Senior Content Writer, Engineering San Francisco

Hercules; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Hercules in San Francisco is seeking a senior or staff level Content Writer to partner with engineers to produce technical articles for our engineering blog. You will dive into complex systems, explain tradeoffs, and showcase what we learned.

You’ll identify stories by reading internal docs and exploring our product and codebase, co-writing with engineers, and using diagrams, code samples, and data to publish compelling posts regularly.

Qualifications

• Exceptional technical writing for an engineering audience with a portfolio.
• Ability to read code, understand system architecture, and discuss infra, databases, APIs, and AI systems.
• Strong interviewing skills to uncover details and dig deep.
• Strong research and analytical rigor to interpret benchmarks and evidence.
• Editorial judgment to turn complex projects into focused stories with diagrams.
• AI native – use AI to 10x output speed and improve quality.

Responsibilities

• Deep dive into our engineering and research; write about the hardest technical challenges, decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons.
• Find new stories by spending time with engineers, reading internal docs, and exploring products and codebase.
• Publish a lot by shipping posts regularly; co-write and edit with the team including diagrams and code examples.

Skills

Exceptional technical writing

Technical depth

Strong interviewing skills

Strong research and analytical rigor

Editorial judgment

AI native

Portfolio required

Job description

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:

1. We ship. We ship fast, iterate, and correct mistakes quickly. Our bias for action speeds up our learning and delights our customers.

2. 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.

3. 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)