Staff Technical Writer / Documentation Engineer

Docker is a remote first company with employees across Europe, APAC and the Americas that simplifies the lives of developers who are making world-changing apps.  We raised our Series C funding in March 2022 for $105M at a $2.1B valuation. We continued to see exponential revenue growth last year.  Join us for a whale of a ride!

In this role, you will play a critical role in leading the creation and maintenance of comprehensive, high-quality documentation that serves our diverse audience of developers, system administrators, and end-users. You’ll also own and manage the docs tooling and infrastructure. This position requires a deep understanding of technical writing principles, software development processes, and the ability to manage complex documentation projects from start to finish.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with software developers, designers, and product managers about new features and upcoming product changes.

• Write helpful, accurate, well-organized, consistent, and highly effective content from scratch.

• Own and manage the Docker docs site. 

• Actively monitor emerging trends in developer tooling and propose ways to incorporate them into the docs ecosystem.

• Use the product, test each procedure and workflow, become an expert user, and provide feedback to product development teams.

• Collaborate and lead cross-functional initiatives to align product documentation with other forms of customer-enablement content.

• Use product knowledge and user feedback to lead efforts to continuously improve content and the information architecture of the docs site.

Qualifications:

• 8+ years of technical writing experience.

• Previous technical writing experience for Developers, IT operations, and DevOps audiences.

• Excellent content planning and organization skills.

• The ability to fulfill the information design, writing, and editing components of the role.

• The ability to quickly learn complex concepts and technologies and clearly explain them to others within the target audience’s context.

• Expertise in Docs-as-Code practices, including implementing and optimizing workflows, version control, and CI/CD integration for documentation.

• Hands-on experience managing static site generators (e.g., Hugo, Docusaurus, Jekyll) or documentation platforms.

• Strong understanding of web technologies, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

• A good understanding of programming concepts, preferably with Go and/or Python.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in technical writing, English, communications, or a related area of study.

• Proficiency on Linux operating systems using the command-line.

• Experience working on open source-based software products and/or participation in an open-source project.

• Experience working with developer-focused platforms, tools and services such as Terraform, AWS, Jenkins, Netlify, GitHub, MongoDB, Twilio, Docker, etc.

What to expect in the first 30 days

• Being a fully remote workplace, Docker has a focus on keeping teams connected. Your first two weeks will include 1:1 sessions intended to introduce you to your team and others with whom you will interact frequently.

• Expect to spend time on other onboarding activities like IT setup, navigating productivity tools, and getting familiar with your regular calendar cadence.

• Become familiar with Docker’s values and goals, leadership, your team, your tools, and where to go for information - everything you need to be effective in your role.

• Familiarize yourself with the team’s current “Docs-as-Code” practice.

• Install Docker products and gain a high-level understanding of the product(s) you’ll be documenting, including key features and use cases.

• Review and understand the target audience for the documentation.

• By the end of your first month, you’ve contributed a few small PRs to the Docs repository.

What to expect in the first 90 days

• In your first three months, you’ll have developed a good relationship with your team, and gained a deeper understanding of the Docker ecosystem.

• Actively engage with stakeholders in Engineering, PM, Marketing, and Support, and work collaboratively on upcoming releases and strategic initiatives.

• Review and familiarize yourself with the team’s style guide, tone, and brand voice.

• Gain a deep understanding of the product, workflows, and use cases relevant to the target audience.

• Own the creation of new content and the maintenance of existing content, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and alignment with the style guide.

• Become comfortable to handle ad-hoc requests and prioritize tasks and ensure content is delivered on time.

• Participate actively in peer reviews, providing constructive feedback and incorporating feedback from team members into your own work.

• Align with the Docs team’s goals, including quality standards, user needs, and alignment with the company’s objectives.

• Suggest small, incremental improvements to existing workflows.

• Become comfortable to address minor issues or enhancements, such as improving build performance, updating dependencies, or fixing bugs in the config files.

• Familiarize yourself with the front-end technologies and frameworks used for the Docs site.

• Assist in debugging and enhancing front-end issues in the Docs platform.

What to expect in the first year

• Within your first year, you’ll have made significant contributions to the product you are working on and established strong relationships with the Docs team and stakeholders in Engineering, PM, Marketing, and Support.

• Contribute to the creation of long-term content strategies, such as improving discoverability, expanding coverage, or optimizing for SEO.

• Achieve deep familiarity with the product to the point where you can anticipate documentation needs for new features and suggest improvements.

• Propose and implement improvements to documentation workflows, such as tools, review processes, or content organization.

• Demonstrate the use of analytics to make data-driven decisions.

• Lead initiatives to improve the Docs site’s front-end, focusing on user experience, accessibility, and responsiveness.

• Serve as an advocate for users by highlighting areas where product features or workflows could be simplified to reduce confusion.

• Work with your manager to create a Career Development Plan that will outline your trajectory beyond your first year.

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound on April 13, 2024.

Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey here.

Perks (for Full-Time Employees Only)

• Freedom & flexibility; fit your work around your life

• Home office setup; we want you comfortable while you work

• 16 weeks of paid Parental leave

• Technology stipend equivalent to $100 net/month

• PTO plan that encourages you to take time to do the things you enjoy

• Quarterly, company-wide hackathons

• Training stipend for conferences, courses and classes

• Equity; we are a growing start-up and want all employees to have a share in the success of the company

• Docker Swag

• Medical benefits, retirement and holidays vary by country

Docker embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our company will be.

Due to the remote nature of this role, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

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