As a Technical Writer, you'll create and maintain technical documentation for users of complex physical systems, ensuring clarity and accuracy through collaboration with engineering and operations teams.
About Nominal
Nominal is building the software infrastructure powering the world’s most advanced hardware systems — from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation industrial machines. Our platform ingests high-rate telemetry, validates complex autonomy software in real time, and enables engineers to iterate faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We’re a small, fast-moving team of engineers and operators who own problems end-to-end, work across disciplines, and thrive on challenges at the intersection of hardware and software.
As a dual-use platform, we serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, including the U.S. Navy, United States Air Force, Shield AI, and Anduril. We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures. Our team draws experience from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies — united by a common mission: enabling hardware engineers to push the boundaries of advanced technology with speed, safety, and precision.
Documentation at Nominal is a working surface of the product. It is how engineers engage with system capabilities, how test teams verify understanding, and how programs scale knowledge across teams and time. As the platform grows in complexity and breadth, our documentation must evolve with it. It must rigorously explain core primitives and complex applications, maintain grounding in first principles, and adapt to the wide and growing variety of missions, environments, and customers that Nominal serves.
As a Technical Writer, you'll build and maintain the system of documentation that supports every Nominal user, from test engineers and operators to analysts and enterprise teams. This is a cross-functional role responsible for defining how we communicate the structure, function, and application of a technically deep and rapidly evolving platform. The right person will bring clarity, rigor, and empathy to a broad set of artifacts and help shape how people learn, adapt, and succeed with Nominal.
🚀 About the role
- Build and maintain a clear, organized, and durable body of documentation that supports users from initial setup through operational deployment.
- Create technical artifacts such as integration guides, user manuals, field references, video walkthroughs, and online support materials.
- All documentation must reflect a high level of technical depth and operational detail, tailored to real-world use.
- Work closely with engineering, mission operations, data integration, and growth teams to understand features at the source.
- Capturing the core value of new product features and surfacing the questions users actually ask.
- Help bring structure and consistency to a rapidly evolving and complex product(s).
- Write with a deep respect for users who operate under high stakes and time pressure, where ambiguity is not an option.
🎯 What we’re looking for
- Proven skill in writing and editing user-facing technical documentation to a high standard of clarity, correctness, and completeness.
- Sound editorial judgment, with the ability to identify imprecise language, correct technical inaccuracies, and improve structure without introducing error.
- Ability to write technically accurate product updates for a knowledgeable user base, delivered on a regular cadence.
- Ability to read and write Python code, TypeScript code, and YAML configuration at a level sufficient to understand, verify, and document feature behavior.
- Experience with git-based workflows and Markdown or structured documentation systems.
- Familiarity with common patterns of API usage, client libraries, CLI interfaces, and configuration workflows.
- Comfort working closely with engineers, designers, mission teams, and sales staff without direct reporting authority.
- Capacity to work independently, maintain momentum through ambiguity, and scale repeated efforts into resilient systems and processes.
⚡ Skills that supercharge us
- Experience introducing editorial standards and enforcing them through review, revision, and example.
- Previous ownership of documentation for a production system, including versioning, release notes, and long-term maintainability.
- Experience supporting or building tools used in autonomy, flight tests, or systems integration.
- Familiarity with front-end architectures (especially React) and the ability to trace data and control flow through a modern web interface.
- Working knowledge of Java and Rust code at a level sufficient to understand, verify, and document feature behavior.
- Familiarity with the requirements and constraints of users working in simulation, test, or operational environments.
✨ Benefits/Perks
- 🏥 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 🏖️ Unlimited PTO and sick leave
- 🍽️ Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
- 🚀 Professional Development Stipend
- ✈️ Annual company retreat
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Top Skills
Git
Java
Markdown
Python
React
Rust
Typescript
Yaml
Nominal Los Angeles, California, USA Office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Similar Jobs
Other
The Technical Writer will create instructional content, organize documents, and clarify complex information for diverse audiences, collaborating with engineers and product experts.
Top Skills:
Image Editing ToolsProgramming SkillsWeb Technologies
Cybersecurity
The Technical Writer will create and maintain technical documentation for software products, collaborating closely with developers and SMEs in a fast-paced environment.
Top Skills:
Adobe Acrobat ProDesktop Publishing ToolsGitMadcap FlareOnline Documentation
Other
The Senior Technical Writer creates documentation, collaborates with teams, manages projects, and simplifies complex technical subjects for diverse audiences.
Top Skills:
Programming SkillsWeb TechnologiesWeb-Based Content Management Tools
What you need to know about the Los Angeles Tech Scene
Los Angeles is a global leader in entertainment, so it’s no surprise that many of the biggest players in streaming, digital media and game development call the city home. But the city boasts plenty of non-entertainment innovation as well, with tech companies spanning verticals like AI, fintech, e-commerce and biotech. With major universities like Caltech, UCLA, USC and the nearby UC Irvine, the city has a steady supply of top-flight tech and engineering talent — not counting the graduates flocking to Los Angeles from across the world to enjoy its beaches, culture and year-round temperate climate.
Key Facts About Los Angeles Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 375,800; 5.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Snap, Netflix, SpaceX, Disney, Google
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, adtech, media, software, game development
- Funding Landscape: $11.6 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Strong Ventures, Fifth Wall, Upfront Ventures, Mucker Capital, Kittyhawk Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: California Institute of Technology, UCLA, University of Southern California, UC Irvine, Pepperdine, California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering
