About Test Double
What is Test Double?
Test Double is a software consultancy whose developers and product managers embed with client teams to solve hard software problems. Developers Todd Kaufman and Justin Searls founded it in 2011 "based on a belief that software was fundamentally broken – but it could be fixed", and its mission is "to improve the way the world builds software". Clients "from disruptive startups to Fortune 100s" bring it in for legacy modernisation, Ruby on Rails upgrades, DevOps, product strategy and what it calls pragmatic AI. Its founders' story counts more than 1,000 projects in its first decade, including some of the largest Rails codebases in the world. In November 2023 Test Double acquired Pathfinder Product, adding "more than a dozen seasoned product management consultants", and it created and maintains Standard Ruby, an open-source linter and formatter for Ruby.
Where will I work?
From home. "Because we've been a distributed company from day one, every double agent is located wherever they do their best work, across the United States and Canada," the company says, and its homepage adds: "We were 100% remote long before it was fashionable—and we're staying that way." Consultants "embed as remote additions" to client teams. The full-time opening in September 2026 is "100% remote (Must be Based in the US)"; its contractor talent pool is open to the US and Canada. Test Double's listed base is Columbus, Ohio. If you would rather not work from your kitchen table, it pays half your co-working rent, up to $500 a month, and everyone meets in person at two company-wide retreats a year.
What is the Test Double team like?
More than 100 "double agents", and senior ones: its software consultants average 15 years of experience and its product consultants 12. Since April 2020, when the founders sold the company to an ESOP, Test Double has been "100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan", and it is a Certified Evergreen company through Tugboat Institute. Its core values are Driven, Pragmatic, Inclusive, Improving and Courageous. It publishes its equity, diversity and inclusion figures every year and gives back through "great code for great causes" and free office hours. Postings describe "a small, growing, and adaptable agency" that backs agents who speak at conferences, blog and contribute to open source, with employee resource groups, weekly team hangouts, coffee chats and internal events. The Principal Product Consultant role open in September 2026 pays $170,000 to $190,000.
Work-Life Balance
"Work-life balance is paramount," Test Double's postings say, and the leave backs it up: "5 weeks flexible time off (vacation and sick time)" plus "10 paid holidays" — 35 days a year for every employee, in the US and Canada alike. After your fifth year you get a two-week sabbatical, and every week includes "10% Growth Time" for your own professional growth, on top of a week of conference attendance a year. Consulting is still client work: you embed with a client team and work to its delivery needs. The company frames its benefits as a value: "It doesn't make much sense for us to say we have a supportive and flexible environment without having benefits to make that happen."
Perks and Benefits
- 5 weeks of flexible time off (vacation and sick time) plus 10 paid holidays
- 10% Growth Time every week
- 8 weeks of parental leave at 100% of salary, plus additional unpaid leave (up to 14 weeks in total)
- A 2-week sabbatical after your fifth year
- A week of conference attendance each year, with up to $3,000 of expenses
- Employee ownership: Test Double is 100% employee-owned through its ESOP
- Premium health, dental and vision insurance, 80–100% covered
- Short- and long-term disability and life insurance
- A retirement contribution of up to 3% of salary
- New computer hardware every 3 years
- Co-working space reimbursement: half the rent, up to $500 a month
- Two company-wide retreats a year