Technical Writer

Related keywords: personal assistant remote jobassistant remote jobcontent writer remote job

Job Overview

The Open Home Foundation is in search of a dedicated Technical Writer to become part of its Home Assistant department. This position is aimed at individuals residing in Europe, offering a full-time opportunity to contribute to the development, maintenance, and enhancement of the Home Assistant platform. The purpose of this department is to support new functionalities aligned with the organization's roadmap and enable the wider community to contribute and innovate seamlessly.

Responsibilities

In this role, the candidate will primarily focus on creating and maintaining clear, accurate, and user-friendly documentation. This entails working closely with engineers, product teams, and community contributors to ensure that new functionalities and integrations are thoroughly documented. The key responsibilities include:

• Writing and maintaining technical documentation for Home Assistant which comprises user guides, tutorials, installation steps, and integration documentation.

• Applying and reinforcing documentation standards for style, terminology, and structure to maintain consistency across the project.

• Updating existing documentation to accurately reflect changes in features, interfaces, and best practices.

• Collaborating with engineers and product teams at the Open Home Foundation to collect vital information required for accuracy.

• Supporting community contributors in writing and enhancing documentation to foster a collaborative environment.

• Reviewing and editing content for clarity, consistency, and style to ensure high-quality documentation.

• Incorporating user-reported issues and feedback from the community to enhance the overall documentation quality.

• Setting up and maintaining a personal Home Assistant test environment to experiment with features, integrations, and hardware, which is crucial for producing precise documentation.

Required Skills

Candidates must possess the following skills and qualifications:

• 3+ years of technical writing experience with a focus on topic-oriented writing for software products.

• Proven ability to create clear, structured, and user-focused content.

• Exceptional organizational and time management abilities.

• Strong experience working within a remote and asynchronous environment, where written communication plays a critical role in collaboration.

• Excellent problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and the capacity to work independently.

• Familiarity with developer tools commonly used for documentation at the Open Home Foundation, including Visual Studio Code, git, and GitHub.

• Professional fluency in English, with outstanding written and verbal communication skills.

• European Residency: Candidates must currently reside and be eligible to work within Europe.

Preferred Experience

It would be advantageous for candidates to have the following:

• Familiarity with terminology work related to technical writing.

• A passion for smart homes and automation technology.

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• Experience as a user or contributor to Home Assistant.

• Knowledge of using GitHub for content management and reviews.

• An affinity for the open-source development philosophy.

• Previous contributions to open-source projects, particularly involving Home Assistant or related initiatives.

• Awareness of how modern AI tools can be optimized to enhance workflows or team efficiency.

Benefits and Compensation

The Open Home Foundation, as a fully remote organization, provides a compensation package that reflects the 75th percentile for the new hire’s role and local market rates. The approximate annual compensation for a Technical Writer varies based on the country of residence:

• Netherlands: 63.000 EUR
• UK: 55.000 GBP
• Spain: 48.000 EUR
• Portugal: 46.000 EUR

It's important to note that these figures can be adjusted based on experience and qualifications. Furthermore, the foundation ensures that all employees receive the benefits aligned with the laws of their respective countries. Key benefits include:

• Five weeks (twenty-five days) of paid time off per year.

• Fourteen days of paid sick leave.

• Six weeks of paid parental leave and six weeks of unpaid parental leave within the first year after the birth of a child.

• A provision for work hardware upon joining, with the possibility to keep this equipment after three years for personal use.

• An annual smart home budget to stay updated with the latest technology in smart home automation.

• A 50% contribution towards the internet connection fee for home workspaces.

• One day every two weeks allocated for personal projects, with the option for employees working on Home Assistant related side projects to utilize work hours for maintenance.

Company Overview

The Open Home Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland focused on advocating for the fundamental principles of privacy, choice, and sustainability in smart homes. Their mission revolves around supporting the development of open-source projects and promoting open connectivity standards. This includes being a significant contributor to Home Assistant, the largest open-source project by contributor number, in addition to collaborating with various projects that champion these ideals.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment process for this position includes the following steps:

1. Apply for the role.

2. HR review of your application in conjunction with the hiring manager.

3. Interview with HR.

4. Technical assessment.

5. Interview with the team and manager.

6. Offer presented to the selected candidate.

This position offers an exciting opportunity for skilled technical writers who are passionate about contributing to open-source projects while working remotely in a flexible and supportive environment.

This job offer was originally published on remotive.com