Description review
Senior Content Writer, Engineering
Hercules · San Francisco, Remote - North America · back to the listing
HR standards
72/100
solid
Title ↔ description
79/100
solid
Reads as
Technical Writer
98% confident
What this role officially is
technical communicator — ESCO, the EU occupation classification
Technical communicators prepare clear, concise and professional communication from product developers to users of the products such as online help, user manuals, white papers, specifications and industrial videos. For this, they analyse products, legal requirements, markets, customers and users. They develop information and media concepts, standards, structures and software tool support. They plan the content creation and media production processes, develop written, graphical, video or other contents, generate media output, release their information products and receive feedback from the users.
Also known as: technical editor, technical documentation author, senior technical communicator, technical communicators, technical content developer, user experience designer
How others title the same work
Large employers
- Technical Author (multiple roles and seniority levels) Canonical Ltd.
- Manager I, Documentation Datadog
What the listing never says
- 19 bullet points. Long requirement lists deter qualified candidates, who read them as hard gates. Scope clarity
The listing, marked up
Nothing in the wording of this listing tripped a check. The scores above still judge how complete and coherent it is.
What are we looking for?
Hercules is looking for a senior or staff level Content Writer to work with our engineers to write technical content for our engineering blog.
What will you do?
• Deep dive into our engineering and research. Write about the hardest technical challenges we’re solving: the systems we build, the decisions and tradeoffs behind them, what worked, what failed, and what we learned.
• Find new stories. Spend time with engineers, read internal documents, and explore our product and codebase to uncover ideas worth publishing.
• Publish a lot! Don't just make a lot of drafts, get your writing published then the next, then the next! Shipping is a big part of our culture at Hercules. There is plenty to write.
• Help engineers publish. Co-write and edit posts with our team, turning rough notes, conversations, and technical drafts into excellent articles supported by diagrams, code examples, and data
Here are some examples of the depth and quality we are looking for: Uber Engineering, Shopify Engineering, Cloudflare’s blog, and Cursor’s research blog.
What skills do we expect you to have?
• Exceptional technical writing. You explain complex ideas clearly without losing the details that matter. Your writing is terse, simple, precise, and useful.
• Note: We explicitly require a portfolio of excellent writing for an engineering audience for applying to this job.
• Technical depth. You can read code, understand system architecture, and follow discussions about infrastructure, databases, APIs, and AI systems. You can test code examples and explain why an engineering team chose one approach over another.
• Strong interviewing skills. You ask questions that uncover the interesting details: why something was difficult, what alternatives were considered, where an approach broke down, and what finally made it work. You keep digging until you understand.
• Strong research and analytical rigor. You can read technical papers, interpret benchmarks and experimental results, and check the evidence behind a claim. You explain methodology, tradeoffs, and limitations accurately.
• Editorial judgment. You recognize what other engineers will find surprising or useful. You can turn a complicated project into a focused story and use diagrams, charts, and code examples to make it easier to understand.
• AI native. You use AI to 10x your output speed and improve your quality.
What are Hercules’ operating principles?
Hercules’ operating principles guide how we make decisions every day. We take them very seriously. Most of the principles can be learned on the job, however, we do specifically filter for the following principles in our hiring process:
• We ship. We ship fast, iterate, and correct mistakes quickly. Our bias for action speeds up our learning and delights our customers.
• We strive for excellence. Doing things well is in our DNA. We have good taste. We get the details right. Our outputs are exceptionally simple and self-serve. We’re proud of our work.
• We are hungry. We are willing to work hard and break through walls to achieve the outcomes we want. We are willing to operate at any level to get things done.
Is Hercules in-office or remote?
Hercules founding team works in-office in San Francisco (Kearny and Bush). We have a very strong preference for in office. We are open to remote for exceptional candidates who are willing to 1) work in US time zones and 2) travel to the office regularly.
What are Hercules’ benefits?
• Unlimited AI token budget
• Take what you need vacation policy
• Healthcare, vision, and dental
• Daily lunches, dinners and snacks in the office
• We guarantee you will do the best work of your career here
What’s the compensation?
$100k-$250k + equity (variable based on seniority, equity, and location)
Hercules is looking for a senior or staff level Content Writer to work with our engineers to write technical content for our engineering blog.
What will you do?
• Deep dive into our engineering and research. Write about the hardest technical challenges we’re solving: the systems we build, the decisions and tradeoffs behind them, what worked, what failed, and what we learned.
• Find new stories. Spend time with engineers, read internal documents, and explore our product and codebase to uncover ideas worth publishing.
• Publish a lot! Don't just make a lot of drafts, get your writing published then the next, then the next! Shipping is a big part of our culture at Hercules. There is plenty to write.
• Help engineers publish. Co-write and edit posts with our team, turning rough notes, conversations, and technical drafts into excellent articles supported by diagrams, code examples, and data
Here are some examples of the depth and quality we are looking for: Uber Engineering, Shopify Engineering, Cloudflare’s blog, and Cursor’s research blog.
What skills do we expect you to have?
• Exceptional technical writing. You explain complex ideas clearly without losing the details that matter. Your writing is terse, simple, precise, and useful.
• Note: We explicitly require a portfolio of excellent writing for an engineering audience for applying to this job.
• Technical depth. You can read code, understand system architecture, and follow discussions about infrastructure, databases, APIs, and AI systems. You can test code examples and explain why an engineering team chose one approach over another.
• Strong interviewing skills. You ask questions that uncover the interesting details: why something was difficult, what alternatives were considered, where an approach broke down, and what finally made it work. You keep digging until you understand.
• Strong research and analytical rigor. You can read technical papers, interpret benchmarks and experimental results, and check the evidence behind a claim. You explain methodology, tradeoffs, and limitations accurately.
• Editorial judgment. You recognize what other engineers will find surprising or useful. You can turn a complicated project into a focused story and use diagrams, charts, and code examples to make it easier to understand.
• AI native. You use AI to 10x your output speed and improve your quality.
What are Hercules’ operating principles?
Hercules’ operating principles guide how we make decisions every day. We take them very seriously. Most of the principles can be learned on the job, however, we do specifically filter for the following principles in our hiring process:
• We ship. We ship fast, iterate, and correct mistakes quickly. Our bias for action speeds up our learning and delights our customers.
• We strive for excellence. Doing things well is in our DNA. We have good taste. We get the details right. Our outputs are exceptionally simple and self-serve. We’re proud of our work.
• We are hungry. We are willing to work hard and break through walls to achieve the outcomes we want. We are willing to operate at any level to get things done.
Is Hercules in-office or remote?
Hercules founding team works in-office in San Francisco (Kearny and Bush). We have a very strong preference for in office. We are open to remote for exceptional candidates who are willing to 1) work in US time zones and 2) travel to the office regularly.
What are Hercules’ benefits?
• Unlimited AI token budget
• Take what you need vacation policy
• Healthcare, vision, and dental
• Daily lunches, dinners and snacks in the office
• We guarantee you will do the best work of your career here
What’s the compensation?
$100k-$250k + equity (variable based on seniority, equity, and location)