Principal Technical Writer I - Core Docs - Documentation at Elastic

Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI. What is The Role We are seeking a Principal Technical Writer to join a team dedicated to documenting our most sophisticated platform features. You will act as a lead contributor and collaborator, bridging the gap between core engineering teams and our global community of users and developers building powerful, data-driven applications. You will help lead the strategic narrative for how the world adopts and implements our technology, and you will actively shape the workflows, patterns, and culture that make the entire team more effective. We value diverse paths into technical writing. Whether you have come from engineering, customer support, professional services, or the field, what matters most is that you can make complex technology understandable for the people who need to use it. If you have been writing runbooks, knowledge base articles, implementation guides, or onboarding content as part of a support or consulting role, we want to hear from you. Does this sound like the job for you? Check out our docs, tinker with our products, and think about where you fit in. Show us your writing chops and tell us what you can bring to the role. Upload writing samples, or provide links to your portfolio or GitHub contributions. What You Will Be Doing • Lead through influence across the documentation organization. Own content for complex technical areas, but your impact extends beyond your own output. You'll establish content patterns and quality standards that other writers adopt, and guide peers through ambiguous, high-stakes documentation challenges without requiring formal authority. • Champion AI-augmented documentation practices. Model thoughtful AI adoption by establishing and pushing standards for leveraging AI tools, knowing when to use them, and ensuring that outputs meet technical accuracy standards. • Drive the architecture of complex, multi-layered technical content. Identify gaps in information architecture before they become user problems, and you propose structural solutions that scale. • Set the quality benchmark for the team. Engage deeply with the product through hands-on use, and your peer reviews go beyond accuracy, they model how to think about audience, structure, and completeness. Engineers and PMs seek your review because it consistently makes content better. • Shape multi-functional alignment. Work closely with Engineering, Product Marketing, and Support. You convene conversations with these teams, surfacing documentation needs early in the product lifecycle, and ensuring the team has a seat at the table when decisions are made. What You Bring • 7+ years in a SaaS or developer-focused environment: In roles such as technical writer, solutions engineer, support engineer, or technical consultant, with demonstrated experience contributing to customer-facing documentation, knowledge bases, or technical enablement content. • Practical AI tool fluency: You use AI to accelerate research and writing and apply strong editorial judgement to validate accuracy and maintain quality. You can speak concretely to how AI enhances your workflows. • Advanced technical acuity: The ability to quickly grasp and document complex topics, such as modern data technologies, search, and AI/ML concepts. • Technical Fluency: Comfortable reading Java, JSON, and similar code, and you use that fluency to drive accuracy at the source, catching issues in specs and prototypes, not just in drafts. • A Docs-as-Code Approach: Proficient with Git, Markdown, and modern documentation tooling, and you actively help the team level up how it uses these tools. Improving pipelines, reviewing workflows, and identifying where automation can create leverage. • Strong Information Architecture Skills: A principled, repeatable approach to organizing content, and you can articulate and defend those decisions to engineering and product partners. • Collaborative Leadership in a distributed environment: Consistent track record of elevating the work of those around you through mentorship, shared standards, and a culture of thorough, respectful peer review. • Brings deep customer empathy and a practitioner's instinct to documentation. You have debugged customer issues, run implementations, or built solutions, and you translate that experience into content that meets users where they are, while making that audience perspective contagious across the team. • Thrives in ambiguity at a strategic level. You don't just manage uncertainty, you help the team navigate it by setting direction when requirements are unclear and knowing when to push for alignment. • Embrace new and emerging tooling to improve your accuracy and efficiency. This includes AI writing and research tools. We expect our writers to use them thoughtfully to move faster and focus energy on the work that requires human judgment. Bonus Points • Experience with Elasticsearch or similar data and search technologies. • Experience contributing to open source projects. • Comfortable working on the command line and writing basic scripts to automate tasks. Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary. This role does not have a variable compensation component. The typical starting salary range for new hires in this role is listed below. In select locations (including Seattle WA, Los Angeles CA, the San Francisco Bay Area CA, and the New York City Metro Area), an alternate range may apply as specified below. These ranges represent the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the ranges may be modified in the future. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs. Elastic believes that employees should have the opportunity to share in the value that we create together for our shareholders. Therefore, in addition to cash compensation, this role is currently eligible to participate in Elastic's stock program. Our total rewards package also includes a company-matched 401k with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings, along with a range of other benefits offered with a holistic emphasis on employee well-being. The typical starting salary range for this role is:$128,200—$202,900 USDThe typical starting salary range for this role in the select locations listed above is:$153,800—$243,300 USD Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People As a distributed company, diversity drives our identity. Whether you’re looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do. We strive to have parity of benefits across regions and while regulations differ from place to place, we believe taking care of our people is the right thing to do. • Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary • Health coverage for you and your family in many locations • Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles • Generous number of vacation days each year • Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service • Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love • Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation. We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals. To request an accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email [Upgrade to PRO to see contact]. We will reply to your request within 24 business hours of submission. Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster; Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision Poster; Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster and Know Your Rights (Poster) Elasticsearch develops and distributes technology and information that is subject to U.S. and other countries’ export controls and licensing requirements for individuals who are located in or are nationals of the following sanctioned countries and regions: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or Russia, including the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia (The Crimea region of Ukraine, The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), The Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Kherson or Zaporizhzhia). If you are located in or are a national of one of the listed countries or regions, an export license may be required as a condition of your employment in this role. 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