[Hiring] Technical Writer @Percona

Role Description

We are looking for a talented and flexible Technical Writer to join one of our distributed open-source software development teams. You will work on the PostgreSQL database and related components, in close collaboration with our dedicated PostgreSQL team.

You will represent our voice to our technical customers and provide complete, clear documentation for our PostgreSQL products. We seek someone committed to delivering consistent, high-quality, and on-time documentation, whether in the form of guides, user manuals, help files, or man pages. You should be comfortable working in version-controlled environments, as we adopt a docs-as-code methodology.

You will be embedded in the PostgreSQL team, but also working alongside the Product Documentation team, which comprises several technical writers dedicated to developing a scalable documentation strategy that drives user adoption and effective use of our products. You are expected to collaborate with the other writers as we aim to continuously improve our practices.

Location/time zone: Remote work from home. Open to worldwide candidates, but the team median is UTC-2, so we recommend candidates operate within +/- 4 hours of this baseline.

What you will do

• Create all technical documentation from install/configuration/troubleshooting guides, how-tos, user manuals, man pages, to --help prompts
• Participate in team ceremonies. Collaborate with the Engineering Manager, Product Manager, Devs, and QA to output high-quality documentation
• Use text, markdown, images, and diagrams to ensure that audiences of all experience levels can extract value from our documentation
• Leverage AI tooling to quickly draft, polish, format, and refine content
• Maintain documentation versioning and be a contributor to our overall documentation strategy

Qualifications

• Graduate-level written English and excellent verbal communication skills
• Experience with documenting complex systems and writing user-oriented documentation
• 3+ years of experience as a technical writer and ability to write high-quality and precise documentation
• Experience with markup languages (Markdown preferred)
• Experience with the installation and configuration of database server software on Linux
• Docs-as-code experience. Knowledge of Jenkins, git, Markdown, HTML, and/or JavaScript (strongly recommended)
• Experience in leveraging AI tooling for documentation purposes
• Comfortable with Linux command line
• Distributed system development and/or database server development
• Fluent in developer tools like git, gcc, gdb
• Working autonomously in a globally distributed organization
• Collaborating with open source communities and colleagues via mailing lists, Slack, etc.
• Using collaboration/tracking tools like Jira/Notion
• Proven success working in a distributed environment
• Quick learner and great team player

What will (really) make you stand out

• A developer or DevOps background
• Having a track record of contributing to PostgreSQL or other open source projects. Being an active member of the PostgreSQL community
• A solid understanding of PostgreSQL internals to write accurate content to potentially contribute upstream
• A solid working knowledge of advanced concepts such as database storage engines, at-rest encryption, and cloud orchestration
• Ability to build and maintain automated documentation testing, CI/CD pipelines for documentation process, and validation tools
• Experienced conference speaker, technical blog writer, active on public forums or mailing lists

Communication, travel, and remote collaboration

Percona is a globally distributed, remote-first organization that values active communication and collaboration. While working from your home office, it's important to engage openly and proactively with your team. We promote lively discussions, idea sharing, and transparent work updates. To foster a strong team environment, we depend on consistent communication via tools like Slack, Zoom, and Jira, which keep us connected, aligned, and supportive across different time zones. Although travel isn't always necessary, there may occasionally be opportunities for conferences or in-person meetups to strengthen relationships and ensure strategic alignment.

Working environment, planning, and growth

At Percona, we prioritize a structured work environment to support your focus and flow. We organize our tasks within specific timeframes and scopes, minimizing shifting priorities to allow you to concentrate on assigned tasks. This planning process is collaborative, involving the entire team, Product, and customer insights.

Professional growth is a focus for us, as we designate Fridays as no-meeting days. This provides us dedicated time for deep work, tackling challenging issues, or exploring new technologies.

Typical day as a technical writer in the PostgreSQL team at Percona

• Morning (flexible, as you own your schedule): Start your day by checking Slack, email, and Jira for updates. Focus on writing tasks: new features, guides, bug fixes, and release notes for PostgreSQL and related tools. Respond to open and outstanding requests if needed.
• Mid-day: Lunch break and casual Slack interactions. Resume writing, attend technical discussions (if scheduled), planning sessions, or join a brief team sync (Zoom).
• Afternoon: Continue focusing on writing tasks. Reply to questions on the forum, draft blog posts or contribute to upstream documentation. Research and learn new technologies. Plan for the next day and wrap up tasks.

Key points

• Expect regular communication through Slack, Zoom, and Jira. Active engagement in team rituals is a must.
• Continuous learning and problem-solving are fundamental to the role.
• Work hours are flexible, around scheduled team syncs or customer meetings.
• We don’t micromanage your tasks; instead, we hire you for your expertise and capacity to deliver high-quality documentation.