.Canonical is an equal opportunity employerWe are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.#J-18808-Ljbffr