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Sift · 2 days ago

Lead Technical Writer

San Francisco, CA

Full-time

Hybrid

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$120K/yr - $180K/yr

5+ years exp

Sift is a company redefining how modern machines are built, tested, and operated. They are seeking a senior-level Technical Writer to lead and scale their documentation function, collaborating with engineering and product teams to create clear and accurate technical documentation.

Machine LearningSaaSSoftware

No H1B

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Lead Sift’s documentation strategy, structure, and roadmap—owning docs end-to-end across product areas

Build documentation standards, style guides, review processes, and quality controls

Mentor and coach 1–3 technical writers as we grow the team (player-coach model)

Implement and optimize docs-as-code tooling, CI/CD pipelines, linting systems (e.g., Vale), and publishing workflows

Write and maintain high-quality technical documentation:

API references

GRPC service docs

Tutorials and onboarding guides

Conceptual docs and architecture explanations

Release notes, migration guides, and integration patterns

Partner directly with engineers and PMs to document complex workflows involving real-time telemetry, distributed systems, and advanced data pipelines

Own information architecture and content discoverability across the docs site

Manage documentation repositories using Git/GitHub and industry-standard docs tooling (MkDocs, Docusaurus, Mintlify, etc.)

Establish a docs taxonomy and navigation structure aligned with best-practice frameworks like Diátaxis

Ensure all documentation meets accessibility, clarity, technical accuracy, and consistency standards

Partner with Engineering and Product to ensure accurate and timely documentation releases

Work with Developer Experience, Field Engineering, and Marketing on technical content that supports onboarding, adoption, and customer success

Act as the documentation representative to key customers as needed

Qualification

Documentation leadershipDocs-as-code environmentsAPI documentationTechnical writingMentoring technical writersPythonProject managementClarityOrganizationCollaboration skills

Required

5–10+ years of experience in technical writing, developer documentation, or documentation leadership roles

Experience building or modernizing docs-as-code environments (e.g., MkDocs, Docusaurus, Sphinx, Storybook, Swagger/OpenAPI, etc.)

Strong technical depth: familiarity with Python, APIs, gRPC, event-driven architectures, cloud infrastructure, and modern software workflows

Experience mentoring or leading other writers—setting standards, reviewing work, and coaching to improve quality

A track record of raising documentation quality, reducing support volume, and increasing product adoption

Expertise with documentation frameworks such as Diátaxis and the Google style guide

Strong project management skills—able to run multiple doc projects, prioritize effectively, and coordinate cross-functionally

A bias for clarity, organization, and creating systems that scale

U.S. Person Required: Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as an asylee or refugee in compliance with ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) / EAR (Export Administration Regulations) regulations