Technical Writer

ATOMS Careers page; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 87,000 - 134,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

Equity

Sick Time and Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit

Team lunch

Job summary

Atoms in San Francisco is seeking a Technical Writer to build and maintain the documentation backbone for our manufacturing and engineering operations as we scale toward mass production.

You will work on the shop floor with production and quality teams to turn tribal knowledge into clear work instructions, test procedures, and release notes, helping reduce downtime and improve build consistency.

Qualifications

• Experience writing technical or process documentation in a manufacturing, hardware, automotive, aerospace, or similarly hands-on production environment.
• Comfort working directly on the production floor — observing builds, interviewing technicians, and translating hands‑on process knowledge into clear written and visual instructions.
• Strong organizational instincts; you naturally think in terms of structure, version control, and findability.

Responsibilities

• Standardize work instructions across every manufacturing workstation, ensuring a consistent format, level of detail, and visual style
• Maintain a living build-step instruction set that stays current as workstations multiply, processes evolve, and engineering changes are introduced
• Build, update, and revise procedures for test steps, test programs, rework processes, and build procedures as they change
• Organize and maintain our knowledge base, building out new pages and improving structure so information is easy to find and keep current
• Review BOM changes and publish release notes coming from engineering, ensuring production teams see and understand what changed and why
• Build troubleshooting and diagnostic documentation from field diagnostic data, working to reduce downtime by making root-cause and resolution paths easier to follow
• Support engineering documentation standards, helping formalize how design and process documentation is created and maintained as the team grows

Skills

Technical writing

Documentation on floor

Cross-functional work

Notion

Linear

Tools

Notion

Linear

Job description

Who we are

Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress.

Over the last decade, software has transformed the digital world. But the physical world, where food is made, minerals are mined, goods are moved, and industries are run, remains far less intelligent, far less efficient, and far more constrained. We’re changing that.

Atoms builds Physical AI— real-world robots for the industries that move civilization forward, starting with food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive.

This work requires more than robotics. It requires deep integration across hardware, software, AI, operations, manufacturing, and real estate. We don’t just build machines in a lab. We deploy them into real environments, operate them, learn from them, and improve them until they work at scale.

We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will not only transform information, but the physical systems that shape everyday life.

If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us.

About the role

We're looking for a Technical Writer to build and maintain the documentation backbone of our manufacturing and engineering operations as we scale toward mass production. You'll work directly with production, engineering, and quality teams to turn tribal knowledge and in-progress processes into clear, consistent, and easy-to-follow documentation — work instructions, test procedures, troubleshooting guides, and engineering release notes. This is a hands-on, floor-facing role: you'll spend real time at workstations observing builds, talking to technicians, and capturing process detail firsthand, not just editing documents at a desk.

This is a high-impact, early-stage hire. As we add workstations, introduce design changes, and ramp build volume, the quality of our documentation directly affects build consistency, training speed, and downtime. You'll be the person who keeps that foundation solid.

What you’ll do

• Standardize work instructions across every manufacturing workstation, ensuring a consistent format, level of detail, and visual style
• Maintain a living build-step instruction set that stays current as workstations multiply, processes evolve, and engineering changes are introduced
• Build, update, and revise procedures for test steps, test programs, rework processes, and build procedures as they change
• Organize and maintain our knowledge base, building out new pages and improving structure so information is easy to find and keep current
• Review BOM changes and publish release notes coming from engineering, ensuring production teams see and understand what changed and why
• Build troubleshooting and diagnostic documentation from field diagnostic data, working to reduce downtime by making root-cause and resolution paths easier to follow
• Support engineering documentation standards, helping formalize how design and process documentation is created and maintained as the team grows

What we’re looking for

• Experience writing technical or process documentation in a manufacturing, hardware, automotive, aerospace, or similarly hands-on production environment
• Comfort working directly on the production floor — observing builds, interviewing technicians, and translating hands‑on process knowledge into clear written and visual instructions
• Strong organizational instincts; you naturally think in terms of structure, version control, and findability, not just individual documents
• Experience with Notion and Linear (or similar knowledge‑base tools) for building and organizing documentation systems
• Ability to work cross‑functionally with engineering, quality, and production teams, and to keep documentation in sync as changes happen fast
• Clear, concise writing — you can make a complex process understandable to someone seeing it for the first time
• Comfortable with ambiguity and building process from scratch; this role will evolve as the org scales
• Familiarity with BOM structures, engineering change processes (ECOs/ECNs), or PLM tools preferred
• Experience building troubleshooting/diagnostic trees or decision‑based guides preferred
• Background supporting test engineering or test procedure documentation preferred
• Experience documenting for a pre-mass‑production or scaling manufacturing environment preferred

Why join us

At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time—bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team—so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

What else you need to know

This role is based in our San Franciscooffice. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That’s why all of our office‑based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $87,000 - $134,000 per year.

Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package. You may also be eligible for equity awards.

Benefits Summary (USA Full-Time Exempt Employees):

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
• 401(k)
• Equity
• Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
• Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

Benefits are subject to change at the company's discretion.
Atoms accepts applications on an ongoing basis.

Ready to join us as we serve those who serve others?

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