Developer Experience Writer

Our everyday digital experiences are in the midst of a realtime revolution. Whether chatting alongside a livestreaming event, receiving realtime financial information, or working with colleagues in an online collaborative environment - consumers simply expect realtime digital experiences as standard. At Ably we’re not just witnessing this revolution, we’re powering it - at scale.

At the heart of our mission lies a commitment to putting developers first. Ably provides a suite of products to build, extend, and deliver powerful digital experiences in realtime, delivering billions of messages for millions of devices every day and supporting organizations like Harness, EA, Panasonic and HubSpot.

Working at Ably means helping to build the infrastructure and technology that will power and shape the future of the internet. The opportunity in front of us is immense. And we’d like your help.

About this role

Thousands of developers around the world use Ably's SDKs and APIs to power realtime features in their applications. The Developer Experience team is responsible for ensuring that Ably is a platform that exemplifies great developer experience, and is a reference point that other companies aspire to.

As our Senior Developer Experience Writer, you’ll be contributing directly to this goal; helping developers to quickly understand Ably, build confidently and ultimately succeed with the platform. At its core, this is an AI-focussed role; you’ll be in charge of  setting up the foundations that empower engineers to produce first-class developer documentation with AI at scale. You’ll use AI to automate checks, maintain quality, and allow for rapid iteration in the content itself, as well as in the documentation platform. You’ll still be setting the standards for technical content across the business, and using your expertise to shape the information architecture.

This is a modern take on technical writing; you’ll be using AI to both increase your own output, whilst also increasing the velocity of other contributors. The same core values still apply though - ensuring that users can quickly understand and succeed with Ably.

Day to day you will

• Use AI to produce quality content. You’ll write reusable prompts and skills that docs contributors can use to ensure their content meets Ably’s quality standards. 
• Define and uphold content standards. You'll help define what great looks like; from docs structure and style to making sure that PRs are always exceeding standards. You’ll leverage AI to check for technical accuracy, and make sure that content always assists developers in learning and succeeding with Ably in the fastest and easiest ways possible.
• Build engaging educational content templates. You’ll lead by example by producing reference content that others can use as a pattern to write similar content. This will be in the format of templates and skills that team members can leverage.
• Empower engineers to write great content. You'll coach and support engineering contributors to ensure that they’re always producing accurate, well-structured, developer-friendly content.
• Champion effective AI use. You'll promote the use of AI for efficiency, while maintaining a sharp eye for quality ensuring content meets editorial standards, is technically accurate, and is free from AI-generated patterns that undermine trust or clarity.
• Maintain and elevate the docs platform. You'll take responsibility for shaping the documentation platform's components, structure and tooling. This includes making sure content is logically structured, and easily navigable, and that it helps external developers understand Ably in new and exciting ways. 

We'd love to talk if you have

• Proven success creating technical content for developers, such as documentation, API references and guides; with a portfolio that others have visibly learned from.
• Experience reviewing and giving feedback on technical writing, with the ability to coach others to improve their craft.
• Experience and a desire to work in an AI-forward environment. Experience in automation, working with agents and producing quality content at scale is a bonus.
• Experience of using AI tools as a core part of your workflow for writing, research and coding, as well as understanding their output and limitations.
• Familiarity with APIs, SDKs, and modern web development tools, with the ability to read, write and reason about code examples in at least one programming language (ideally JavaScript).
• Strong instincts for developer experience, particularly around onboarding, and a genuine desire to produce experiences that delight developers.
• A proactive, self-directed mindset with the ability to take ownership of projects end to end, from ideation through to completion.
• Experience at a startup or growth-stage company, or the adaptability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment with a focus on rapid iteration, with excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Bonus points if you have

• Experience in maintaining and shaping a documentation platform or developer portal.
• Familiarity with information architecture principles and content strategy.
• Familiarity with git-driven workflows for managing content changes.
• Some knowledge or understanding of event-driven architecture.

What’s it like to work at Ably?

We’re tackling planet-scale problems and our ambitions are a testament to that. You’ll join a successful, deeply motivated and collaborative team that thrives on innovation, experimentation and autonomy. To get a sense of life at Ably, visit our careers page. You can also read about the origins of Ably's core values on our blog.

We believe in fostering a culture that's built on inclusivity and mutual respect among all team members, and we recognise that each individual is different and will want to be supported in their role in different ways. We provide a range of perks and benefits to aid folks' development and wellbeing, allowing them to be their best selves and do great work.

• A remote-first and flexible work environment. UK-based teams come together in person once per month in our London hub (next to Old Street) and we get together as a company twice per year. Aside from that, you’re welcome to work wherever suits best for you.
• Equity. We’re a growing start-up and we want all team to members to share in the success of the company through our EMI share options programme.
• Enhanced holiday allowance. Our policy provides Ablyans with 28 days of paid annual leave (27 regular days, plus a day off to enjoy your birthday).
• Enhanced parental leave package, so that you can take the time you need to get to know your new family member, rest and recover.
• Home workstation budget of £500 on joining (and £150 p/a thereafter), so that your home office is set up to serve you well and that you have everything you need to work comfortably.
• Personal learning and development budget of £1000 annually, and 5% L&D time during working hours to focus on improving your skillset.
• Private healthcare with BUPA.
• Medical cash plan to cover a range medical and dental costs.
• Mental wellbeing coaching and counselling from Self Space.
• Monthly wellbeing budget via Juno.
• Life assurance and income protection.
• Access to Tech & Cycle to Work schemes.
• Weekly snack allowance for our end-of-week “Need To Know” meeting.
• A fully-paid one-month sabbatical after five years with Ably.

Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Ably

We believe our differences as individuals is what makes us great. Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we encourage everyone to be their most authentic self at Ably: we see inclusivity and openness as fundamental to creating long-term success as an organization. We encourage applications from all backgrounds regardless of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, parental status, race, religion, educational background or neurodiversity. Ably has an amazing opportunity ahead of us, and we want anyone to be able to contribute to that opportunity.

If you enjoy working as part of a technology company, value open source, and love solving hard problems - then we’d love to hear from you, regardless of whether you fit the job description exactly or not. If in doubt, drop us an email; we’d be more than happy to give you some advice on your application.