Open Role
Technical Associate
Slash Tech Australia is an Operations R&D firm in Brisbane. We build hardware, software, and automation designed to be owned by the people who depend on it — not just the team that built it. Client work spans flood monitoring, air dispersion modelling, telemetry, IT audits, and custom IoT. We also run our own internal R&D, because some of the problems we care about don't have a client attached yet.
We're early. Two founders — a 2nd-year Engineering/IT student, and an ex-mechanic turned developer. We can't afford a full-time hire yet, but we can offer real responsibility from day one.
The role, in one sentence
Someone who can do the work, and document it well enough that somebody else can own it afterward.
We don't need a technical writer, and we don't need another pair of hands for raw execution. We need the combination — a practitioner who can execute real work across hardware, software, or automation, and produce documentation a client can actually use. Most engineers either can't write clearly or don't want to. Most writers can't read a schematic well enough to catch what the engineer forgot to mention. The overlap is the role.
How we work
Every engagement is scoped as a Statement of Work — one page per project, with clear deliverables, acceptance criteria, and price. Inside that envelope, you own your time. Early morning, late evening, weekends if that suits you — as long as deliverables land on time and you stay reasonably responsive during business hours, the schedule is yours.
This only works if you can self-manage. If 'flexible hours' means 'leave it until 3am the night before delivery,' this isn't the right role.
What this offers
Real work, starting now — at least one concrete project in the next 30 days, with a pipeline behind it. Direct access to both founders. You'll sit in on client conversations early. You'll see how engagements get scoped, how pricing actually works, how a small R&D firm grows.
If it works, it grows. We're likely to bring on more people in the next 6–12 months, which means someone who joins early and delivers well could grow into a more senior voice as the team forms.
What this isn't
A full-time job pretending to be a contract. Remote-only. Pure coding or pure writing. A CV stepping stone. A structured corporate graduate programme. We're small, scrappy, and we figure things out as we go — if that excites you, good.
What you will do
- Own small projects end-to-end — IT audits, internal experiments, or R&D probes — and produce the accompanying documentation.
- Contribute to larger engagements as part of a multi-person build, owning a workstream alongside the founders.
- Execute technical work across at least one of hardware, software, or automation.
- Produce client-ready documentation — runbooks, commissioning procedures, operator guides, findings reports, SOPs — to the standard specified in each Statement of Work.
- Participate in internal and applied R&D: experiments, prototypes, and investigations.
- Self-manage within scoped Statements of Work, meeting agreed deadlines.
What we are looking for
- Brisbane-based, with availability for occasional in-person work.
- Active ABN, or willing to set one up before starting.
- Able to read a schematic, follow a codebase, and hold a technical conversation in at least one of hardware, software, or automation.
- Write clearly enough that your documentation ships to a client with light editing, not a rewrite.
- Comfortable with deliverable-based engagement under one-page Statements of Work.
- Able to self-manage time and hit deadlines without close supervision.
Nice to have
- Exposure to IoT hardware, telemetry, industrial automation, environmental monitoring, commissioning, or IT audit work.
- An existing portfolio of technical writing — READMEs, design docs, lab reports, or commissioning documentation.
- A background that spans two or more of: software development, hardware/embedded, field engineering, or operations.
- Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to say 'I don't know that, but I can find out.'
About this role
A practitioner who can execute real work across hardware, software, or automation — and write the documentation to match.
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No cover letter template, no recruiter screen. Tell us what you have built and why this kind of work appeals to you.
We respond to every application. It may take a few weeks.
Applying for: Technical Associate
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A couple of quick questions
Are you based in Brisbane or South East Queensland, and available for occasional in-person work?
Do you have an active ABN, or are you willing to set one up before starting?
Are you comfortable in a role that requires both hands-on technical execution and writing client-facing documentation?
Have you produced technical documentation before (READMEs, reports, runbooks, SOPs) that you could share as a writing sample?
Do you have hands-on experience in hardware, software, or industrial automation beyond coursework?