Technical Author (Multiple Levels) - Canonical

About the Role

Canonical is seeking Technical Authors across all seniority levels (Graduate to Senior Staff) to set a new standard of excellence in documentation practice. These are not traditional technical writer roles; you will lead documentation efforts within engineering, business operations, or customer-facing teams.

We utilize the Diátaxis approach to documentation and treat documentation as a first-class engineering and business discipline.

Focus Areas

• Product-focused: Embedded within engineering teams to serve product users and ensure long-term project success.
• Customer-focused: Working with Field Engineering, Customer Success, or Support to solve complex, real-world software documentation challenges.
• Operations-focused: Supporting internal business teams (Legal, HR, Talent) to maintain handbooks and define patterns for organizational communication.

Key Responsibilities

• Create, maintain, and improve software and business documentation.
• Influence product design and function as an expert user.
• Standardize structure, style, and language across products.
• Collaborate with the global documentation practice team to advance documentation theory.
• Engage with user communities to ensure documentation meets their needs.

Requirements

• Excellent collaboration and communication skills.
• A programmer’s mindset or a programmer with a record of excellent documentation.
• Experience in software development contexts.
• Familiarity with Linux, command-line environments, Git, Sphinx, and reStructuredText.
• BSc/BA degree or equivalent.
• Ability to travel twice a year for up to two weeks for company events.
• Deep technical curiosity and sympathy for open-source communities.

What We Offer

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person sprints.
• Annual personal learning and development budget of $2,000 USD.
• Competitive compensation with annual reviews and performance-driven bonuses.
• Comprehensive benefits including holiday leave, parental leave, and an Employee Assistance Programme.
• Travel upgrades and priority pass for company events.