Staff Technical Writer - Distributed US
Databases are the beating heart of every business in the world.
Cockroach Labs is the creator of CockroachDB, the most highly evolved cloud-native, distributed SQL database on the planet that scales fast, survives anything, and thrives anywhere. We created CockroachDB to unshackle teams from the constraints of their database. Join us on our mission to enable every developer to build world-changing applications!
About the Role
We're looking for a Staff Technical Writer to join our team and help us create outstanding documentation that educates and guides our global community of customers and open source users to success, with a particular focus on database security and operations.
You Will
- Put yourself in the shoes of architects and operators planning, running, maintaining, and troubleshooting CockroachDB deployments.
- Write concise and informative how-tos and tutorials, intuitive explanations of complex topics and features, and comprehensive CLI and API reference documentation.
- Develop technical expertise in CockroachDB security and operations as well as accompanying technologies.
- Contribute to defining and evolving the Documentation team’s processes and conventions.
- Foster collaboration with our Training, Engineering, Product, and Customer Success teams to keep our documentation up-to-date, effective, and user-centric.
The Expectations
In your first 30 days, you have completed onboarding and developed enough expertise to begin your first documentation project. You will have also started to review and edit documentation written by other technical writers on the team. You will use CockroachDB hands-on throughout this experience. We believe that it's important to take this first month to become familiar with our technology and our company.
After 3 months, you'll be integrated into the team. You will oversee documenting CockroachDB’s security and IAM functionality. You'll design and improve documentation conventions, processes, and tools to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the documentation process. As our user base grows, you will be a part of developing the team to accommodate higher demands for education. We want our users to have a phenomenal experience using CockroachDB and that requires excellent documentation from you and the team.
You Have
- 8+ years of experience in technical writing.
- A passion for writing and editing concise and useful documentation for technical audiences, including tactical how-tos, end-to-end tutorials, and detailed CLI and API reference. You are passionate about clarity, concision, and correctness.
- Proficiency in Markdown, HTML, Linux, and one or more programming languages (Python, Go, Java, etc.).
- Familiarity with, or enthusiasm for learning, the various technologies for operating a distributed, cloud-native database and supporting web-scale applications.
- A love for information and are a sponge. You enjoy getting into the weeds technically, but don't let that distract you from achieving your end goals.
- A passion for building relationships with internal and external users to get feedback and identify potential areas of documentation improvement.
The Team
Reporting to Mike Lewis, Documentation Manager
Mike has been working on documentation for 15 years, with past roles in MarTech, FinTech, DevOps, and digital publishing. He enjoys the challenge of helping improve the already great docs and team processes at CRL, working with an incredibly talented and kind team, and getting to learn and use such an innovative product. Outside work, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and toddler, discovering and collecting music new and old, and listening to public radio.
Our Benefits
- 100% health insurance coverage (for you and your dependents!)
- Paid parental leave (with baby bucks)
- Flex Fridays
- Flexible time off & flexible hours
- Education reimbursement
- Relocation support
Cockroach Labs is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you need additional accommodations to feel comfortable during your interview process, please email us at [email protected].