About COLAB
What is COLAB?
COLAB is a remote-first web development agency that builds websites for clients across industries. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the team — product managers, strategists, designers, developers, software engineers, QA analysts, scrum masters, and project coordinators — has built a culture explicitly designed for long retention. Director of Product Ralph Otto, for example, has been at COLAB for 14 years.
The agency takes a holistic approach: rather than just delivering pixels and code, COLAB considers how marketing, sales, recruitment, customer service, and operations all interact with the digital product. Continuous iteration over project hand-off; long client relationships over fast turn-over.
Where will I work?
COLAB is a distributed, remote-first team — "Distributed Work. Work where you do your best thinking." Most of the team is based in Virginia, USA. Employees can choose to work fully remotely (within the USA), from the Richmond office, or a mix of both. The Richmond office is available but never required.
What is the COLAB team like?
The team is "serious about craft and genuinely decent to work with" — sharp, dependable people who "take their work seriously without taking themselves too seriously." Hires include former freelancers, career changers, and people who took non-linear paths into tech. The culture is described as "inclusive, collaborative, and pretty good at reading the room."
Work-Life Balance
COLAB runs a permanent 4-day workweek, Monday through Thursday — "Friday is yours." The pilot started in 2022 and was made permanent in November 2022. Time off includes paid holidays, vacation, and sick days, with explicit encouragement to actually use them: "Holidays, vacation, and sick days. Use them." Paid parental leave is also offered, with no specific week count disclosed publicly on the careers page.
Perks and Benefits
- Permanent 4-day workweek — Monday through Thursday (32 hrs), Friday off; pilot made permanent November 2022
- Distributed work — fully remote (within the USA), Richmond office, or mix
- Paid Time Off — holidays, vacation, sick days ("use them")
- Paid parental leave — for all parents
- Health insurance — company-paid health coverage
- Dental and vision coverage
- Life insurance + short-term disability — company-paid
- 401(k) with company match via Vanguard
- Healthy culture — inclusive, collaborative, and pretty good at reading the room